Absolution is Out of the Question: The Replacements Remain Unapologetically Raggedy as Their Music Remains Irreplaceable -- Chicago Concert Review

Concert Review

The Replacements
w/ opening act Smoking Popes
Riviera Theatre, Chicago
April 30, 2015 (also played April 29)
@@@@1/2 (for entire evening)

Absolution is out of the question
It makes no sense to apologize
The words I thought I brought I left behind
So never mind

The opening lines of "Never Mind," a song I've loved for decades since buying--initially on cassette--Pleased to Meet Me, the 1987 album that was my introduction to the Replacements, can serve as something of a microcosm for the concert I attended with a group of friends on Thursday night.

Lead singer and songwriter Paul Westerberg--accompanied by bassist Tommy Stinson and a couple replacements for Replacements of yore who are either dead, infirm or otherwise absent from the Back by Unpopular Demand semi-reunion tour--certainly left behind a number of words, and even entire verses, of songs from one of the most brilliant and personally-cherished catalogs in rock history.

I won't guess at the means or measures of inebriation and/or other impairment, but along with much lyrical butchering--though the music, likely thanks to the steadiness of drummer Josh Freese and guitarist Dave Minehan, usually sounded swell, even ferocious--Westerberg threw his setlist into the audience midway through (he seemingly wasn't much heeding to it anyway), bantered somewhat inanely with Stinson and the crowd, appeared to chastise and/or confuse Minihan at several points, stood precariously on a stool while singing "Customer" and ended the main set by performing "Alex Chilton" while prone on his back within an onstage tent. (See video below)

Which probably prompts many of you to say either "WTF?" or "Yup, that's the Replacements."

Or both.

During their initial 1979-91 run together, the Minneapolis band developed a reputation for drunk, disheveled shows that could be brilliant or awful or a good bit of each.

In addition to this legacy preceding them, it somewhat preceded me, as having missed a chance to see the Mats--a moniker derived from Placemats, itself derived from Replacements--in 1987 at the Aragon, I first saw them opening for Tom Petty at Poplar Creek in 1989 and at the Hollywood Palladium in early 1991, long after original guitarist Bob Stinson was fired for being too drunk even for the notoriously debaucherous band.

Though the Replacements would split up onstage at a free concert in Grant Park on July 4, 1991--I didn't attend despite being in Chicago on a trip from my then-home in L.A., but heard it on WXRT--I seem to recall the band edging toward relative professionalism by the time I caught them in concert.

And when the current foursome played at Riot Fest in Chicago in 2013--one of three shows representing the Mats' first performances since 1991--I was delighted by how good they were (as I wrote here).

That show was especially gratifying, not just as a glorious reminder of how much I love the Replacements' music, but because in 2005 at the most recent of a handful of solo Westerberg shows I've seen, his antics went well beyond silly and sloppy into truly disgraceful territory.

The latter wasn't quite the case on Thursday, at least not until rather late into the 90-minute set. 

Even with all the juvenalia Westerberg--who's now 55--and to a lesser extent, Tommy Stinson, exhibited, perhaps undermining the exalted place in rock's pantheon the Mats always deserved but never quite commercially achieved, the show was far more good than bad and I'm damn glad I went.

After another longtime favorite, the Smoking Popes--a great band emanating from Chicago's far northwest suburbs--opened the show with a fantastic 45-minute set that had me and my friends already satisfied with the evening's entertainment value, the Mats took the stage with "Takin' a Ride" from their 1980 debut, Sorry, Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash!, followed by "Hangin' Downtown" from the same LP.

Although these songs lack the brilliant lyricism Westerberg would develop just a few years later--the mid '80s trio of albums, Let It Be, Tim and Pleased to Meet Me are all just phenomenal--I thought the Mats sounded great, even tight, as they blasted the already paint-peeling walls of the Riv.

The Smoking Popes

The third song in, "Color Me Impressed," certainly did, and a great take on Tim's "Left of the Dial" had me rather ecstatic.

I was delighted when "Little Mascara" followed, as it is one of the most acute examples of Westerberg's wonderful way with words, such as on the ingenious couplet:

All you ever wanted was someone
to take care of ya 
All you're ever losin' is 
a little mascara

Thus, I couldn't help but cringe a bit when Westerberg couldn't make it through the song's first verse without flubbing the lyrics.

