|
Post by Kathy on Sept 22, 2013 2:55:03 GMT -5
|
|
|
Denver
Sept 22, 2013 13:00:07 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by jagger46 on Sept 22, 2013 13:00:07 GMT -5
Amazing show at a completely terrible music festival. I have never worked so hard to see a concert. Paul and Tommy seemed so happy, and they sounded great. Usual songs but no Swingin Party, and I think Shiftless was new to the set. A few crazy covers. The prairie skirts, western shirts, and orange hats were hilarious. Paul and Tommy were so relaxed with just constant grins.
Terrible location and awful parking situation that took forever and cost $15. Dusty, dirt field. Poor layout. Alkaline Trio and AFI were like boy bands for kids with tattoos and piercings. Denver Riot Fest sucks, but The Replacements were brilliant for an hour and 20 minutes, and that was worth it.
I can't figure out how to post pics from the phone. Will try when I get home Monday.
|
|
|
Post by farmerted on Sept 22, 2013 13:08:39 GMT -5
A Little Mascara:
|
|
|
Denver
Sept 22, 2013 13:30:33 GMT -5
Post by jess on Sept 22, 2013 13:30:33 GMT -5
Ahhhh... thank you so much for that video! "Little Mascara" got me a little teary-eyed last nite... only time a man in a pink skirt, cowboy shirt, & orange cowboy hat has ever made me weapy. Not sure if any of the people I met are on here (Daryl (sp?), Bill, Mike, Jonny (sp?), & those who I did not get names from!) but I met some damn good people in Chicago & Denver & it was a pleasure to share two of the best days ever with such amazing people (despite having to weather the AFI fans/madness TWICE!!!)!
|
|
|
Denver
Sept 22, 2013 13:52:42 GMT -5
Post by kdennis57 on Sept 22, 2013 13:52:42 GMT -5
For me, the tear-inducing moment was during a completely perfect version of Left Of The Dial - "If I don't see you for a long long while..." Man, I hope that's not the case. But it was Little Mascara that I was humming the entire drive back home to the west Denver suburbs. And Alex Chilton - wow, an entire crowd singing "I'm in love, with that song!" is a something to hear.
I had never heard AFI or many of the other lesser-sons-of-Green Day bands on the bill; the best part of their bombastic set was a faithful cover of The Cure's Just Like Heaven - not a patch on the Dino Jr version, but none of AFI's own tunes came close to being memorable. I stayed parked in front of the Mats soundboard during Iggy Pop's set on the adjacent stage - the Stooges sounded really good, even from a football field away. Earlier in the afternoon, Rocket From The Crypt had a lot of energy (and enjoyed saying 'Thank you, Byers!' over and over) and Brand New (to me anyway) had a nice final song that turned down the generic pop-punk and drifted through some cool psychedelic mellow yellow, sorta Sonic Youth territory before ending on a single fading feedback note.
Great to see Westerberg in Colorado again. I saw Mats shows in Denver in 1989 or 90 (headliners) and a few months later (opened an outdoor shed concert for Tom Petty). Circa 1996, PW got shut down after going over his allotted 45 minutes at a radio station festival in Boulder. In 2006 (?) he dropped his pants onstage in Denver to show folks the knee injury he sustained slipping on ice earlier that day. And now in 2013 the Mats come on wearing cowboy hats and skirts! That's entertainment!
|
|
|
Post by loudmouth on Sept 22, 2013 14:59:08 GMT -5
Damn! That was f-ing unreal! A wonderful afternoon of people watching and some decent music , followed by an awesome performance by Iggy & the Stooges(nice to see Mike Watt still rocking). And then...Wow! What a set. They were tight but sloppy, funny but sincere, sober but fucked up, brilliant but silly. In other words, the best rock and roll band to ever walk the face of the earth! Classic Replacements. I will die a happy man.
