EXPECT INTENSITY
Watchmen play Queen City Ex
Call the ’90s the new ’80s.
In recent years, the bands that ruled Canadian airwaves in that decade have made a resurgence, reuniting for tours or festivals, reconnecting with fans on social media and, in some cases, even releasing new albums. The 30- and 40-somethings of today can’t get enough of it.
The Watchmen’s Joey Serlin chalks it up to the quality of the music.
“I think there was a purity to that time in music in Canada,” says the alt-rock band’s guitarist from his home in Toronto, where he’s on a short break before joining up with his bandmates for more dates this summer.
“Music’s obviously changed a lot and how people consume music has changed a lot. I’m not saying music’s not honest and pure now, but there was an honesty to how things were done back then. It was very much put out an album and tour the country relentlessly, and the result of that was a relationship that was built and a foundation. That maybe goes back to why people are coming to see these bands 30 years later.”
Now with his own production company and indie label, Fifth Kid Records, Serlin says while he loves producing pop music, it’s missing the dynamic that happens when four or five people come together on stage to play.
“And I think people want to get back to that in a lot of ways,” he says. “People crave it.”
The response to this summer’s double bill with The Watchmen and I Mother Earth, another ’90s act, is proof. Even with The Watchmen’s long hiatus — they called it quits in 2003 — and no new material since 2001’s Slomotion, the band has hung onto their hardcore fans, which Serlin says blows him away. They do see new blood in the crowd from time to time, partly because their fans are now parents.
At a recent meet and greet, Serlin asked a young guest if his parents dragged him there.
“He said ‘No, I love it. My parents play you guys all the time and I’ve just fallen in love with the music.’ So I guess either parents are forcing their kids to come or they’re coming on their own,” he says with a laugh.
With this year’s release of the The Watchmen’s first live album, Live and in Stereo, new fans can get a taste of the catalogue. Serlin says the album is “a little gift back to our fans” and completes the band’s body of work. Recorded at the Burton Cummings Theatre in the band’s hometown of Winnipeg in March 2016, the record is a tour through The Watchmen’s greatest hits including Stereo, Any Day Now, All Uncovered, Absolutely Anytime and Boneyard Tree.
The band is sure to unleash those same songs at the Queen City Ex.
“Expect intensity,” says Serlin, who wants The Watchmen to be remembered for the quality of their live show.