
Last year around this time Old Ben was lamenting that I had missed the annual Soul Asylum show at 1st Ave. and even wrote a review for all the other 3WN readers who missed out. This year he made sure I went by forcing a ticket on me, and I'm glad he did. I'm not nearly the SA fan that Old Ben is but I truly enjoyed the show. Good strong vocals and Michael Bland on drums made up for the fact that the guitars sounded a bit muddled to my aging ear. I don't have the background knowledge for a decent review but I do have the next best thing--a copy of a set list from the show. (If you have never gotten a set list before they are pretty cool to have. Each band member has one taped to the floor by their mic and you have to find a sympathetic roadie who will toss you one as they break down the stage but I always consider it a bit of a score when I get one.)
Tho it will likely appall Old Ben (and maybe Hammer too) the highlight of the show for me is there in the encore--their cover of "Just Like Heaven" by the Cure. Soul Asylum was big when I was first living in Minneapolis but I was always more of a Replacements, Suburbs, and Trip Shakespeare fan as far as local music was concerned. But I was also a big Cure fan so "Just Like Heaven" hit much closer to home than any of their originals did.
One last bit of Soul Asylum trivia. Back in 1993 they played at one of the inaugural balls for Bill Clinton. When I heard they were going to be playing I said to no one in particular "Wow, Dave Pirner finally made the big time." The Mrs. (not a big alt music fan) overheard me and said, "Dave Pirner, that's not Rose Pirner's bratty little brother is it?" I showed her a CD and she confirmed it was the same guy. Apparently she used to hang out with his older sister (maybe her name isn't really Rose, I don't remember) and he used to follow them around and bug them as little brothers are wont to do. She said he was quite the pest.
Labels: set list, soul asylum
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