|
|
|
Denver
Sept 22, 2013 15:18:53 GMT -5
Post by paulinetrouble on Sept 22, 2013 15:18:53 GMT -5
I needed that drive out in the country; I'll tell you that! Three weeks or more cooped up in a hotel room with a mouthy eighteen year-old malcontent will do that to a person. I didn't think the parking was the best, but loved the end of the night wandering in the huge field for my car, cursing like a pirate, alternately muttering and then yelling (at no-one) "Dude where the fuk is my gdam car?" I had missed doing the corn maze, so hey, this was the next best thing...And, of course, I found my car, all safe and sound, just farther away tan I had imagined. Strutting across all that prairie sagebrush with purpose, my ears ringing, Mats within, and giggling like a loon at the whole thing. Me being stuck in a the "wrong" crowd for a while at the wrong stage (Damn, I was up close and mid-center there! But not so great when the crazy screamo band lept onto the stage and kids around me were tossing themselves about; not that I can't deal, I'd have moved back) But I was under the impression Iggy was about to play. So I scurried and got coffee instead, returning to find the Iggster on the Roots stage...Hella a crazy scene during Funhouse!!!! AMAZING to have been there. The Mats more that made up for a kind of lackluster "stand around and play" show in '89 in Norfolk, VA of all places, home of Chuck Berry!!! The toss in of Maybelline was a nice way to make up for that. And it was scorching! I got a nice drive out of it, drove "home" to my hotel room in Lakewood, and am still buzzing about it now. Fav Things? Pink Skirts and Blaze Orange hats! All my favorite songs. Shouting all the lyrics at the top of my lungs. An atmosphere of brotherhood you can not manufacture or buy. BEing there in the moment with all those people, all sharing a common love...face it; "We're In Love...With that song." Cerebreal rape and pillage indeed! Consider me pillaged, okay? Best show of my life. Period.
|
|
|
Denver
Sept 22, 2013 15:23:24 GMT -5
Post by loudmouth on Sept 22, 2013 15:23:24 GMT -5
Hey Jess, this is Bill. Nice to meet you at the show last night. That was one hell of a show!
|
|
|
Denver
Sept 22, 2013 16:15:21 GMT -5
Post by kdennis57 on Sept 22, 2013 16:15:21 GMT -5
PaulineT - the story of your day left me chuckling and nodding in total agreement! While taking the very long walk back to the parking pasture, and then slowly exiting up a washboard-rutted dirt road to the two-lane highway through tiny Strasburg - Little Mascara, Left Of The Dial and the hootenanny encore would not leave my head. Still buzzing like crazy today. When your favorite band over-delivers like The Replacements did last night, it's a landmark experience.
|
|
|
Denver
Sept 22, 2013 16:49:05 GMT -5
Post by paulinetrouble on Sept 22, 2013 16:49:05 GMT -5
Oh yes it is! Didn't hope for it to be as great as it was! I actually had no plans to get stuck in the back-up, so used about a half hour just sitting in the car and playing Mats and catch a smoke before heading back to town. Shiver me timbers! ; )
|
|
|
Denver
Sept 23, 2013 16:08:11 GMT -5
Post by jess on Sept 23, 2013 16:08:11 GMT -5
Hey Jess, this is Bill. Nice to meet you at the show last night. That was one hell of a show! Yay! I'm glad I met someone on here. It was great meeting you guys!
|
|
kgirtz
Second Class Scout
Posts: 26
|
Post by kgirtz on Sept 23, 2013 17:04:34 GMT -5
I managed to have a great time despite the decade-plus lag in all day rock festival experiences. The dust rising from the parking lot after the hour long wait on Route 36 had me worried, but the free water, good people/conversation/food/coffee and band selection (Best Coast-Superchunk-Against Me-Rocket From the Crypt-angstfest dinner break-Stooges) made it all a good prelude to the reason I trekked out from Athens.
