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Mood Swings Setlist
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Twin City music scene veterans Run Westy Run just had their sold-out album release concert for Beyond Reason (Cardinal Drive Records), on Friday night, at the Turf Club in St Paul.
This is their first studio album since 1990’s Green Cat Island, so it’s a big deal to finally get some new RWR songs. The band has a big local fanbase, a few of them were outside the venue begging attendees if they had extra tickets.
To be perfectly honest, I was rather excited to see The Mood Swings. The band, featuring Ashley Ackerson and Sallie Watson, had not released anything new since 2009’s Recessionista. While the band would play on and off gigs, it seemed like they are fairly inactive since 2009.
During the Mood Swings’ hiatus, Ashley would spend more time in her side project BNLX, with her husband, Ed Ackerson (of Polara) - that’s why you saw BNLX albums (the album with their dog on the cover) at the Mood Swing’s merchandise table.
We caught BNLX’s very first concert at Sauce in Oct 2010, which we described, “Despite being just two persons (Ed and Ashley), BNLX had a lot of gear to setup. We're talking a few giant VOX amps and "crazy disco" lights, a Dyno-Fog 2 smoke machine, and a computer that served as backing music and drums. Surprisingly for their "first ever" gig, they seem to have it altogether. They played all their songs from their EP #1, plus a few new one. I don't remember most of them, but one of those songs was "Just Got Paid", which sounds promising.”
Sadly, when Ed passed away in Oct 2019, and I felt that pretty much ended BNLX as a band.
In July 2021, the Mood Swings announced that they are back, their first gig, post-hiatus was for a birthday concert in celebration of the late Ed Ackerson. We haven’t seen the Mood Sings since May 2008, so it’s really cool to see them playing new songs on Friday’s show. One of the new Mood Swings’ song was called “Rocket”, which was played in the middle of their set. Ashley said that the new song will be available in July 2023, as part of a series of 7 inch singles. I’m sure we’ll hear more about it closer to the date.
Before their set finale, “Generation Y”, Ashley introduced the band, with Mark Wade (from The Melismatics) on bass and Mike Reiter on drums.
By the time Run Westy Run took the stage, the Turf Club’s dancefloor was packed.
For those who didn’t know, RWR formed in mid-80s, and pretty soon joined the massive growing Minneapolis music explosion of the 80s and 90s: The Replacements, Husker Du, Soul Asylum, The Jayhawks, and many others. RWR never quite hit the mainstream, but for those into the local Minnesota music scene, they had their fans and supporters.
The three brothers, Kirk, Kyle, and Kraig Johnson - along with Terry Fisher and Bob Joslyn, signed to SST Records and released their self-titled debut album and the follow-up Hardly Not Even, both in 1988. At the height of their popularity, with the release of Green Cat Island, the band joined Soul Asylum on their 1990 national tour.
Run Westy Run quietly called it quits around 1995, although they never officially announced that they broke up. Then, after about twenty years, the band announced they were back with a holiday show at First Avenue in 2013. Kyle Johnson died in 2014, so perhaps the band-get-together was in honor Kyle. Anyway, since then, the holiday shows have become an annual event for the Westies.
Seeing the band on stage, for their Beyond Reason album show, especially the swagger and smile on singer Kirk Johnson, you can tell that the band loves playing live. They look like they are having a fantastic time. They act like they were rock gods, and the screaming fans treated them like they were rock gods…
As expected, the band played mostly new songs from Beyond Reason, including their lead singles, “Milkyway’s Mainframe” and “Christy Casino”. Many of these songs were written decades ago, but now collected and re-worked for the new album. Based on hearing them talk about these RWR songs, they have much more… so perhaps we’ll see another album in the not so far distant future.
Their three-song encore included some of fan favorite’s songs, including the final song, “Cockroach Park”.
While the band never became as famous as Soul Asylum or The Replacements… The band never gave up. In a recent interview with the Star Tribune, guitarist Kraig Johnson, explained, “Even though we never really had our big break back then or whatever, I still had a hell of a time. And that’s why I'm doing this now: It’s so fun.”
This is their first studio album since 1990’s Green Cat Island, so it’s a big deal to finally get some new RWR songs. The band has a big local fanbase, a few of them were outside the venue begging attendees if they had extra tickets.
To be perfectly honest, I was rather excited to see The Mood Swings. The band, featuring Ashley Ackerson and Sallie Watson, had not released anything new since 2009’s Recessionista. While the band would play on and off gigs, it seemed like they are fairly inactive since 2009.
During the Mood Swings’ hiatus, Ashley would spend more time in her side project BNLX, with her husband, Ed Ackerson (of Polara) - that’s why you saw BNLX albums (the album with their dog on the cover) at the Mood Swing’s merchandise table.
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BNLX (20 Mar 2010)
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Sadly, when Ed passed away in Oct 2019, and I felt that pretty much ended BNLX as a band.
In July 2021, the Mood Swings announced that they are back, their first gig, post-hiatus was for a birthday concert in celebration of the late Ed Ackerson. We haven’t seen the Mood Sings since May 2008, so it’s really cool to see them playing new songs on Friday’s show. One of the new Mood Swings’ song was called “Rocket”, which was played in the middle of their set. Ashley said that the new song will be available in July 2023, as part of a series of 7 inch singles. I’m sure we’ll hear more about it closer to the date.
Before their set finale, “Generation Y”, Ashley introduced the band, with Mark Wade (from The Melismatics) on bass and Mike Reiter on drums.
By the time Run Westy Run took the stage, the Turf Club’s dancefloor was packed.
For those who didn’t know, RWR formed in mid-80s, and pretty soon joined the massive growing Minneapolis music explosion of the 80s and 90s: The Replacements, Husker Du, Soul Asylum, The Jayhawks, and many others. RWR never quite hit the mainstream, but for those into the local Minnesota music scene, they had their fans and supporters.
The three brothers, Kirk, Kyle, and Kraig Johnson - along with Terry Fisher and Bob Joslyn, signed to SST Records and released their self-titled debut album and the follow-up Hardly Not Even, both in 1988. At the height of their popularity, with the release of Green Cat Island, the band joined Soul Asylum on their 1990 national tour.
Run Westy Run quietly called it quits around 1995, although they never officially announced that they broke up. Then, after about twenty years, the band announced they were back with a holiday show at First Avenue in 2013. Kyle Johnson died in 2014, so perhaps the band-get-together was in honor Kyle. Anyway, since then, the holiday shows have become an annual event for the Westies.
Seeing the band on stage, for their Beyond Reason album show, especially the swagger and smile on singer Kirk Johnson, you can tell that the band loves playing live. They look like they are having a fantastic time. They act like they were rock gods, and the screaming fans treated them like they were rock gods…
As expected, the band played mostly new songs from Beyond Reason, including their lead singles, “Milkyway’s Mainframe” and “Christy Casino”. Many of these songs were written decades ago, but now collected and re-worked for the new album. Based on hearing them talk about these RWR songs, they have much more… so perhaps we’ll see another album in the not so far distant future.
Their three-song encore included some of fan favorite’s songs, including the final song, “Cockroach Park”.
While the band never became as famous as Soul Asylum or The Replacements… The band never gave up. In a recent interview with the Star Tribune, guitarist Kraig Johnson, explained, “Even though we never really had our big break back then or whatever, I still had a hell of a time. And that’s why I'm doing this now: It’s so fun.”
Mood Swings |
Mood Swings |
Mood Swings |
Mood Swings |
Run Westy Run |
Run Westy Run |
Run Westy Run |
Run Westy Run at Turf Club, St Paul (03 Mar 2023) |
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