I Think About This a Lot: John Rzeznik in the Replacements Documentary

Gorman Bechard’s 2011 Replacements film, Color Me Obsessed, feels like a fans-only experience. It’s made for someone who cares enough to know where the title comes from (“Color Me Obsessed”, off 1983’s Hootenanny, a record underloved even by Replacements standards), which means a high percentage of the ‘Mats fanbase. If you like the Replacements, the lovable college rock losers famous for their ragtag music, appearance and performances, you’re probably a big enough fan for a two-hour oral history film about them. The band and their music never appear in the movie, but we get accounts from friends, fans and collaborators who've been touched in some way. If you care what people like Chicago's Sound Opinions critics Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis think about the Replacements, you are going to love this movie.

But it’s not a moment from DeRogatis or Kot, or any of the film’s considerable cast—writers David Carr and Robert Christgau, actors Dave Foley and George Wendt, and producer Steve Albini among them—that I keep going back to. It’s the Goo Goo Dolls' John Rzneznik. The Goo Goo Dolls are one of many bands influenced by the Replacements (Rzeznik even co-wrote a Dolls song, 1993's “We Are the Normal”, with Replacements leader Paul Westerberg). But on the Color Me Obsessed web site they stand out among musician participants—“Hüsker Dü, Babes in Toyland, The Decemberists, The Hold Steady...and Goo Goo Dolls.” The Goo Goo Dolls are the only one of those bands with a platinum record or multiple Grammy nominations, plus the only one likely to get invited to perform at the Macy Day Parade, which the Dolls' Rzeznik and Robby Takac have apparently done three times. I don't know what the kids thought, but people who spent the 1990s in grade school seemed mostly startled by NBC anchors referring to “classic rock group” the Goo Goo Dolls, and/or Rzeznik's face, his heartthrob good looks now hardened by plastic surgery. They're the only band in Color Me Obsessed with a smash worldwide hit, 1998's “Iris” from the City of Angels soundtrack, plus a slew of radio hits, including “Slide”, “Black Balloon” and “Name”, more popular than the biggest songs by the Replacements or any other band in Color Me Obsessed.

But there they are in the movie, Rzeznik, Takac and drummer Mike Malinin, talking the Replacements. “The first time I heard Don’t Tell a Soul, I got a copy of it for my birthday," Rzeznik recalls. "We were sitting in our friend’s apartment...and I opened it up, tore it open, put it in the CD player...and I heard it, and I pushed the eject button, put it back in the case and threw it out the window. And I was like ‘No way! This is not the Replacements.’”

I imagine people who saw this in theaters laughing. Who invited Prom King here? Mr. Don’t Want the World to See Me thinks the Replacements sold out? Did the movie’s filmmakers invite him here to make fun of him? A friend I recounted this too sounded similarly disappointed by John Rzeznik's career moves (“Has he even heard Superstar Car Wash?”). But Rzeznik is serious. He loves the Replacements and felt betrayed by the overproduced, ballad-heavy record that sounded less like Let It Be and more like, well, the Goo Goo Dolls. 

Rzeznik’s moment is a touching realization that artists don’t think of themselves as the bad guy. Rzeznik doesn’t feel like the prom king. He feels like the kind of outsider who’d find solace in the Replacements’ songs about loners and coulda-beens. He's a capital A Artist who writes songs from the heart, just like Paul Westerberg, only Rzeznik’s connect on a much bigger scale. He didn’t write Dizzy Up the Girl to be a corporate rock poser. It’s just the record he was feeling at the time. Paul Westerberg wanted to write hits too, signing with a major label and filming music videos. We might view the Replacements differently if Don’t Tell a Soul was the hit Westerberg hoped it to be. Maybe their scrappy past would be overshadowed by the polished soft rock band behind hits like “Achin’ to Be” and “I’ll be You” (the opposite seems to have happened—2019's Dead Man's Pop box set attempted to rescue Don’t Tell a Soul’s songs from their 1989 gloss). Let It Be or Tim could have been their Superstar Car Wash.