Considering the bands I avoided, the Mpls Star-Tribune's Tim Campbell sure did peg it right in noting the "fun deficit" (http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/blogs/224819632.html) between the 'Mats set and the emopop bands that made up about half of the Riot Fest bill. A typical moment of the Replacements' wonderful humanity Saturday night happened about 3/4 of the way through "Bastards of Young" when Westerberg, seemingly having trouble with his guitar, unstrapped it and laid it on the stage. Immediately, he also removed one of his western clown shoes and beat on the pickups, his face twisted in mock-anguish. In a matter of seconds he was back to the mic fully equipped to sing the last chorus and outro in a voice as clear and direct as his guitar-beating of moments earlier.
I was insanely giddy through the whole damn thing, from the quartet strolling onstage in two pairs of matching faux-western outfits (Westerberg and Stinson in red shirts and bright pink skirts, Freese and Minehan in black and white, all four with matching cartoon 10 gallon hats - which were lost by the whole crew over the first few songs) to the encore with Paul behind the kit, first for "Hootenanny", then for the ramshackle "Detroit Rock City"/"Substitute" medley. When Freese was ready to unstrap the bass and take back the kit after the first encore, Paul remarked "hang onto that thing...I finally get to sit down."
When the final encore didn't materialize ("They have a strict curfew ordinance here in Kansas"), the crowd was clearly disappointed, but it would be hard to say that they didn't get what they came for. The pogoing, raised fists during key lines (I'm in love! What's that song!?), and almost nonstop singing, smiles and - for me at least - chills ("kewpie dolls and urinal stalls will be laughed at the way you're laughed at now"), attested to the ongoing emotional connection the band holds with me/us.
If it happens again, we will be fortunate. If not, the dusty fields of Byers hold memories of greatness.
|
|
|
Denver
Sept 27, 2013 11:21:28 GMT -5
Post by pm on Sept 27, 2013 11:21:28 GMT -5
Below is a recap of the Denver experience from one of the guys (and a new friend) I was fortunate to go to Riot Fest with. Not heavy on show details, but a really nice "big picture" take on the expereince. There was a lot of love in the little pocket of fans I was in. Best show of my life. Here is Tony's article: www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_24174742/hicks-replacements-reunion-breaks-family-mans-funk?source=rssHicks: Replacements reunion breaks a family man's funk By Tony Hicks thicks@bayareanewsgroup.com Posted: 09/25/2013 01:50:47 PM PDT | Updated: about 19 hours ago My wife said I needed to get out of the house. She was worried I don't see my friends enough anymore. So she bought me a plane ticket and sent me away to see the Replacements. This is a good woman. So I flew to Denver with three buddies, went to a giant music festival, discovered a new band, saw some bands I really like, saw a band I REALLY like that I've been waiting to see for more than two decades, nearly got into a brawl with a drunk who couldn't stop shoving, made too much noise in a hotel room, laughed into the morning hours, was evacuated from the festival's second day because of a freak electrical storm, got stuck outside our car without keys in said crazy storm, had to duck between cars because of repeated lightning strikes, wrote a ridiculously offensive song that obviously will become a smash hit, made a new friend, perhaps started a new band with an old friend I found at the airport and got in a nap during the flight home, despite being wedged between two strangers who had lockdown claims on the armrests. That's a good weekend right there. Off to Denver The particulars really don't matter, though for context: I went to Riot Fest last weekend, held in a giant field about 40 minutes outside Denver. Only a reunion of the Replacements, after a 22-year hiatus, could get me on a plane headed toward a giant, dusty music festival with tens of thousands of people eating and drinking overpriced everything. They were brilliant, and it was worth it. I missed the last chance I had to see the now-influential 1980s post-punk band in 1990 or '91, when I lived in L.A. and they played at, I think, the Whiskey in Hollywood. That's right -- a band that just headlined a giant festival that stopped in Toronto, Chicago, then Denver, was playing small venues just past its height of