The Weakerthans played in Chicago almost three years ago — on that day, George W. Bush was elected to his second term as president of the United States. Needless to say, Wednesday night’s performance at the Metro was a little cheerier.

The Canadian group is touring behind their first release in four years: Reunion Tour. And while several songs are about curling, a sport some refer to as “chess on ice,” on the new album, do not think that the Weakerthans are incapable of rocking out. Perhaps it’s John Samson’s early days in political punk band Propagandhi, or the three guitarists, but the band makes a mighty noise. The packed house bounced along to every chord and sang back every word.

The band opened with “Psalm for the Elks Lodge Last Call,” from 2003’s Reconstruction Site. Though the song is decidedly mellow, the crowd screamed in delight at the first few notes as the band triumphantly swung their guitars, trading riffs in their finest impersonations of rock ‘n’ roll legends. They followed this with their new single, “Civil Twilight.”

While the band played a handful of songs off of their new CD, they allotted the majority of the night for fan favorites from their previous three albums. The fans seemed to know the songs better than the band did, clapping along before the band showed them the rhythm.

The audience’s devotion was evident during the band’s magnum opus, “Left and Leaving.” The fans knew it from the first note, and when Samson began forgetting the lines, the fans continued to sing, leading every line for him. When the song was over he turned to his bassist, who rifled through his wallet. Samson then held up his bill and said, “I’ve never forgotten the words to that song before, so I have to give someone ten dollars,” and handed the bill to the highest hand. “There,” he said, “that’s a partial refund.”

The good cheer continued throughout the night, with the crowd demanding an encore until Samson came out to perform “One Great City!” and “My Favorite Chords” by himself, his band joining him at the end of the latter. Instead of ending it there, the band took every minute until the 10 p.m. closing time, delving deeper into their back catalog and surprising fans with old treasures. When they walked off smiling for the last time, the audience stood static, screaming for just “one more song!” until the house lights finally came up and urged them out.