The young-ish crowd at Lee’s Palace was in full party mode to celebrate Sheezer’s 4th annual Halloween show. Most were dressed up even if it were just a tail, cat ears or a mask purchased from Dollarama. Props goes out to the girl who dressed up as the Statue of Liberty (more on her later). Proof of age was apparent when a significant proportion responded to the lead singer of openers Patti Cake when she asked everyone “Who was born in the ’90’s?” followed by breaking in to a slowed-down cover of 1979 by the Pumpkins (on Halloween, go figure). A crowd favourite was a cover of No Doubt’s Sunday Morning that finished their encore. They were a fun, energtic party band that prepared everyone for the headliners.
Only because we’re all familiar with Weezer’s discography, here was Sheezer’s setlist:
In the Garage
My Name is Jonas
Undone – The Sweater Song
Why Bother?
No One Else (“This one is about women’s rights!”)
Tired of Sex
I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams
Holiday
Say It Ain’t So (crowd singalong)
El Scorcho
Suzanne
Hash Pipe (encore)
Island in the Sun (encore)
The Good Life (encore)
I can only imagine that being in a cover band must be strange for its members. From one perspective, it must be easy having everything written for you but also frustrating since you’re always going to have to wait for new material. There’s also the possibility of having an identity crisis. Do we play these songs with our own little added touch or do we do our best to imitate to a ‘T’? Fortunately, Sheezer seek to do the latter. They’re definitely no novelty though and know how to be self-deprecating and not take themselves too seriously. Between songs the drummer “I’ll tell you a secret. We kinda play the same songs all the time.”
Sheezer were all dressed as superheroes: She-Ra, Wonder Woman, Phoenix and the Incredible (She-)Hulk. They asked the crowd if anyone was dressed up as a Sexy Rob Ford, which got me thinking if this was at all possible and even if it were, they would definitely be winning some costume contests. This was as close as we got to see our beloved mayor in costume on this night.
Nevertheless, Sheezer put on a tight set with everyone having a good time and not just because it was clearly one of their favourite holidays. They invited three people in costumes on stage to read the lines of the party people during Undone – The Sweater Song including the aforementioned Statue of Liberty girl (see picture) who really got in to it even twerking at one point (God, I hate that word). One couldn’t ask for a better way to party on Halloween.