A few songs into the Constantines’ set, Bry Webb welcomed the crowd to the last leg of their “wearing out our welcome tour.” It’s true, the band has played Toronto quite a few times over the last year and a bit, with a pair of shows at the Danforth Music Hall, a gig opening for Arcade Fire and a chance to take the stage at Massey Hall, but they’ve hardly worn out their welcome. That much was made clear by the crowd’s response on the first of two nights at Lee’s Palace in celebration of the venue’s 30th birthday, with the audience enthusiastically shouting along the words to many of the songs throughout the night. Even without the balloons on display throughout the venue, there was a bit of a party vibe going on.
For his part, Webb didn’t say much in honour of the occasion. “I don’t know what to say. We’ve played here a lot … it’s a good place to play.” He also rather humbly noted that while he’s got a lot of energy in the first 3 or 4 songs, “then it mellows out a bit.” A Constantines show is many things, but mellow is not the word I’d use to describe it. And even if the band were mellowing out a bit, the fans will probably pick up the slack, just like they did during “On To You” when Webb and everyone else in the band forgot the lyrics. No problem – Webb just handed the mic to the audience and they had it covered. The fans who took the lead on that one probably had their night made and it seemed like The Cons were enjoying it too. “Thank you. That made my year,” said Webb. “We’re all Constantines.”