popularity. Part of the charm of being a fan of a band that was so good, but so self-destructive, was that we could pretty much keep them to ourselves. Obviously, the legend has grown. My last music festival was at least a half-decade ago, when I was still a music critic (we like to say "critic" because it means we know more about music than you) and was getting paid to do such things. Since then, I've decided I don't really care for crowds. I don't like staying in one place too long around people who act in unpredictably stupid ways (wait -- I may have just described parenthood). I like getting to bed at a decent hour. I really do like hanging out with my family. Whoa -- after reading that, I guess I've decided I really don't want to be a rock star anymore. And that is fine. But it's also wrong -- dead wrong. Because when you decide you can't be a rock star once in a while -- or at least hang out with people who are -- you might as well find the retirement community with the best cable package. Mind over matter It's not age as much as it is -- OK, it's partially age. But not age in and of itself. Life changes with age, therefore you have kids, you have a job, you bruise more easily. You just don't have the time to go out and act stupid anymore. Plus, it hurts a lot more the next morning. But, strangely, I didn't hurt as much as I thought I would after last weekend. My wife was right. I needed it -- not as much for the sheer idiocy of the need to get out of the house as for the need to reconnect with two of my closest and oldest friends. I even made a new friend (a friend of a friend who came with us). This is progress. Part of my semi-isolation, I admit, is fear. I'm afraid of making new friends, and I'm really afraid I won't have anything in common with my old friends. I imagine I'm not the only 40-something person feeling this. Thankfully, last weekend gave both theories the beatings they deserve. Now I just have to see about getting my new band on next year's Riot Fest bill.
|
|
AndrewC
Second Class Scout
Posts: 32
|
Denver
Oct 10, 2013 18:25:01 GMT -5
Post by AndrewC on Oct 10, 2013 18:25:01 GMT -5
Flew in from CT for this gig. Quite frankly, a pain in the ass to get out but well worth it. Still cant believe I saw the Replacements play again just a few weeks ago. Spent a good portion of Saturday at The Lions Soccer Pub with a buddy, regrouped at his place for a Paloma, then off to the British Bulldog for one before headin East to the show. Got up front by skipping Iggy and I'm glad I did. You could see the smiles on the Mats' faces and it was obvious they were having a damn good time and couldn't care less about anything but the music. Just makes me believe they'll play some other dates. I shouted to 'play New York' but got no response. Gotta assume they'll be in NY in the future. The encore was disappointing but perfect at the same time. The next day we were back at the Three Lions and I told my buddy I wanted to go to Rockmount Ranch Wear, so we did. The two older women working there said that Paul was in the day before... they had no idea who he was. I tried to explain but realized it was futile. There happened to be some dude there from Minneapolis who was also there the day before and he showed me a picture of himself with Paul at the counter. Guess I was a day late. Anyway, I left with 3 Western shirts that are now hangin in my closet; it'll be a good story to tell.
|
|
|
Denver
Nov 28, 2013 15:29:03 GMT -5
Post by paulinetrouble on Nov 28, 2013 15:29:03 GMT -5
We were ridden hard and put up wet.
|
|
|
Denver
Nov 28, 2013 15:35:46 GMT -5
Post by paulinetrouble on Nov 28, 2013 15:35:46 GMT -5
Oh yeah, who the heck barged through the crowd, yelled "Come on!"and motioned for me to follow him? Big guy, like a tough guy, but he seemed to have one mission; to whisk me away towards the side/front of the stage, apparently, where I last saw him...He'd turned back and said "You wanna get up there, right?" And that was all...he was off again, thinking I was following. I stopped when I realized I don't know for sure where he's going, where he's leading me...(I have a dog and a daughter waiting back home for me!) It didn't seem right to cut in front of so many people, anyway(I'd already lied my way up as far as I dared..."my friends" up ahead in the crowd didn't exist, haha.) Oh well. I shall never know. Unless that was you and you read this here or if you know who it was... Anyway, a big THANK YOU for the attempt to help me get closer! Nice crowd!
|
|