In The Onion's brilliant Sting sendup "You Know, I Used to Be Kind of Cool Once," the author concludes "Then again, Eric Clapton, of 'Tears In Heaven' fame, really used to tear it up, too, come to think of it. Or, hell, just take Paul Westerberg. Now there’s one to ponder." If one of Paul's maudlin solo albums were a big hit, more Replacements fans might view him the way some Police fans view Sting's solo career, or Cream fans view Eric Clapton's. But since the Replacements’ attempts at major success failed, they get to be scrappy underdogs with devoted fans who line up to be in a movie like Color Me Obsessed. Maybe if “Iris” tanked we'd be watching a Goo Goo Dolls movie and laughing at an appearance from Train.

A Pace That Kills

A Pace That Kills

1. Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins, "Run Devil Run"
2. Van Halen, "Runnin' with the Devil"
3. The Replacements, "Run It"
4. Converge, "Runaway"
5. The Modern Lovers, "Roadrunnner"
6. Django Reinhardt, "Runnin' Wild"
7. Elvis Presley, "Run On"
8. Bruce Springsteen, "Born to Run"
9. The Coasters, "Run Red Run"
10. Daikaiju, "Laser Runner"
11. Le Tigre, "Let's Run"
12. Bo Diddley, "Road Runner"
13. Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Run Through the Jungle"
14. Sly & the Family Stone, "Runnin' Away"
15. Tom Petty, "Runnin' Down a Dream"
16. Link Wray & the Wraymen, "Run Chicken Run"
17. The Velvet Underground, "Run Run Run"
18. Kyuss, "Freedom Run"
19. Curtis Mayfield, "Little Child Runnin' Wild"
20. Pink Floyd, "Run Like Hell"
21. The Pharcyde, "Runnin'"
22. Iron Maiden, "Run to the Hills"

For ALN.

The Replacements, "Nowhere is My Home"

24 Days to Find a Home



"Nowhere is My Home" is a rare 'Mats tune, from import EP Boink, which only us superfans (and if you've heard the Replacements, how could you be anything else?) know. So imagine my shock and pleasure at seeing them play it at their magnificent return to New York, more than two decades after their breakup, in Forrest Hills last summer.

Produced by Paul Westerberg's hero Alex Chilton, it's about as 'Matsy as a song can get--scruffy, lovable, contagious and mostly ignored. The lyrics and poor mix underscore Nick Hornby's comment about Westerberg being "everyone's favorite coulda-beena-contender." It's a theme he immerses in, to say the least (years later, on the Beatles tribute I am Sam soundtrack, he covered, of course, "Nowhere Man"). "I can see the ship's full of holes / Even though with a heave and a ho we'll raise the sails" starts the ever-optimistic losers' anthem, building to the climactic chorus, an "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" for the Sex Pistols era:

"I didn't deserve it
To feel so disconcerted
Nowhere
That's my home, dear
Nowhere
Is where I'm from
Nowhere
Ain't too far from here"

How dreary to be somebody. And what a joy to be Nowhere with the Replacements.

Soul Asylum, "April Fool"

Soul Asylum got the worst of both worlds. They had too many hits to still be aligned with their Minneapolis indie rock brethren (Hüsker Dü, the Replacements), yet not enough to be one of the great '90s mainstream rock bands. Thus, as of late they're playing the Summerland tour with Eve 6, Spacehog and Everclear.

That's too bad, because they had some great songs that people never listen to because they can't remember if "Runaway Train" was by Soul Asylum or Candlebox. Dave Pirner's lyrics aren't as profound as I thought they were in 1993, but he's got a knack for melody--think Bob Seger to Westerberg's Neil Young. Plus, unlike the alt-adult contemporary groups they get lumped in with, Soul Asylum can really rock, as "April Fool" proves, loaded with an undeniable riff and a chorus that's no joke.

