The Replacements: Festival Pier, Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, PA Saturday 5/9/15

The surprising and wonderful reunion of The Replacements came to Philly this past Saturday Night. The location was the outdoor venue of Festival Pier at Penn's Landing right off of the Delaware River. The weather was humid, but certainly more than bearable given the occasion. The band took the stage with authority and purpose and blasted through "Takin' A Ride", "Favorite Thing" a medley of "I Don't Know/Buck Hill" and "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out" before catching their breath with the latter-day B-Side "Kissin' In Action". Original members, rhythm guitarist/vocalist Paul Westerberg and bassist Tommy Stinson were in excellent form as were new members lead guitarist Dave Minehan (ex-Neighborhoods) and drummer Josh Freese (ex-Vandals, currently in Devo).

                                             (Objects in photo are closer than they appear)

I'd seen the band four times from 1989-1991, all before the age of 15. Since then I have a new-found respect for the band and their legacy. From the bands' performance, it seems that they too have learned to respect their own legacy and they delivered a seriously great performance with very little shtick from Westerberg (he's finally learned to hide behind his songs and nothing more).

The twenty-five song set contained a few fan-favorite surprises ("Hold My Life", "Little Mascara", "Never Mind" and "Valentine"), and a lone random cover (Sham 69's "Borstal Breakout") in favor of originals the band had been performing regularly on their Back By Unpopular Demand Tour (their nearly mainstream hit "I'll Be You", "Color Me Impressed", "Skyway", "Waitress In The Sky" and "Merry Go Round"). Plus songs that were singles and should have been massively big songs (i.e."I Will Dare", "Can't Hardly Wait", "I'm In Trouble", "Alex Chilton" and "Bastards Of Young"). I was happy to hear them perform "Within Your Reach", "Nobody"and "Seen Your Video" (which they hadn't performed when I saw them last September at their amazing Forest Hills Tennis Stadium performance). 

I sincerely hope they continue playing thus making this a regular once-in-a-lifetime event for their fans.

Special Thanks: Scott Scherquist. 

Embarrassingly distant photo by the author.  

The Replacements: Songs For Slim (New West Records / 2013)

Bob "Slim" Dunlap was the Replacements lead guitarist from 1987-1991, having replaced original guitarist Bob Stinson. He joined the band following the recording of Pleased To Meet Me and was the lead guitarist in-tow for the accompanying tour. He played on their Don't Tell A Soul and All Shook Down albums. In February of 2012, he suffered a massive, debilitating stroke. With Slim and his family facing considerable expenses for his rehabilitation and care, the surviving Replacements (Chris Mars, Tommy Stinson & Paul Westerberg) decided to set up a fundraiser. The result was the songsforslim.com website, collecting numerous auctions and merchandise for fans to purchase with the proceeds going to the Slim Dunlap Fund.

                                       
                                          The Replacements in 1987 with Slim (on far right).

One of these releases, Songs For Slim was a five-song EP that was initially was pressed on 10" vinyl with a limited pressing of 250 and were auctioned online with all proceeds going toward Slim and his medical expenses. Later pressings were sold on 12" on magenta-colored vinyl (with a download card). Tommy Stinson & Paul Westerberg reunited to record four songs - one of which "Busted Up" was written by Slim the others being covers. "Radio Hook Word Hit" (also written by Slim) was recorded entirely by former Replacements drummer Chris Mars. The project was produced by former Replacements mentor/manager Peter Jesperson. The cover art was also done by Chris Mars (who's had a lucrative career as a visual artist since the demise of the Replacements).

There's also been a series of eight 7" singles on colored-vinyl released of Slim's
songs as performed by such artists such as The Young Fresh Fellows, Peter Buck of R.E.M., John Doe of X and Frank Black of The Pixies. These songs (as well as several others) were also collected on the benefit double-album Songs For Slim: Rockin' Here Tonight - A Benefit For Slim Dunlap. All this activity spawned an unlikely Replacements reunion with the band performing at Coachella, Riotfest and on the Tonight Show. I personally saw them at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in September of 2014 and it was an exceptional performance.

This is recommended for The Replacements fan (if you haven't already picked up a copy). But it's not a great starting point for the non-replacements. That would be Tim, Let It Be or Pleased To Meet Me.

Here's the video review:

Special thanks: New West Records, Chris Mars Publishing.