Toronto – Simply put, the Sheezer show was a lot of fun. It was one of those occasions where the band onstage is having as much if not more fun than the audience. Part of the reason for that is that we all shared one thing – we were fans of Weezer … or at least the first two albums. And The Garrison was packed with people who wanted to hear these songs, making for a somewhat sweaty endeavor. I imagine that probably half the people here tonight (and quite likely more than that) would not bother coming to see the real Weezer if they were in town. Although that could change if Rivers Cuomo’s plan to possibly do a Blue Album/Pinkerton tour comes to fruition – he’s obviously taking a page from Sheezer’s playbook. This is the beauty of Sheezer – members of various Toronto indie rock bands play only the classics from Weezer. Seeing as how Rivers Cuomo lost the plot years ago, this satisfies those who would rather not hear “Pork and Beans” or “Hashpipe” (although I’m pretty sure they slipped a few seconds of each song into their set) and essentially plays to everyone’s sense of nostalgia .
Speaking of nostalgia, before the band took to the stage, a steady stream of ’90s alt-rock was played over the speakers – Pavement, Hole, Inbreds, Plumtree’s “Scott Pilgrim” – to get us in the mood. Once they took to the stage, it was fun times all around. Most of the room was singing along to tunes such as “Say It Ain’t So,” ‘In The Garage,” “The Good Life,” and of course “The Sweater Song,” complete with friends onstage completing the spoken word parts. There were a few minor lyric changes such as switching out the Green Day reference in “El Scorcho” for “I asked you to go to the Weezer concert,” or Laura Barrett singing “My name is Janice.” These were pretty clever and made me laugh a bit, but not as much as I laughed at the guy who unsuccessfully negotiated a crowd surf and had to step off the stage with his dreams unfulfilled. I’m sorry, dude. I know you were getting all caught up in the ’90s vibe, but no one wants to lift your ass up, they just want to enjoy the show.
Sheezer is now my favourite cover band made up of previously established Toronto musicians. Sorry, Horsey Craze.