Post by cellarfullofnoise on Feb 22, 2005 0:52:16 GMT -5
A show preview, so I guess it goes here. The Arizona Republic goes on record about "fingernails," the beautiful people of "Skyway," and "maudlin schmaltz"
3 reasons to see: Paul Westerberg
Michael Senft
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 20, 2005 12:00 AM
In the '80s, Paul Westerberg was the leader of the shambolic Minneapolis punk band the Replacements and a gifted songwriter whose lyrical genius shone through his band's drunken concerts. By the late '90s, he had cleaned up his act, retreated from recording and performing and settled into the role of father to his young son. A recent spate of home recording has yielded five albums in three years and put Westerberg back on the road for his first band tour in eight years. Here are three reasons to see Westerberg at the Marquee Theatre on Friday.
1 I WILL DARE - The opening track from the Replacements' 1984 album Let It Be, this tentative hookup song features the world-weary line, "How old am I? / Let's count the rings around my eyes" and notes that "Fingernails and a cigarette's a lousy dinner." The tune marked the "Mats" transformation from snotty teenage punks to sharp observers of society and relationships through Westerberg's biting and jaundiced lyrics.
2 SKYWAY - An acoustic gem from the Replacements' 1987 Please to Meet Me finds Westerberg seeing a beautiful girl crossing the street "high above the busy little one-way" but finding "not a damn thing to do or say" and mourning his missed opportunity for happiness. A perfect synthesis of urban isolation, unrequited love and a heartbreaking melody in a little more than two minutes.
3 MY DAD - From his latest CD, last year's Folker, this eulogy to his father shows he has lost none of his lyrical talent. Behind a melody copped from Dylan's Positively Fourth Street, Westerberg reminisces of his father's last years, dying of emphysema, watching the Minnesota Twins with "a picture of his one and only grandson" on his dresser. From anyone else it would be maudlin schmaltz, but Westerberg makes it work.
Reach the reporter at (602) 444-8489.
www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ae/articles/02203reasons20.html
3 reasons to see: Paul Westerberg
Michael Senft
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 20, 2005 12:00 AM
In the '80s, Paul Westerberg was the leader of the shambolic Minneapolis punk band the Replacements and a gifted songwriter whose lyrical genius shone through his band's drunken concerts. By the late '90s, he had cleaned up his act, retreated from recording and performing and settled into the role of father to his young son. A recent spate of home recording has yielded five albums in three years and put Westerberg back on the road for his first band tour in eight years. Here are three reasons to see Westerberg at the Marquee Theatre on Friday.
1 I WILL DARE - The opening track from the Replacements' 1984 album Let It Be, this tentative hookup song features the world-weary line, "How old am I? / Let's count the rings around my eyes" and notes that "Fingernails and a cigarette's a lousy dinner." The tune marked the "Mats" transformation from snotty teenage punks to sharp observers of society and relationships through Westerberg's biting and jaundiced lyrics.
2 SKYWAY - An acoustic gem from the Replacements' 1987 Please to Meet Me finds Westerberg seeing a beautiful girl crossing the street "high above the busy little one-way" but finding "not a damn thing to do or say" and mourning his missed opportunity for happiness. A perfect synthesis of urban isolation, unrequited love and a heartbreaking melody in a little more than two minutes.
3 MY DAD - From his latest CD, last year's Folker, this eulogy to his father shows he has lost none of his lyrical talent. Behind a melody copped from Dylan's Positively Fourth Street, Westerberg reminisces of his father's last years, dying of emphysema, watching the Minnesota Twins with "a picture of his one and only grandson" on his dresser. From anyone else it would be maudlin schmaltz, but Westerberg makes it work.
Reach the reporter at (602) 444-8489.
www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ae/articles/02203reasons20.html