For a 90s/Y2K indie nerd, does it get any better than this lineup tonight?!
Silversun Pickups
First up are LA’s Silversun Pickups, visiting the 514 for a third year in a row after headline shows at Theatre Beanfield in 2024 and 2025. Both were great, and show just how good this band is as a headliner, so it’s quite the contrast to see them coming onstage at 6.55pm for a quick 5-song 30-minute set! The rumbling bass riff of Well Thought Out Twinkles kicks things off in trademark ferocity, before The Wreckage takes a moodier turn. The early birds assembled at Place Bell join in a big clapalong on Dots and Dashes (Enough Already), frontman Brian Aubert’s guitar solo along the front of the stage melting into the ringing bass intro of Panic Switch, which is as massive as always. After Brian encourages all to “be nice to each other, decency is punk as f***!”, the grandiose Lazy Eye closes the all-too-short set. All killer, no filler!
Setlist
- Well Thought Out Twinkles
- The Wreckage
- Dots and Dashes (Enough Already)
- Panic Switch
- Lazy Eye
The Shins
“All killer no filler” would perfectly describe the next set of the night too. I have loved The Shins ever since I stumbled across their 2003 Chutes Too Narrow record, and an unreal headline slot in a small tent at Leeds Festival in 2004 affirmed that I will love this band forever. I was out of the country the last time they came to Montreal in 2022, so I have to go back to 2013 to the last time I saw them, at a flawless set at Metropolis. With only 50 minutes allotted, it’s a bona fide greatest hits set, starting with the euphoria of Simple Song, running into the classic Australia, and then the country-tinged Gone For Good. 3 songs in, and my voice already toast from the singing.
Keyboardist Patti King (who I could have sworn was Blake Lively at first) takes to the violin on Saint Simon, which is so beautiful it sends shivers down my spine and goosebumps down my arms, and Kissing The Lipless isn’t far off either, making that transition from acoustic to monstrous to acoustic absolutely seamless. Caring Is Creepy has me in bits too.
The classics keep coming too. The band incite a big singalong to close out Phantom Limb, and the audience participation kicks up a notch further on New Slang, a sea of phone lights illuminating the room, much to the delight of the band. Frontman James Mercer effuses “thanks for the lights; the lights of Laval!” The set closes out with the wonderful Sleeping Lessons, which fuses with a chorus of It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) by R.E.M. at one point; James even nails one of the verses as well (yeah, I thought of the scene from Tommy Boy too)!
James assures us mid-set that “we’ll be coming through on our own next year, let’s catch up!” Mark my words guys, you don’t wanna miss it!
Setlist
- Simple Song
- Australia
- Gone for Good
- So Now What (Flipped)
- Saint Simon
- Heartworms
- Kissing the Lipless
- Caring Is Creepy
- Phantom Limb
- New Slang
- Sleeping Lessons
Weezer
I could probably go home happy right now, but the night is still not over; it’s on to the legendary Weezer to close out the night, back in Montreal for the first time since 2019 (https://montrealrocks.ca/weezer-pixies-bell-centre/). The tour is billed as “The Gathering,” and to set the scene, we see a video of a school kid tricking the band (via some kind of mind control with an Infinity symbol) into playing a concert at his house. The stage is set up like a suburban back yard with a picket fence, and the band appear through the gate, acting confused as they see the packed Place Bell before them; they thought they were playing a kids house?!
The mammoth 26-song set only features 4 songs from the new self-titled 20th album, commonly called the ‘Gold’ album (the 7th colour in their self-titled record palette!), so there’s plenty of room for the bangers of the discography, of which Weezer have plenty. Surf Wax America gets the full-band treatment just 2 songs in (not just Rivers on acoustic like in 2019), and gets the pit bouncing nice and early, which continues through Keep Fishin’ and an ominous Hash Pipe, which sees flames blazing at the chorus in parallel with the dim red lighting that makes the place look like hell.
Frontman Rivers Cuomo drops in a few local references throughout the show that draws cheers every time. On Beverly Hills, Rivers is actually “living in Montreal, Québec”, while on Pork and Beans, he announces “Céline Dion knows the way to reach the top of the charts…” El Scorcho gets a double whammy with “Goddamn you half-Montreal girls” and “I asked you to go to the Arcade Fire concert!” Nice touch!
After the band blow out the transformers on the electricity pylons above the stage in a huge shower of sparks, the PA plays a phone call to the power company… which turns out to be Hydro-Québec! With the power out, the band gather near a fire pit in the back yard for an acoustic section, which starts with Longtime Sunshine, with guitarist Brian Bell blazing the clarinet, and is then followed by an unreal version of In The Garage, which quite literally brings a tear to my eye. Phones light up Place Bell for a true campfire vibe.
With power restored, a thunderous My Name Is Jonas sees flames and smoke stacks blazing simultaneously, and even a crowd surfer or two! It is swiftly followed by the Beach Boys harmonies of Aloo Gobi and the classic Pink Triangle, the solo of which still sounds absolutely incredible. Silversun Pickups bassist Nikki Monninger appears from the small house at the back of the stage in a gold cape for a 3-song cameo, covering vocal duties on We Might as Well Be Strangers, Go Away, and I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams.
And then, the 95-minute show closes with about as perfect a run of songs as you could fathom. First up is Undone – The Sweater Song, then El Scorcho, with its dual Montreal references and Rivers stepping back from the mic to let us sing the outro chorus, which we duly do, at the top of our lungs. Then it’s Say It Ain’t So, then it’s Buddy Holly, and a barrage of confetti from twin cannons by the stage, and more crowd surfers getting airborne atop the heaving pit. Finally, of course, it’s Island in the Sun, and a pile of inflatable pool toys, many of which get used for the final surfing runs.
It’s an unreal evening from start to finish, an absolute party; calling it “The Gathering” was a bit of an understatement!
Setlist
- Shine Again
- Surf Wax America
- Keep Fishin’
- Hash Pipe
- The Good Life
- No Other One
- Lonely Girl
- Slob
- C.E.O.
- Hoops
- Beverly Hills
- Across the Sea
- Longtime Sunshine (Rivers Cuomo song)
- In the Garage
- Pork and Beans
- My Name Is Jonas
- Aloo Gobi
- Pink Triangle
- We Might as Well Be Strangers
- Go Away
- I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams
- Undone – The Sweater Song
- El Scorcho
- Say It Ain’t So
- Buddy Holly
- Island in the Sun
Review – Simon Williams
Photos – Kate Woolliams