The rest of the show was a similar dichotomy, mixing songs I was simply enthralled to be hearing once again--"Nobody," "I Will Dare," "Can't Hardly Wait," "Bastards of Young," "Merry Go Round," "Never Mind"--with some "that's just them" sloppiness but also half-assed cover songs and genuinely asinine exploits. (See the Replacements' Thursday setlist from the Riviera at Setlist.fm)

My friends generally agreed after the show that the lunacy seemed legitimate--and likely fueled by excessive intakes--not some disingenuous attempt by Westerberg and Stinson to act half their age...and less. Although the tent episode seemed especially odd, given that the roadies just happened to have a tent on hand (and YouTube reveals the prop has been used on prior shows on this tour).

Yet with whatever intent the in-tent nuttiness was enacted, upon which one could imagine Westerberg being hastily straitjacketed into detox, the band followed it was a deliriously blistering single encore of "I.O.U."

All told, I couldn't help but sense that I was seeing the type of Replacements show I might have in 1985: sloppy, unpredictable, at times scintillating, others exasperating.

Never minding absolution, there was something forgivably appropriate about such a chaotic mess of a seemingly money-grabbing reunion tour by a band that never really cashed in, perhaps due to their own raggedy excesses.

To have them be on their best behavior and note-perfect--or at least more maturely deferential to substantive ticket prices and professional in a way I expect from most performers I see--may have been preferential in parts, but also seemingly wouldn't have truly been the Replacements.

At least of old (if not their theoretically more grown-up selves). 

As such, abetted by a sublime set from the Smoking Popes, devoid of just one song I really wanted to hear--"I'll Be You," which I didn't get at Riot Fest either; it was played at Wednesday's show at the Riv--and grading not so much on technical merit as overall enjoyment of the evening, if this wasn't truly a @@@@1/2 show for the ages, it was a satisfactory enough replacement for those of us now a bit more aged.

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Below are two clips I shot, the last two songs played: "Alex Chilton" with singer Paul Westerberg in a tent, and the show-closing "I.O.U."

Color Me Ecstatic: For 80 Glorious Minutes, The Replacements Show There is Still No Substitute -- Chicago Concert Review

Concert Review

The Replacements

at Riot Fest

other acts seen: The Pixies, AFI

September 15, 2013

@@@@@ (for Replacements)

Precious are those moments in life when you're struck by the realization that there is literally no place on Earth you would rather be at that particular instant than right where you are.

I've been fortunate to have had such a feeling a few times this year, including--a bit incongruously--Sunday night while standing at the back of a muddy field with 35,000 other people and no seating options in sight.

Sadly, my days of comfortably attending standing room only concerts--let alone festivals--are behind me, as though I still love great rock and roll, my legs, feet and back no longer share the romance if I'm unable to sit at least for a bit during a show.

This didn't miraculously change, nor did I expect it to in buying a Sunday ticket for Riot Fest in Chicago's Humboldt Park. There were also acts I love at the festival on Friday and Saturday--Smoking Popes, Bad Religion, Blondie, X, Dinosaur Jr., Violent Femmes--and even earlier on Sunday (Mission of Burma, Bob Mould), and while I would've loved to have seen them, I knew I would regret it physically.

So, truly, the only reason my friend Dave and I got tickets was because of the reunification of the Replacements, at this point specifically for Riot Fest at its three locations (Toronto before Chicago and Denver after).

I caught onto the Replacements in 1987, while in college and inspired by stellar reviews for Pleased to Meet Me, the album after the one I now consider their best--Tim--which itself followed Let It Be, oft cited in Best Albums of All-Time lists.

I whiffed at a chance to see a late-80's Mats--a moniker derived from Placemats, which itself derived from Replacements--show at the Aragon, but saw them open for Tom Petty at Poplar Creek in 1989 and while living in LA saw a show on their final tour at the Hollywood Palladium in early 1991. I was actually in Chicago over 4th of July that year, but with other holiday plans did not attend the free WXRT show in Grant Park that would end with the Replacements breaking up onstage. (I did hear it, as you can here.)

In the intervening years, I've seen singer and chief songwriter Paul Westerberg on various solo outings, during which he would play a few Replacements songs. But though his solo output was solid, even stellar at times--2002's Mono, released under the Grandpaboy moniker, is a highlight--he was a prime example of my The Power of Paul is Greater in Groups thesis.