Oh Lucy, Can You Hear Me

Oh Lucy, Can You Hear Me

1. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, "Lucy"
2. The Replacements, "I Will Dare"
3. Bill Withers, "Lovely Day"
4. U2, "Even Better Than the Real Thing"
5. Shel Silverstein, "Dirty Ol' Me"
6. Monster Magnet, "Space Lord"
7. The Misfits, "Skulls"
8. Iggy Pop, "The Passenger"
9. Sinéad O'Connor, "The Emperor's New Clothes"
10. Ernie, "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon"
11. Têtes Noires, "Chains"
12. Stevie Wonder, "Boogie on Reggae Woman"
13. Pavement, "Date with IKEA"
14. Elvis Presley, "Don't Be Cruel"
15. The Meters, "Hey Pocky A-Way"
16. Bonnie Raitt & John Prine, "Angel from Montgomery"
17. The Weepies, "Gotta Have You"
18. The Rolling Stones, "Loving Cup"
19. Prince, "A Case of You"
20. Jane's Addiction, "Ripple"
21. Shane MacGowan, "Lucy"

Happy birthday, LAS.

Do Not Go Jenny Into That Good Night

Do Not Go Jenny Into That Good Night

1. Pavement, "Gold Soundz"
2. My Bloody Valentine, "Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)"
3. The Church, "Under the Milky Way"
4. The B-52's, "Roam"
5. Morrissey, "Suedehead"
6. New Order, "Age of Consent"
7. David Bowie, "Life on Mars?"
8. Nico, "These Days"
9. The Wrens, "This Boy is Exhausted"
10. Nick Drake, "Pink Moon"
11. Queen, "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy"
12. Nina Simone, "Pirate Jenny"
13. Patti Smith, "Dancing Barefoot"
14. The Velvet Underground, "Rock and Roll"
15. Têtes Noires, "True Love"
16. The Pretenders, "Back on the Chain Gang"
17. The Grateful Dead, "Ripple"
18. Soul Asylum, "Just Like Anyone"
19. Local H, "For Lovers"
20. The Replacements, "Nowhere is My Home"

Happy birthday, JA.

Têtes Noires, The New American Dream

As a rabid devotee to the music of '80s Minneapolis, I'm not sure how it took me so long to acquaint myself with Têtes Noires. Thankfully, writer Jim DeRogatis endorsed them on Sound Opinions, and I've been enjoying Têtes Noires ever since.



"Têtes noires" is French for "black heads," named for the band's hair color, and they released three indie-label studio albums over five years of touring*. Their second album, American Dream*, was recently remixed and reissued as The New American Dream, and I can't get enough of it. Years before anyone was called a riot grrrl, this irreverent sextet was reimagining punk rock (new wave? folk rock? help) with keyboards, violin, non-drum kit percussion, acoustic guitars, hand claps and up to six-part harmonies. The music is often upbeat, sung in cheerful voices locked in skintight harmonies graced by brash, subversive lyrics. 

It's rare to hear authentic punk music that you could put on a mix tape for your parents, which makes The New American Dream more dangerous than your brother's hardcore. Têtes Noires is the kind of band that can charm you into lowering your guard before landing one upside your head ("Recipe for Love," "Pretty Boy,") in a good way. The social commentary is sharp without being preachy, and relevant 30 years on ("Peace, Piece by Piece," "American Dream,") while the musicianship sounds tight but uninhibited. As songs like "True Love," "Moonie" and "Family Ties" earworm their way through me for hours on end while I struggle to catch up to them, I'm reminded of Ralph Ellison's quote about masking in Shadow and Act.

"It is in the American grain. Benjamin Franklin, the practical scientist, skilled statesman and sophisticated lover, allowed the French to mistake him for Rousseau’s Natural Man. Hemingway poses as a non-literary sportsman, Faulkner a farmer; Abe Lincoln allowed himself to be taken for a simple country lawyer—until the chips were down. America is a land of masking jokers. We wear the mask for purposes of aggression as well as for defense, when we are projecting the future and preserving the past. In short, the motives hidden behind the mask are as numerous as the ambiguities the mask conceals."

*Apparently their boisterous shows would sometime include a cover of Motörhead's "We Are the Road Crew". If anyone has a recording of this, please send it to me.
*Released in 1984, the same year as Purple Rain, Zen Arcade and Let It Be. What was in the Minneapolis water?

