I’ll be honest: though I enjoyed their music back in the day, I haven’t really thought that much about The Headstones in recent years. While the band hasn’t really been in the spotlight since their ’90s heyday and frontman Hugh Dillon is just as likely to be known for his various acting roles these days, there was still a large contingent coming out on a snowy Thursday evening to see the band, proving that they’re still a going concern for a lot of people.
“What’s goin’ on, motherfuckers and motherfuckees? Let’s get this fuckin’ show on the road!” announced Dillon as they took to the stage and it left me wondering … what exactly is a motherfuckee? Isn’t that just a mother? Was this Hugh Dillon’s way of welcoming all of the moms and dads who came out to the show while also trying to make it sound more badass? Considering that this was a bit of an older crowd (Dillon was surprised to see someone who looked to be about 19 in the crowd), there probably were a bunch of moms and dads in attendance, so who knows, maybe it was.
Putting aside any theories I may have about Dillon’s creative use of the f-bomb, the band played a set of straight up, meat and potatoes rock that went over quite well with a crowd who, having made their way through some not-so-great weather to get there, were definitely in the mood to party. Aside from playing all of their hits, Headstones played a few covers (Travelling Wilburys, Kenny Rogers, Rancid) and threw some snippets of several other songs into their own numbers, including a few nods to fellow Kingstonians The Tragically Hip. They closed things out with “Cemetery” off of their first album, which left me pondering how a jokey song about necrophilia was ever released as a single that got airplay on MuchMusic back in the day. The ’90s were a weird time, man …