York University, Ontario, September 8 99,
by Alan McGaughey

It's a long trip by subway and bus from downtown Toronto to York University, but for a free Watchmen show, I didn't mind it. I got there a few minutes before BTK played. I'm not really into that scene, but it was okay. There was hardly anyone within 50 feet of the stage. After they finished, there was a break of about 45 minutes before The Watchmen came out. A group of 50-60 people formed in front of the stage, with a few hundred more scattered behind. There were a lot of people in the beer garden, but it was a ways back. They opened with Rooster, which was very cool. I like it when bands open with a slow, brooding tune. The full set list at the bottom. Here are a few of my highlights: Lusitana has consistently turned into a longer version, with Danny doing what I think are some of his vocal warmups, and singing a few verses of 'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic' from The Police's Synchronicity album (which is awesome). Joey's solo going into the brige was totally different, I think it was because he had broken a string. Everywhere is Grey has become a set standard, and it's now really tight. Soul Stealer was good, and didn't include everything after the bridge. Instead of his usual a capella before the encore, Danny sang a song with Ken and Sammy playing in the background. It may be called "I am an Admiral" and it sounded really great. They played Incarnate, and something went wrong on Ken's bass, so he missed a part of the song while getting his other one. I knew they would close with Say Something, but didn't expect what happened next. Danny said "We're going to call a buddy up on stage. (slower) We are going to call a buddy up on stage". Then Ian Thornley from Big Wreck appeared. I was in shock. I had thought he might join them at Humble and Fred fest (which he didn't, he did however play with Big Sugar there) but this was a total surprise. Danny introduced him as "his name is Ian and he plays in a band - Big Rock". They played about a 9-10 minute rendition of Say Something which included some of "Walking in Your Footsteps" by The Police - also from the Synchronicity album. Also, there was a repeated singing of "I'm going forwards, looking backwards Virginia". This also appeared in Lusitana. I don't know what it's from. All the guys looked like they were having a great time on stage. Ken was at his prowling best and Joey and Ian traded solos. All in all, just a fantastic moment! I'm very glad I made the trek up to York.

Setlist:

Rooster
Boneyard Tree
Wiser
Lusitana
Any Day Now
I'm Waiting
Everywhere is Grey
All Uncovered
Come Around
Shut Up
Soul Stealer
Brighter Hell
Run & Hide
Stereo
(I am an Admiral)
Incarnate
Say Something