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Beach Slang Setlist
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The Replacements' Tommy Stinson is having a good time, "laughing his ass off" on this LMAO tour, featuring his close friends:
guitarist Steve Selvidge, bassist/backup vocals Cat Popper, keys Tony Kieraldo and drummer Frank Ferrer. The band recently played a sold out homecoming gig at the Turf Club in St Paul last Saturday, September 12th.
Opening up was Midnight Reruns, from Milwaukee. The band played a few tracks from their self-titled 2013 debut album, but was also happy to preview some new tracks that Tommy Stinson produced. The upcoming record will come out in October. From the stories of the Stinson recording session, as told on stage by singer Graham Hunt, they basically shared a big bottle of whiskey and did nothing but guitar solos.
Next was Philadelphia's Beach Slang, playing some tracks from their forthcoming debut album Find People Who Feel Like Us (out October 30 on Polyvinyl Records), but throwing in a few tracks from their previous two 7"s (Who Would Ever Want Something So Broken? and Cheap Thrills On A Dead End Street).
You can tell right away that singer James Alex was really excited to tour with Tommy Stinson, even adding that "Every record I own is from here" (without naming bands, but we can imagine the Replacements, Prince and Hüsker Dü).
As for their music, it is a cross between The Replacements and Bright Eyes, complete with very passionate lyrics and high energy. It's easy to see that they've already built up a small fanbase, and it's fun to see some of their most dedicated fans jumping and singing along to this relatively new band.
They're still learning the ropes, one of the key mistake I witness was when Alex badmouthed The Police's "Every Breath You Take", saying how dumb the lyrics were. As soon as the boos came, Alex quickly backtracked and jokingly said what a great song that was. The best part wasn't the error in judgement, but the fact that their guitarist Ruben Gallego started playing the first few notes! Alex couldn't believe it and exclaimed, "that's f***ing amazing!"
They only had a 30 minute set, but at the last moment, they quickly decided to squeeze in a Jawbreaker cover, "Bad Scene, Everyone's Fault." Apparently they were scheduled to play a Jawbreaker tribute, but that was the only song they knew how to play.
As for Tommy Stinson, he was having the time of his life. According to Stinson, he just grabbed a few of his buddies and they're out on tour and writing and recording new music (including his new 7" for "Breathing Room", which they played mid-set).
While some fans were expecting Stinson to play some Replacements' classics, Stinson avoided playing any of those songs. That's fine, I don't think fans expected it as much.
Highlight of their set was for the encore, when the band came back in matching pepperoni outfits to playing out to a couple of Bash & Pop (the band that Stinson formed right after The Replacements broke up), including "Never Aim To Please" and finale "Friday Night (Is Killing Me)".
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Midnight Reruns |
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Beach Slang
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James Alex |
As for their music, it is a cross between The Replacements and Bright Eyes, complete with very passionate lyrics and high energy. It's easy to see that they've already built up a small fanbase, and it's fun to see some of their most dedicated fans jumping and singing along to this relatively new band.
They're still learning the ropes, one of the key mistake I witness was when Alex badmouthed The Police's "Every Breath You Take", saying how dumb the lyrics were. As soon as the boos came, Alex quickly backtracked and jokingly said what a great song that was. The best part wasn't the error in judgement, but the fact that their guitarist Ruben Gallego started playing the first few notes! Alex couldn't believe it and exclaimed, "that's f***ing amazing!"
They only had a 30 minute set, but at the last moment, they quickly decided to squeeze in a Jawbreaker cover, "Bad Scene, Everyone's Fault." Apparently they were scheduled to play a Jawbreaker tribute, but that was the only song they knew how to play.
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Tommy & Cat
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While some fans were expecting Stinson to play some Replacements' classics, Stinson avoided playing any of those songs. That's fine, I don't think fans expected it as much.
Highlight of their set was for the encore, when the band came back in matching pepperoni outfits to playing out to a couple of Bash & Pop (the band that Stinson formed right after The Replacements broke up), including "Never Aim To Please" and finale "Friday Night (Is Killing Me)".
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Tommy Stinson at Turf Club, St Paul (12 September 2015) |