Back to School

Back to School

1. Brownsville Station, "Smokin' in the Boys Room"
2. Van Halen, "Hot for Teacher"
3. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, "School Days"
4. Chuck Berry, "School Days"
5. The Replacements, "Fuck School"
6. Nirvana, "School"
7. Kanye West, "School Spirit" 
8. Otis Redding, "Stay in School (Radio Spot)
9. "MC5, "High School"
10. James Brown, "Don't be a Dropout"
11. Lulu, "To Sir With Love" 
12. Rockpile, "Teacher Teacher"
13. The Smiths, "The Headmaster Ritual"
14. Fela Kuti, "Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense"
15. Cheech and Chong, "Sister Mary Elephant"
16. Pink Floyd, "Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)"
17. The Ramones, "Rock 'n' Roll High School"
18. Alice Cooper, "School's Out"

Five Great Songs from the Say Anything... Soundtrack (that aren't "In Your Eyes" or "Joe Lies")

My sister once declared that Say Anything..., which turns 25 today, was a definitive chick flick that guys will watch (she phrased it more eruditely than that, but you get the idea). She's right--maybe it's Cameron Crowe's screenplay, or the way it captures the aches of the male crush, or its creation of a world where a guy who spends his Saturday nights at a Gas 'n' Sip could date a girl that looked like Ione Skye. There's something about Say Anything... that gets through to the lunkheaded heterosexual male, more than perhaps any other film in Netflix's Rom Com section.

As with every Crowe film, us music nerds get the bonus of a killer soundtrack, doused with everything from Aerosmith's "Back in the Saddle" to Mother Love Bone and Soundgarden two years before the grunge boom (which Crowe went on to capture in his next movie, Singles). Of course Say Anything... is best known for the Peter Gabriel song in its most famous scene, and Lili Taylor's odes to her callous ex are probably a distant second, but its soundtrack has a trove of less-famous gems worth celebrating today.

1. Living Colour, "Cult of Personality"

It's a classic today, though there was no way of knowing that in 1989, when Living Colour were a relatively new band under producer Mick Jagger's wing. They're still a ferocious live band, and Vernon Reid is universally acknowledged as one of the world's greatest guitar players, but this is deservedly their most enduring song.



2. Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Taste the Pain"

Another band on the cusp of megastardom when Crowe picked them for Lloyd Dobler's tape deck, the Chili Peppers were streamlining the disjointed funk rock of their earliest albums on "Taste the Pain," showing hints of the songmanship that was about to peak on Blood Sugar Sex Magik.



3. Depeche Mode, "Stripped"

Like Crowe himself, Depeche Mode were experts at taking the artsy underdog to the mainstream, being lonely enough for Cusack types and sexy enough for the rest of the world. Arguably the male musical equivalent of "a brain trapped in the body of a game-show hostess."



4. Fishbone, "Skankin' to the Beat"

Now that ska has been raided and exhausted beyond repair, "Skankin' to the Beat" should be as dated as Fishbone's cameo in Back to the Beach. Thankfully, its got enough of a new wave touch to earn its spot in the graduation party scene, and justify the Fishbone logo on Lloyd Dobler's shirt.



5. The Replacements, "Within in Your Reach"

Crowe dug this one out from the second half of the Replacements' messiest album, where it hid next to a drunken cover of "The Twist." Performed entirely by Paul Westerberg, "Within Your Reach" is the only song in Say Anything... that sounds like something Lloyd Dobler would actually write, though I'm glad Crowe made him a kickboxing instructor instead.

Who wants to be the corporate rock bad guy?

I've been trying to find a clip from Color Me Obsessed, the sweet, fan-made documentary about the Replacements and their fans from 2011. The band doesn't appear in the movie at all, nor does a note of their music, but we get some great stories about the Replacements from artists, critics and music industry folks--favorite memories, life-changing songs and more from a select few who know what a special band they are.



