Bands Seen

  Replacements

Date:

Saturday, May 02, 2015

Venue:

Eagles Ballroom

Location:

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Notes:

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL:

The Replacements less reckless, more reliable at sold-out Rave's Eagles Ballroom show

It's been 24 years since its last tour, but the Replacements actually sound pretty good, at least the band did Saturday at a sold-out show at the Rave's Eagles Ballroom.

But isn't that a bad thing, fans may ask.

Sure, we've naturally come to expect competence from our professional rockers. But as much as the Replacements was and is respected for its seminal catalog, the punk act is just as fondly remembered for its sloppy, drunken, unpredictable live shows. Here's a band once on the cusp of mega stardom in 1986, and it played "Saturday Night Live" so wasted that it was banned from the show for life.

But there were consequences to its recklessness: Founding guitarist Bob Stinson died from organ failure in 1995 following years of substance abuse.

These days, the Replacements — featuring original frontman Paul Westerberg and Bob's brother and original bassist Tommy Stinson, plus new guitarist David Minehan and new drummer Josh Freese — is playing sober. That's, of course, wonderful, but the dangerously raucous Replacements that once was can never be again.

Nevertheless, the band, Westerberg in particular, still channeled the old Replacements spirit in several ways Saturday. For one, the 85-minute set felt unpredictable, largely because the band didn't seem to always know what was next, making apparent changes to the set list on the fly. And while the songs were performed with minimum hiccups, they sounded raw and unpolished, just as the fans love them.

And the band's one-of-a-kind, simultaneously flippant and endearing attitude is still intact, thanks to Westerberg. His banter suggested he didn't want to be there. At the end of "Waitress in the Sky," he charged Minehan like he was going to strangle him. During the low-key, gender-bending ballad "Androgynous," he took a drag from his cigarette, then flicked it at Freese. During that same song, Westerberg sang like a drunkard hitting the karaoke machine at last call. The Replacements, though, is one of those rare acts where intentionally ugly vocals are celebrated, so thousands of fans belted along, most of them in better key than the singer on stage.

What's gained from a reliable Replacements, though, is a greater emphasis on what make the songs so special, like Westerberg's wild whistle that sounds like a DJ scratching vinyl at the start of "Color Me Impressed," or the sprinting, surf-rock-inspired guitar riffs of "I'm in Trouble" (masterfully executed by Minehan).

Then there's the diversity — from arena anthem for outcasts "Bastards of Young" to country tune "Waitress." Few other bands could pull off all these styles, and at the same time create a style of its own making, quite like the Replacements.

Another upside to dependability: The band actually made it through two encores, and Westerberg seemed giddy to make it through "Little Mascara" ("Twenty-five years, and that's the first time that came out right," he quipped.) And when he came out to perform "Skyway" alone on electric guitar, the effect was surprisingly beautiful. Now that's a term that's never used to describe the Replacements.

But then again, this isn't exactly the same band.

Saturday's show was by far the biggest ever for Milwaukee-based opener Midnight Reruns. Great connections led to the gig: Reruns and the Replacements share a manager in Milwaukee native Ben Perlstein, and Stinson is producing Reruns' forthcoming album. But the band deserved the slot. Garage rockers like "Going Nowhere" translated well to the ballroom, and the unreleased material played Saturday suggests the band has upped the ambition.

THE TAKEAWAYS

■ Beyond its own songs, the Replacements briefly covered the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" and '50s R&B diddy "My Boy Lollipop"; played snippets of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," Chuck Berry's "Maybellene" and Black Sabbath's "Iron Man"; and came on stage to Jerry Lee Lewis' country song "What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)."

■ Standout banter: "We've got to hurry up. We've got a boxing match to watch." — Paul Westerberg, referring to Saturday's Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao title bout.

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MILWAUKEEMAG.COM

During the band’s initial run in the ‘80s, The Replacements were notorious drunks on stage. They often became so inebriated that it was astonishing that the guys could even stay upright, let alone finish its songs. That wild, youthful ferocity was arresting and contagious, but the Minneapolis power pop band would never have been so revered or influential if there weren’t catchy melodies underneath all the slop. The Replacements put out a string of five groundbreaking albums during that decade—the howling punk rock of Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, the scrappy country twang of Hootenanny, the genre-bending masterpiece of Let It Be, the rock anthems of Tim and the polished, more mature power pop sound of Pleased To Meet Me—before ultimately dropping off and calling it quits during 1991’s infamous onstage meltdown at Grant Park in Chicago.

Irreconcilable creative differences between remaining founding members Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson made a reunion seem unlikely. But after coming together and recording a benefit EP for former guitarist Slim Dunlap in 2013, Westerberg and Stinson reformed onstage for the first time in 22 years at Riot Fest in Toronto. On Saturday night at The Rave (or as Westerberg referred to it, “This Eagles thing or whatever”) performed its highly-anticipated comeback show in Milwaukee, featuring selections from its impressive, wide-reaching catalog, this time without the drunken chicanery of its past but still with a certain manic (and sometimes sloppy) energy.

But before the reunion commenced, the packed crowd was treated to a particularly spirited set from Milwaukee’s own Midnight Reruns, who were perhaps the perfect local openers for the Replacements. Stinson himself recorded the band’s forthcoming sophomore album, but even without that connection, it’s clear that any Replacements fan would instantly fall for Midnight Reruns’ big guitar hooks and catchy vocal melodies. Sometimes bands can’t find the same energy on a bigger stage that comes easier when playing smaller, more intimate clubs, but Midnight Reruns did not experience that problem. Its songs sounded huge and demanded attention. They were strikingly given 45 minutes and they did not fold under the pressure. It’s hard not to be nervously excited for their promising future.

It was an auspicious sign that The Replacements took the stage to “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me).” The appropriate and personal selection foreshadowed what would be a wild and momentous evening. The band kicked it in high gear from its early beginnings with a blistering rendition of the opening track from its debut album, “Takin’ a Ride,” and didn’t let go of the wheel, going straight into “Favorite Thing,” “Color Me Impressed” and “Seen Your Video” from there. The frantic pace felt dizzying. The first thing from Stinson’s mouth during a break was a gleeful, “hehehe.”

The usual complaints regarding poor, muddled sound interminably lobbed at the cavernous Eagles Ballroom were unfounded here. The Replacements sounded incredible when they wanted to sound incredible and sounded messy and uncoordinated when they wanted to sound messy and uncoordinated. Near the middle of the set, things began to unravel, but that felt like the point. While the drunken shenanigans are firmly in the bands’ past, that same unpredictable energy remains. Westerberg lit a cigarette to sing the loose ballad “Androgynous” and after drinking from a paper cup, explained, “It’s tea.”

Interspersing the set with a handful of disorderly covers (in typical fashion), including Chuck Berry’s “Maybellene,” The Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back” and Barbie Gaye’s “My Boy Lollipop,” The Replacements tightened up again and closed the initial set with three massive sing-along anthems “Can’t Hardly Wait,” “Bastards of Young,” and “Never Mind.” It was an overwhelming and cathartic moment. The band returned twice for delightful encores, but after 27 songs over an hour and a half, there was little left to give. In the end, it was an absolute joy to simply be a passenger on the Replacements’ supremely fun, wild ride.

Alternative Pop, Alternative Rock, Anti-Folk, Hardcore Punk, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, New Wave, Pop Rock, Post-Punk, Power Pop, Punk, Punk Rock, Rock, Roots Rock, Singer-Songwriter, and Permanent Wave.

Photos

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  Uploaded by Driver 8

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  Uploaded by Driver 8

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  Uploaded by Driver 8

Seen By:

Driver 8
Troy Peteri