I'd also seen bassist Tommy Stinson once as a latter-day Guns N' Roses sideman (a bit shockingly, he has been accompanying Axl Rose since 1998).

And given that original guitarist Bob Stinson (Tommy's brother) left the band in 1986 and died in 1995, his replacement Slim Dunlap suffered a stroke in 2012, original drummer Chris Mars either wasn't asked and/or interested in reuniting and his replacement Steve Foley passed away in 2008, this was really only half a Replacements reunion.

But it was good enough for me.

Great even, even if I was no more comfortable standing than during the preceding set by the Pixies (a bit more on that later).

With drummer Josh Freese, a veteran of NIN, GNR and A Perfect Circle, providing a solid backbeat and Dave Minehan sounding strong on guitar, it's quite possible this version of the Replacements is musically superior to the notoriously often-drunk-and-sloppy college radio favorites who never quite made it big.

Although the Replacements opened their 9:15 show a couple minutes early with a couple songs I didn't recognize--"Takin' a Ride" and "I'm in Trouble"--they sounded terrific, as did the outdoor acoustics, unlike for the Pixies, who had played on a stage in an adjoining field.

And once they started rolling through old chestnuts--largely from Tim and Pleased to Meet Me; see the setlist on Setlist.fm--I was rocking out rather demonstrably, in part to supersede some discomfort in my feet. But truly, to quote another legendary band, wild horses couldn't drag me away.

The Mats' take on "Favorite Thing," "Color Me Impressed," "Achin' To Be," "Merry Go Round," "Left of the Dial," "Alex Chilton," "Kiss Me on the Bus," "Bastards of Young" and more were every bit as good as I could have hoped.

Though Westerberg was communicatively-conscious throughout the set of the scheduled festival-ending time of 10:30pm, the band delivered a couple wonderful encores that took them 5 minutes past. Though I was hoping for "I'll Be You," "Hold My Life" was an even better surprise (neither was played in Toronto, though the setlists were otherwise nearly exact) and the show came to a delightfully rollicking end with "I.O.U."

Particularly because at the time finding post-show transportation seemed ambiguous at best--it proved to be a relative breeze--I was fine with just an 80-minute set (that saw 25 songs played), and so were my feet, back and legs. But if need be, I would have happily suffered through another hour of classic Mats material if they had continued to play.

The steady rain earlier in the day turned out to be a blessing in disguise as rather than aim for a Noon or mid-afternoon arrival, Dave, I and another friend got to the Riot Fest grounds at about 7:25pm. We caught a bit of AFI, a band I knew by name only. They sounded good, playing on the stage the Replacements would take over, but were vaguely similar to a bunch of other bands that seem OK but not Earth-shattering.

Though they were a perfect complement to the Replacements as another seminal '80s band with whom the alternative revolution may not have happened, the Pixies were plagued by a seemingly muted sound system, exacerbated by a few songs I didn't know (Pixies setlist here) early in the show.

But though bassist Kim Deal has left the band, Uncle Festerish-singer Black Francis looks and sounds much the same as he ever has, and indie rock gems like "Wave of Mutilation," "Monkey Gone to Heaven," "Debaser," "Here Comes Your Man" and "Gouge Away"--the song Kurt Cobain feared "Smells Like Teen Spirit" too closely resembled--were a pleasure to hear. Ironically, the sound was a lot louder after Dave and I wandered further back and found some softball bleachers on which to sit for awhile.

Taken as essentially a Pixies-Replacements double bill, rather than a full day or weekend extravaganza, Riot Fest was pretty cool, though I have no idea why they had a bunch of carnival rides and midway games, as only concert ticket holders were seemingly let onto the grounds.

But even in a pretty remarkable concertgoing year, one in which I've seem astonishing shows from the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney, caught a Springsteen concert at Wembley Stadium and have greatly enjoyed Soundgarden, Leonard Cohen, Bob Seger, Green Day, Brian Wilson, Fleetwood Mac, Depeche Mode and others, to see another of the greatest rock bands of all time--even if not yet rightfully acknowledged by the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame--for the first time in 22 years, this one made for memories likely to be irreplaceable.  
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Here are YouTube clips of "Hold My Life" and "IOU" posted by dephot, from whom you can find nearly a full concert playlist