FINALLY!
One of the most anticipated tours, or do I just mean bands?, of the year visits Queens and you are there.
The Replacements, or what’s left of them, Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson, must have read my post claiming they hated New York City, since they refused to play here, and schedule a show. Thrilled, are we? Well, yeah, kinda, I guess… I like the band a lot but many people like them a lot more than I do. They were clumsy at the start and professional at the end, but in the middle considered the best rock band in the world.
At the time, a couple of lousy live shows and a lack of consistency in their albums lead me to dismiss them. For me, they were like Willie Nelson. I couldn’t hear them, I am not sure what left me unconvinced in Paul’s songwriting… Listening to them today, they are like a diamond with a faultline, childish sometimes, sometimes endearing, sometimes annoying, sometimes sheer genius, sometimes the sort of Velvet Underground that didn’t sell that much themselves but lit the path for a million other bands. Listen to “Can’t Hardly Wait” and they don’t even appear to be what is advertised; they are something else entirely. As for Paul’s singing: a true rock and roll great, there is just no doubt about it.
At Forest Hills Tennis Center on September 19th, the Replacements will be joined by the Hold Steady and Deer Tick on what might be the best night of rock and roll this year, I’ve seen the Hold Steady many times and they are terrific live, Deer Tick playing for their heroes should kill it. A must see for sure.
