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Soul Asylum
A Concert Review |
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I wrote this about Soul Asylum the last time I saw them: "…
they sounded great, and as intense as the band was, it just didn't
reach into the audience. I'll give them A SHRUG this time around,
but even with that, I'm looking forward to seeing them in a smaller
venue, with their fans to maybe help them along a little more."
That was from a show earlier in the year where they were playing at
a radio festival. At that show I really couldn't figure out how a
band that could be so great on stage couldn't get the crowd into it,
and you know what, I still can't figure it out. But it was with
anticipation of a great show that I made my way through a driving
thunderstorm in late October. I hoped I wouldn't be disappointed,
and I wasn't.
I got to the Metro in Chicago about 30 minutes before showtime,
and as I got in the venue I was a little worried for the boys of
Soul Asylum because the place was basically empty. It was an 18 and
over show, and I was thinking maybe they should have let the
youngin's in, but it was still early, just time for the opening
band, and as they wrapped up their 30ish minutes of playing another
thought came to my head, "When did all of these people show
up?" All of a sudden the place was pretty crowded - not packed
but at least a better crowd than I thought would fill the place. And
now, it was showtime.
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I got a peak at the set-list just before the show, and was pretty
pleased at the mix-up of songs they were scheduled to play. They
were supposed to play a few songs from their new CD, "Candy
From a Stranger," as well as hit their more known radio hits
and some things from the obscure bin, but in any case it looked to
be a pretty cool night.
Opening with "I Will Still Be Laughing," it was good to
see a band that loves to play, and unlike the last time, this show
had a roomful of fans that definitely didn't seem of the "I
hope they play 'Runaway Train'" variety. And if that fan was
there, well, they didn't play it even though it was on that set-list
I saw. Dave Pirner sounded great, well, except when he blew out the
mike on ".. Laughing," and the band seemed to be having
just as much fun as Dave. They went from the hard rocking "Lies
of Hate" to the soft ballad of "Close," from grungy
alternative of "Somebody to Shove" to acoustical duet of a
way-cool version of "String of Pearls", and tossed in some
sing-a-long action during "Misery." And, oh yea, some
excellent covers of TLC's "Waterfalls" and Alice Cooper's
"School's Out." This time it wasn't just the band on stage
putting out the energy, this time the crowd joined in and it made
for a much better concert experience.
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Yep, I was singing along with everyone else (although I swear Dave
changed the last line of "New York Blackout" to "wake
up in a taxi at your door", but I could have been wrong),
dancing along, bouncing up and down, and having a good old time. But
who gives a shit if I had a good time, I'm just a reviewer - did the
crowd like the show? They sure seemed to, maybe even more so than me
at times, and no one seemed to miss "Runaway Train."
This time no shrug, but TWO "should be getting a lot more
airplay than they are" THUMBS UP!!! I was told before I went to
the show to "have fun." That was definitely not a problem
- I did.
That's it for this one, I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!! |
