The Weakerthans heat up the Sonic Boom basement

The Weakerthans managed to pack the basement of Sonic Boom Records for a supper-hour in-store performance Wednesday night. I was just as excited to see them as everyone else in the sweaty basement.

The band is in town promoting their newest release Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre, a CD/DVD combination recorded during their tour last year. They are also here to see an art exhibit at The Sixth (1642 Queen St. West) featuring artwork by bassist Greg Smith. This is the same gorgeous artwork featured in the new album.

The last (and first!) time I saw The Weakerthans was last April when they played a string of dates at the Pheonix Concert Theatre with the Constantines during their cross-Canada tour. Having been a long-time fan of the band, the show at the Phoenix blew me away, but there was something special about being able to see this amazing band at eye-level in the basement of a great independent record store. It just felt right.

Their set was short but incredibly sweet. The beautiful spring temperatures outside and the large crowd in the small space caused most people to break a sweat after only a few songs. It's hard for me to pick a best song from the set since they were all fantastic, but Aside from Fallow, Plea From a Cat Named Virtue from Reconstruction Site, and Tournament of Hearts from Reunion Tour (their most recent studio album) stand out in my mind.

Check out Greg Smith's exhibit at The Sixth at 1642 Queen St. West. The Weakerthans will be returning to Toronto on May 26 for a show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. For information about more in-store performances at Sonic Boom (like the Black Lips show coming up this Sunday), check out their website.