some time to return
The first concert i ever saw was the summer between the 6th and 7th grade. My friend and i sat in the outfield of midway stadium to see the local heros. The one's that made it from the 80s post punk scene. Soul asylum
Almost ten years to the day, i lept at the oportunity to once again, sit under the hot sun (this time of age and with beer in hand) to watch "the return."
This was a different soul asylum. Gone are the rolling stone articals, the massive MTV support and Wynnona Ryder. I was nervous. At an outdoor free concert, what would they play? Would they cater to the mixed crowd with only hits? Would they just preview the new album? Would they not be able to feed off the energy of a crowd outdoors?
I was pleasently surprised. NOt only did they play old hits and new songs, but they also dug deep into thier twin tone days. This was the Soul Asylum i could only have wished for.
It took them three songs to hit "Sometime to return," one of the most punk songs off of thier major lable debute "Hang Time." Call it their "Bastards of young." Dan murphy (guitar) walked up to the mic with a boyish grin and uttered "doesn't anyone remember punk rock?" before tearing into the opening riff.
Like my ex girlfriend's dress on prom night, they were on, and they stayed on all night long.
With the hard times this band has gone through, it's amazing their still around. In the past few years they've been dropped from their lable, lost homes to hurricanes and had to deal with the death of original bassist Karl Mueller. (Tommy stinson, his replacement was MIA, filling in with GNR). Karl was not forgotten that night though. Before the band played one of the best songs off of "Grave Dancer's," With out a trace," Pirner dedicated it to Karl. The absence of his friend was apparrent in his eyes and he sang "Love to see your face, left without a trace."
This isn't to say the conert was a downer at all. Pirner had a shy boyish look in his eyes as he swayed his hips to "Bitter sweet heart," and the 16 year old girls in front of me saluted him with cat calls and ass shaking.
Pirner made enough dedications to fill a book that night, as though to say "we know we've been through some tough times, and we have EVERYONE to thank for supporting us." Before tearing into the new single "Stand up and be strong," Pirner dedicated it to Eli, his (i'm guessing) year and a half old son. Eli came out on the stage with a hair cut resembling his father's and a T-shirt that read REnew Orleans. The crowd gave a collective Awwwwww as Pirner handed his son the mic and it didn't leave the shy child's hands once through out the new single. He began mumbling the lyrics as Pirner knelt down to sing with him, face to face, only getting up to shout the chorus with Murphy and then return. And the award for The Cutest Moment in Rock n Roll History goes to....
Soul asylum definately has a sence of humor around them, I think they have to to keep going. At one point Murphy stated "This is a song that was written for ring tones,' before nailing "Some body to Shove."
Over 90 minutes, they never fell short of amazing.
"The Silver Lining" which come out Tuesday with a very appropriate title, will be a giant pay off for the band. It seems they melded the twin tone days with thier columbia days in a way wich will keep new and old fans entertained.
It's about goddamn time!
The first concert i ever saw was the summer between the 6th and 7th grade. My friend and i sat in the outfield of midway stadium to see the local heros. The one's that made it from the 80s post punk scene. Soul asylum
Almost ten years to the day, i lept at the oportunity to once again, sit under the hot sun (this time of age and with beer in hand) to watch "the return."
This was a different soul asylum. Gone are the rolling stone articals, the massive MTV support and Wynnona Ryder. I was nervous. At an outdoor free concert, what would they play? Would they cater to the mixed crowd with only hits? Would they just preview the new album? Would they not be able to feed off the energy of a crowd outdoors?
I was pleasently surprised. NOt only did they play old hits and new songs, but they also dug deep into thier twin tone days. This was the Soul Asylum i could only have wished for.
It took them three songs to hit "Sometime to return," one of the most punk songs off of thier major lable debute "Hang Time." Call it their "Bastards of young." Dan murphy (guitar) walked up to the mic with a boyish grin and uttered "doesn't anyone remember punk rock?" before tearing into the opening riff.
Like my ex girlfriend's dress on prom night, they were on, and they stayed on all night long.
With the hard times this band has gone through, it's amazing their still around. In the past few years they've been dropped from their lable, lost homes to hurricanes and had to deal with the death of original bassist Karl Mueller. (Tommy stinson, his replacement was MIA, filling in with GNR). Karl was not forgotten that night though. Before the band played one of the best songs off of "Grave Dancer's," With out a trace," Pirner dedicated it to Karl. The absence of his friend was apparrent in his eyes and he sang "Love to see your face, left without a trace."
This isn't to say the conert was a downer at all. Pirner had a shy boyish look in his eyes as he swayed his hips to "Bitter sweet heart," and the 16 year old girls in front of me saluted him with cat calls and ass shaking.
Pirner made enough dedications to fill a book that night, as though to say "we know we've been through some tough times, and we have EVERYONE to thank for supporting us." Before tearing into the new single "Stand up and be strong," Pirner dedicated it to Eli, his (i'm guessing) year and a half old son. Eli came out on the stage with a hair cut resembling his father's and a T-shirt that read REnew Orleans. The crowd gave a collective Awwwwww as Pirner handed his son the mic and it didn't leave the shy child's hands once through out the new single. He began mumbling the lyrics as Pirner knelt down to sing with him, face to face, only getting up to shout the chorus with Murphy and then return. And the award for The Cutest Moment in Rock n Roll History goes to....
Soul asylum definately has a sence of humor around them, I think they have to to keep going. At one point Murphy stated "This is a song that was written for ring tones,' before nailing "Some body to Shove."
Over 90 minutes, they never fell short of amazing.
"The Silver Lining" which come out Tuesday with a very appropriate title, will be a giant pay off for the band. It seems they melded the twin tone days with thier columbia days in a way wich will keep new and old fans entertained.
It's about goddamn time!