Easily the biggest star in the movie is John Rzeznik, the famously hot lead singer and songwriter of adult contemporary pop-rockers the Goo Goo Dolls. It's a bit of a surprise to see him there between interviews with Steve Albini, Craig Finn and the Sound Opinions critics, even for those of us who know that the Goo Goo Dolls used to be on Metal Blade, back when they sounded more like the Replacements (and even wrote a song with one of them) than the neo-Bryan Adams band they are today. Like most of the other fans, Rzeznik has a heady and heartfelt love for the Replacements, but the scene that stuck with me the most was when he derided them.

"I bought Don't Tell a Soul the day it came out, and I remember taking it home and putting it on, and just a few songs in I took it out and I threw it away right there," says Rzeznik*. "I was so mad that the band I loved had gone commercial."

Since seeing the movie, I have told this story to two of my friends, and both of them laughed. Maybe you will too, if you have even a passing familiarity with the Replacements and the Goo Goo Dolls. The City of Angels soundtrack prom king is calling the beloved Left of the Dial underdogs commercial? Hasn't he heard "Bastards of Young?" Didn't he write "Slide?" Is he so unaware of his own awfulness that he thinks he can judge the Replacements? His eyelashes aren't even as great as all those girls think they are.

Maybe the filmmakers are laughing at him too, but I don't think they are. Rzeznik is completely serious, talking about a band that broke his heart as honestly as any of those metalheads who are still mad that Cryptopsy released The Unspoken King. Of course he likes the Replacements--who couldn't? There's nothing unreasonable about being disappointed by Don't Tell a Soul, especially on the heels of Pleased to Meet Me and with Matt Wallace's gloppy production. If it had been the hit it was intended to be, more of us Replacements fans would probably sympathize with Rzeznik.

The fact is that no popular songwriter, even the ones that sell millions of albums and have perfect cheekbones, is trying to be the big commercial bad guy. Famous, sure--even the Replacements signed to a major label. But nobody considers their own band to be corporate rock. John Rzeznik writes from the heart and has values about his music, just as Paul Westerberg does. Maybe one comes out sounding more produced and writes lyrics like "Could you whisper in my ear the things you wanna feel", but to Rzeznik and his fans it's no more polished and emotional than it should be. He didn't set out to be a cornball, but he just is, and he happened to connect with millions of middle schoolers and soccer moms. If it makes you feel more enlightened to enjoy a band that never had a gold record, go ahead, but don't forget that multi-platinum bands on Warner Brothers can be just as concerned about art and integrity. One fan's "Iris" is another fan's "I Will Dare."

*Quoted to the best of my memory.

The Replacements, "Valentine"

You wish upon a star that turns into a plane.

Our Bands Could Be Your Life

Jenny has never read Our Band Could Be Your Life.



Our Bands Could Be Your Life

1. Black Flag, "Nervous Breakdown"
2. Black Flag, "Rise Above"
3. Black Flag, "Gimme Gimme Gimme"
4. Minutemen, "History Lesson - Part II"
5. Minutemen, "This Ain't No Picnic"
6. Mission of Burma, "That's When I Reach for My Revolver"
7. Mission of Burma, "Academy Fight Song"
8. Minor Threat, "Straight Edge"
9. Minor Threat, "Minor Threat"
10. Hüsker Dü, "Don't Want to Know if You are Lonely"
11. The Replacements, "Can't Hardly Wait" (Tim Version)
12. Sonic Youth, "Teen Age Riot"
13. Sonic Youth, "100%"
14. Sonic Youth, "Kool Thing"
15. Butthole Surfers, "Human Cannonball"
16. Big Black, "Kerosene"
17. Dinosaur Jr., "Freak Scene"
18. Dinosaur Jr., "Start Choppin'"
19. Dinosaur Jr., "Feel the Pain"
20. Fugazi, "Merchandise"
21. Fugazi, "Repeater"
22. Mudhoney, "Touch Me I'm Sick"
23. Mudhoney, "You Got it (Keep it out of My Face)"
24. Beat Happening, "Indian Summer"

Jenny, who reads more than nearly anyone I know and loves punk rock enough for me to wish I knew her in high school, has never read Michael Azerrad's terrific account of punk and indie in the 1980s. Now that she has a birthday coming up (and is coincidentally visiting New York City this week,) I'm getting her a copy, plus a corresponding mix tape.

