{"id":8676,"date":"2015-07-17T15:13:49","date_gmt":"2015-07-17T14:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/feature-lights-out-at-the-elks-lodge-rip-the\/"},"modified":"2023-01-11T14:15:58","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T14:15:58","slug":"feature-lights-out-at-the-elks-lodge-rip-the","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/feature-lights-out-at-the-elks-lodge-rip-the\/","title":{"rendered":"Feature: Lights out at the Elks Lodge: RIP The Weakerthans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure>\n

It really shouldn\u2019t have come as a shock that The Weakerthans<\/b> had finally called it a day on Tuesday night. Their last studio album, \u2018Reunion Tour\u2019<\/i> came out in 2007 and they hadn\u2019t toured for a couple of years.<\/p>\n

But, like all the best things, it\u2019s the hope that keeps you hanging on; just one more tour or one more album to keep us happy. Now, for the time being, that hope has been extinguished. And that\u2019s what has hit the hardest.<\/p>\n

Like a cat, let\u2019s call her Virtute, forgetting her name and finding herself lost as she struggles to find her way home; that was me trying to reason out The Weakerthans<\/b>\u2019 demise. My initial response was, naturally, one of shock. The Weakerthans<\/b> had been a constant in my life for the last 15 years \u2013 almost to the day \u2013 and they\u2019ve delivered the finest quartet of albums over their 18 year existence you could imagine. I can still remember buying \u2018Left & Leaving\u2019<\/i> from a record fair in Southampton back in 2000. I can honestly say it changed my life.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

But, as I found myself listening through their back catalogue these last couple of days, it\u2019s noticeable just how much material they\u2019ve left us to help us get over their departure. It\u2019s like they\u2019ve been feeding us hints but we\u2019ve been too blind to see. Maybe it\u2019s just coincidence their last Facebook post, advertising a garage sale of their old unwanted stuff, echoes \u2018Everything Must Go!\u2019<\/i>, the opening song on \u2018Left & Leaving\u2019<\/i>. Either way, it\u2019s now a typically poignant reminder about just how great \u2013 and understated \u2013 The Weakerthans were. No fuss, just brilliant, poetic, music.<\/p>\n

Being UK based, one of the most striking things about being a fan of The Weakerthans<\/b> was that it often felt like being in a special, secret, society \u2013 our very own little Elks Lodge. Even down to the shows, it would often be the same faces, a little older and a little greyer, who\u2019d be in attendance; the guy who would shout \u201cThank you very much\u201d<\/i> after every song was at least three of the same shows I was.<\/p>\n

Sometimes there wouldn\u2019t be many of us either \u2013 a Birmingham show I attended was dreadfully sparse \u2013 yet they still played a killer set. But nights like that only increased the charm. You could guarantee every single attendee had obsessed over the lyrics, scrutinised the intonation and riddled out the meaning. If I was a lyricist who\u2019d spent months researching ideas, those are the sorts of people I\u2019d want at my gigs. On the other hand, some shows were mass sing-alongs and a huge amount of fun, the later ones with bassist Greg Smith, who joined the band in 2004 and retained the charm of a fan playing in his favourite band, some of my favourites.<\/p>\n

Their final central London show just happened to be the same day as a Bright Eyes gig. It meant two of this generations greatest lyricists \u2013 Conor Oberst and John K Samson \u2013 in town on the same night. One played The Royal Albert Hall, the other The Garage. I\u2019ll let you decide who played where. I\u2019d originally planned to go to see Bright Eyes with my girlfriend, but broke the news that there\u2019s no way I\u2019d miss The Weakerthans<\/b> if they were in town. It\u2019s probably the only time in 8 years we\u2019ve been to different gigs on the same night.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

So, what happens next? Of course, John\u2019s solo work will continue \u2013 or, at least I hope it will; if he decides to finish his music career that might be a bridge too far \u2013 but as he played some new songs just six months ago, that\u2019s unlikely. Stephen Carroll did an outstanding job producing the last Details record, 2011\u2019s \u2018Lost Art\u2019<\/i>, even contributing some guest vocals, so I hope he\u2019ll continue with this. If you haven\u2019t checked it out, I can highly recommend it, not least of all because they also feature The Home Team\u2019s Jon Plett.<\/p>\n

Bassist Greg Smith is a successful artist \u2013 he painted the cover to The Weakerthans<\/b>\u2019 \u2018Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre\u2019<\/i>. You can pick up some of his work on the Weakerthans\u2019 webstore if you have a big pile of money spare. He too has some solo material to his name. Perhaps we can expect more in the future\u2026?<\/p>\n

After a prolonged sense of sadness, I\u2019m feeling much better about The Weakerthans<\/b>, and their perfect legacy. It\u2019s rare for a band to have such a uniformly excellent back catalogue, but \u2018Fallow\u2019<\/i>, \u2018Left & Leaving\u2019<\/i>, \u2018Reconstruction Site\u2019<\/i> and \u2018Reunion Tour\u2019<\/i> are all masterpieces in their own right. \u201cSeems the most I have to offer doesn\u2019t offer much,\u201d<\/i> sang Samson on Utilities, self-effacing and abashed until the end. The truth is The Weakerthans<\/b> have given us far more than they could ever imagine.<\/p>\n

So, Samson, Carroll, Smith and Tait, smile and take your awkward bows while we, in the UK Lodge, toast our most important absent members. Farewell\u2026 until the Reunion Tour\u2026<\/p>\n

The Weakerthans<\/b> links: Website<\/a>|Twitter<\/a>|Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by Rob Mair (@BobNightMair<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It really shouldn\u2019t have come as a shock that The Weakerthans had finally called it a day on Tuesday night. Their last studio album, \u2018Reunion Tour\u2019 came out in 2007 and they hadn\u2019t toured for a couple of years. 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