Say It Ain't So

After 6 years as an intermittent Weezer cover band, the all-female Sheezer was calling it a day. I went to the 2nd of a 2-night farewell stint at Lee's Palace on Friday. I have seen them since 2009 and though I did recognize a few familiar faces, it was hard to tell how many Sheezer regulars there were in the crowd. Their shows do have recognizable but varying demographics: some had mostly the kind of dudes you'd expect to listen to albums that were 20 years old, and others skewed young and college-aged. So I would guess that any given Sheezer show had a good majority of first-time attendees and this evening was no exception. But whether newbies or veterans, they were in for a treat.

Army Girls opened for Sheezer, like they did a few years ago (well, Donlands and Mortimer). Carmen Elle wryly asked the audience: "Do you like guitar music?" to some enthusiastic yeses. She demonstrated over the course of several songs her brand of fast punchy pop, though they did throw it a slow number. The addition of a bassist to the duo gave their set some muscularity.

How did Sheezer end their career? By playing every song from Blue and Pinkerton (except for Why Bother?) over a 20-song set. Some were rarely or never played (Across the Sea, Pink Triangle, Butterfly). For the die-hard Weezer fans, they even threw in a couple of b-sides (Jamie, Susanne, I Just Threw Out the Love of my Dreams). It was all sing-a-longs from the enthusiastic crowd for the first 40 minutes. As with any long set, it sagged a bit in the middle. But the energy picked up with the participatory Undone and stayed high for the last 4 songs.

Dana Snell and Laura Barrett were excellent but Robin Hatch was a stand-out on vocals. Her gigs with Dwayne Gretzky have honed her singing. She sneered and snarled through several tunes, proving that if she met River Cuomos in an alley, we'd know who'd have the bigger pair (of ovaries). Their encore had Hash Pipe (after some wag joked "play something off Raditude!") and a wonderful Only In Dreams. After the lights came on, and a group hug, Sheezer led the crowd in an emotional a cappella version of Butterfly. By the time they sang, "I ain't never coming back", the ladies were sniffling back a few tears.

A confession: I'm more a Sheezer fan than Weezer. Even now, I may recognize the songs but would be hard-pressed to recite any of the lyrics. So at the end of the show and after 6 years, I finally bought a Sheezer t-shirt.