Rather than make a generic Best of Our Band Could Be Your Life, I tried to sculpt something more Jenny-centric. She probably already has Zen Arcade and You're Living All Over Me, but maybe not Candy Apple Grey or Bug. I hate to boil the entire Butthole Surfers' discography down to one song, but I'm guessing she'd enjoy "Human Cannonball" more than "Sweat Loaf." For some bands, like Sonic Youth, I'm providing the standard intro tracks, but for the Replacements, whom Jenny loves as much as I do, I had to dig deep and find a rarity. I like how "Can't Hardly Wait" sounds without a horn section.

Happy birthday, Jenny. Maybe the next mix will have "The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave."

Come Feel Me Tremble

Come Feel Me Tremble is an underrated movie about Paul Westerberg, released in 2003 to coincide with his album of the same name. It's sloppily produced, like most things Westerberg, but has some surprisingly revelatory moments about the usually reclusive songwriter, who appears to be alone in almost every shot, even when playing to his fans. Watch him talk about his WWII vet father, play Word Association with Replacements albums and fend off scores of audience requests (a dozen or so are for "Free Bird.") Best of all, hear him play solo guitar versions of scattered gems from his amazing career.

Back to School

Back to School

1. The Smiths, "The Headmaster Ritual"
2. Van Halen, "Hot for Teacher"
3. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, "School Days" 
4. The Mountain Goats, "Fall of the Star High School Running Back"
5. John Lee Hooker, "Teachin' the Blues"
6. Chuck Berry, "School Days"
7. The Replacements, "Fuck School"
8. Kanye West, "School Spirit"
9. The Dubliners, "Schoolday's Over"
10. Nirvana, "School"
11. Venom, "Teacher's Pet" 
12. Otis Redding, "Stay in School (Radio Spot)"
13. James Brown, "Don't Be a Dropout"
14. Paul Simon, "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard"
15. Elvis Costello & the Attractions, "Chemistry Class" 
16. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Catholic School Girls Rule"
17. Jerry Lee Lewis, "High School Confidential"
18. Muddy Waters, "Good Morning Little School Girl"
19. Jethro Tull, "Teacher"
20. Leonard Cohen, "Teachers"
21. The Ramones, "Rock 'n' Roll High School"
22. Pearl Jam, "Jeremy"
23. Deftones, "Pink Maggit"
24. Pink Floyd, "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2"
25. Gwar, "School's Out"

The Replacements at Riot Fest

Satisfaction is rock's greatest theme. One can date it back to the Stones, who famously couldn't get any, or maybe to Chuck Berry, whom Mick and Keith nicked that ageless chorus from. Anyone who remembers Muddy Waters singing "The Blues Had a Baby '(and they named it rock and roll)'" shouldn't forget that he predated it with "I Can't Be Satisfied," which may in turn have come from Langston Hughes' "The Weary Blues." The best musicians have been looking for satisfaction, with mixed results and questionable grammar*, for as long as rock n' roll has had a name. But perhaps no one ever did it as achingly as the Replacements.



Somehow, even as they took a bigger slot that they'd ever had during their original run (headlining over Iggy & the Stooges, holy hell,) playing a few highlights of their career and the entire college rock pantheon, they were nobody's cash-in nostalgia act. They were the goddamn Replacements, and to paraphrase their main songwriter, they rocked like murder.

No, they didn't throw up on themselves, switch instruments or play only covers, like their fabled awesome-or-awful club shows in the '80s. Nor did they defang themselves with a competent Greatest Hits Show. They just got out there and rocked, from the first-album-first-song roar of "Takin' a Ride" to an encore that included an Ethel Merman cover. Anyone who had scoffed at the band's choice to tour with just two original members (the same two who were still in the band when they broke up in 1991) wasn't there. Josh Freese, the only famous punk session drummer, and the Neighborhoods' Dave Minehan rounded out the lineup, playing every song as lovingly as fans and professionally as collaborators, with Minehan even learning the mandolin part of "I Will Dare" on guitar. Oh yeah, there was also Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson, sharing laughs and hugs, harmonizing on "Favorite Thing," jumping with their instruments like your dad pretending to be Pete Townshend after work in his garage.

