Gonna Make You Sweat

Another spring, another Big Shiny Dwayne, where supergroup cover band Dwayne Gretzky sells out two nights at The Phoenix in their ode to all things 90s. I was there on Friday night to witness the packed crowd sang along at the top of their lungs. Perhaps D.G. has become a victim of their own success, as apparently the back was too crammed for enjoyment, not to mention fighting breaking out between drunk revelers. Well, there was still some room at the front. And although we had our share of obnoxiously drunk bros, an increasingly common sight at D.G. shows, it was mostly a love-in.

One nice change to Gretzky shows, especially these themed nights, was the inclusion of more genre of music than just male-dominated indie/rock. Some music snobs were a bit put out, but there was still plenty of Nirvana, RATM, and Radiohead for them. The rest of us welcomed Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Lisa Loeb, and Destiny's Child. There was also plenty of cheese of all type from Live (Lightning Crashes) to C&C (Everybody Dance Now). I prefer the 2nd kind myself because you can at least dance to it.

For the encore, they covered both Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys, including full costumes and dance choreography. Now that's fan service. I miss Robin Hatch (now with Rural Alberta Advantage) on keys/vocals, but lately the addition of the singers of The O'Pears (Lydia Persaud, Jill Harris, Megan Contini) has been fantastic.