Watchmen Reunion All Smiles

Whether for friends in the basement of a seedy Winnipeg hotel practice spot, draft-swilling college kids in dank campus bars or thousands of proud patriots during Canada Day celebrations in the nation's capital, The Watchmen have always been known to put on a good show.

So when the recently reconciled quartet took the stage for the second night of their two-show reunion at the Horseshoe Tavern this past Saturday night, the anticipation was palpable. Could guitarist Joey Serlin possibly remember all of the band's catchy riffs? Would bassist Ken Tizzard still sway back and forth like a kid on a short bus? Would enigmatic and cigarette-loving lead singer Danny Greaves still be able to hit all the right notes?

The answers (all of them yes) came half-an-hour after opening act The Waking Eyes successfully whipped the capacity crowd into a frenzy before Greaves, Serlin, Tizzard and drummer Sammy Kohn launched into staple Watchmen set opener "Boneyard Tree" from the band's breakout album, In The Trees.

Despite a few forgivable hiccups, no doubt the result of such a lengthy hiatus, the guys blazed through songs off each of the band's five albums, the highlights being the ever-popular "All Uncovered," "Stereo," "On My Way," "Middle East" and pre-encore set closer "Brighter Hell."

Many times throughout the course of the nearly two-hour set, a gum-chewing and sweat-laden Greaves would step back from the microphone to let the crowd take care of the chorus, seeing as how, to his amusement, they were overpowering him anyway. At one point, two female fans, obviously reverting back to their sorority years, joined the band on stage, dancing away until eventually being ushered off with a peck from Tizzard.

But what made the night was not the three encores, deafening sound, surprising cohesion or overwhelming amount of Winnipeg civic pride deep in the heart of downtown Toronto. Instead — and this admittedly sounds super-corny — it was the smiles: the smiles flashed between band members, the drunken perma-grins plastered to the faces of fans who knew all the words, and the smile the show brought to my face thanks to the memories the music evoked. While the show wasn't the tightest they've ever played, it may have been their most memorable.

"I'm just really happy to be here," Greaves repeated a few times near the beginning. And he meant it.

Bands break up. People grow apart. Shit happens. Once in awhile, though, when the stars align, if only for two nights, we get to pretend that good things don't end. Until 1:30 a.m., that is. And for the first time in a long time, 1:30 came too early.