Even when headlining a festival, they felt like rock's great coulda-beens, the same guys who showed up to SNL drunk and spent their music video budget on one long take of a sound system playing "Bastards of Young." Paul took a request for "Androgynous" and fumbled both the music and lyrics. He even flubbed the verses to "I Will Dare," which would be like watching Morrissey screw up "How Soon is Now?" (come to think of it, not an improbable circumstance.) That willful inconsistency was a luxury that Minehan and Freese couldn't afford, and it wasn't always charming, even from lovable underdogs like Westerberg and Stinson. But it was authentic punk, from every note of Paul's strained, heartfelt whistling on "Color Me Impressed" to a joyously loud "Bastards of Young." By the time they ran out of jokes and practically gushed out the classics--my god, "Little Mascara," "Left of the Dial" and "Alex Chilton"--they were elating us by the thousands.

From the stage, The Replacements sounded like their mid-career prime. After kicking in the alterna-rock door with the hardcore shrieks of Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, the 'Mats became increasingly streamlined with every album before bowing out on the sleepy All Shook Down. Their two best albums, Let it Be and Tim, came in the middle of that transformation, where the band found a perfect storm of their scrappy punk and arena-sized choruses. But live, it all could have come from those magic couple of years, without the studio mishaps of Hootenanny or the layered guitars and superfluous horn section of Pleased to Meet Me. Even when Paul and Tommy were tripping over themselves, they sounded better than ever. "I'm in Trouble" became an anthem and "Can't Hardly Wait" became garage punk. Covers of Chuck Berry's "Maybelline" and Sham 69's "Borstal Breakout" could've been Westerberg originals. "Swingin' Party" was dedicated to ex-guitarist Slim Dunlap, whose recent stroke inspired the Replacements' comeback benefit EP, Songs for Slim.

Closing with "I.O.U.," the band thrashed harder than they had all night, perhaps in honor of the artist Westerberg wrote the song about (who had just melted our faces with "Raw Power" two hours earlier.) "I owe you nothing," was the last lyric of the night, and they were right. They owed us nothing. But they gave it to us anyway, complete with some of the best songs that anyone ever found left of the dial.

Update 9/8/13: IcyDaylight has a wonderful post on the same show: Never take me anywhere but here. 

*"My own creed is 'It’s simple or impossible.' To date I’ve written more than 1,000 impossibles. Note that I didn’t say 'impossibilities — incorrect grammar is highly useful. I would never have written a song called “Dis-satisfied.” --Paul Westerberg

When I'm With You I Have Fun

Souvenir mix from this year's Riot Fest in Toronto. Put together with an effort to include songs that were performed, to include songs that my traveling companion might not already own.



When I'm With You I Have Fun

1. Best Coast, "Boyfriend"
2. Best Coast, "Crazy for You"
3. Best Coast, "Our Deal"
4. Best Coast, "Goodbye"
5. Dinosaur Jr., "Sludgefeast"
6. Dinosaur Jr., "Freak Scene"
7. Dinosaur Jr., "Feel the Pain"
8. Dinosaur Jr., "The Lung"
9. Rocket from the Crypt, "The Middle"
10. Rocket from the Crypt, "Born in '69"
11. Rocket from the Crypt, "On a Rope"
12. Rocket from the Crypt, "Come See, Come Saw"
13. The Weakerthans, "One Great City!"
14. The Weakerthans,"Reconstruction Site"
15. The Weakerthans,"Plea from a Cat Named Virtue"
16. The Weakerthans,"Benediction"
17. The Stooges, "Raw Power"
18. The Stooges, "Gimme Danger"
19. Iggy Pop, "The Passenger"
20. The Stooges, "Your Pretty Face is Going To Hell"
21. The Replacements, "I.O.U."
22. The Replacements, "Color Me Impressed"
23. The Replacements, "Alex Chilton"
24. The Replacements, "Can't Hardly Wait" (alternate version)

For AZG.