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Post by paulie on Apr 18, 2005 8:59:23 GMT -5
whenever i read a review like this i always get the feeling the reviewer has no idea and has done no research on the replacements let alone Paul 's solo work. these critics can't even conceive of an artist like Paul. he's not an asshole, hes not an addict, he's not making headlines, hes not into politics. he does meet and greets at almost every show!?! how many succesful artists can say they do that.i'd like to see if this reviewer could even name two songs off of Pauls latest cd. Some people will never be satisfied unless a guy plays his past hits note for note perfectly mixed (Rod Stewart) or water down your shit so it ends up sunday mornings on VH1 (goo goo dolls).
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zook
Beagle Scout
You be me for awhile and I'll be ewe...
Posts: 1,246
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Post by zook on Apr 18, 2005 9:35:03 GMT -5
When he was smashing the TV he made some reference to Tori Hunter I think. I'm guessing it was something with the collision at home plate last year with the Sox. Did anyone else catch this? I had a great time at the show and as a newbie, I hope to be spending more time on this cool site. I caught the Torii Hunter reference too - not sure why he mentioned it but it cracked me up. He said "Anyone like Torii Hunter?" and after some cheers or jeers he grinned and said "Fuck you" and flipped us off. I was initially surprised that some people thought the show was bad but I guess it depends on what you are expecting. Just like that tool DeRogotis, if you are expecting a polished show, a replicated version of the albums or even go in with expectations, then you are going to be disappointed. I saw a raw, sloppy yet honest performance not like any of the ones I've seen before and I love that. I love that every show is different. And I especially love to see Paul having fun (especially because the last one I saw he didn't seem to be enjoying himself as much.) How can anyone say that the last half of of the show was a trainwreck or incoherent? Substitute and Round & Round rocked solid and the encores were great. Clearly, some of the statues we saw at the show were expecting more and that's too bad. If you would have just taken in it and let it be, you might have come away with a different take. I also thought Kot's 2nd paragraph in that article nailed it.
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Post by ElegantMule on Apr 18, 2005 9:41:41 GMT -5
Wow. I have rhapsodized here in the past about how I think Jim DeRogatis is a pompous, self-important, uninformed tool, so I hope everyone here clicks that link and reads so for themselves.
That said, I really didn't like the Chicago show. I don't expect a sizzle-less ol' run through of the hits sprinkled with selected "new" tracks, but I do feel I deserve a certain amount of professionalism for my hard-earned dosh. Smashing shit onstage doesn't say that to me, it says "feeling bratty."
The covers were fun, and he played the usual oldies for the diehards, but I thought it was a bad crowd and a mediocre set.
I def. got the impression that most Chicagoans are far too cool to dance or sing along at a show. They sure like their fancy drinks though.
I loved the company I was in.
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Post by deebee76 on Apr 18, 2005 10:14:23 GMT -5
This review by Greg Kot simply begs to be pasted into this thread - I've never had the chance to see Westerberg live, but this review (perhaps more than any other) put me smack dab in the middle of the rock n' roll chaos that Paul has always delivered so well:
Westerberg rips, roars and surprises
By Greg Kot Tribune music critic Published April 18, 2005
Most concerts aim for the easy payoff: They are choreographed to please the audience. Then there was Paul Westerberg's show Friday at the Riviera.
This wasn't so much about pleasing the audience as alternately teasing, abusing and surprising it. At every turn, there was a train wreck waiting to happen. Westerberg managed to keep things on track, but just barely. A portion of the near-capacity audience undoubtedly felt let down in their hope of seeing a fond rehash of songwriting excellence by the former Replacements singer. For the rest, this was the kind of spontaneous combustion that used to be called rock 'n' roll: Kids in garages wired on electric guitars and whatever they could find in their parents' liquor cabinet, making it up as they go along. I haven't had this much fun at a rock concert in months.
Westerberg gleefully trashed a television set, a telephone and one of his guitars, swilled hard liquor like a pillaging buccaneer and plunged into more than 40 songs with wildly varying degrees of success over 2 hours and 20 minutes. He was drunk and disorderly, only to have former Prince drummer Michael Bland pull the music back into focus with his sober grasp of the tempo. The singer, who was the Coolest Man on Earth for a slice of indie-rock fans in the '80s, had become a basement recluse in recent years while recording low-fi folk-rock for an independent label. So it was surprising to hear that Westerberg had pieced together a garage-rock quartet for his first tour with a band since the '90s. He opened with a cocky grin and in confident voice, relying not on the Replacements songs that made his reputation but on more obscure solo material. He rocked up Pete Seeger's folk anthem "If I Had a Hammer" and hit an early peak with "AAA," in which he shouted the vocals on a microphone shared with former Son Volt bassist Jim Boquist.
Boquist and Bland were agile enough to keep up with Westerberg as he veered from the set list and played whatever he felt like: a snippet of David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel," two verses of The Who's "Substitute," glimpses of Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever," Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane." The singer, dressed like he belonged in the Faces circa 1971 with his leather pants, tinted glasses and newsboy cap, kept peeling off layers of clothes and inhibition. When the concert dragged and Westerberg noticed a fan getting up to leave, he shouted, "Don't you dare walk away!" Then he stoked a version of Chuck Berry's "Around and Around" that made the original sound like it was recorded at half-speed.
A solo version of the Replacements' "Swinging Party" presented the songwriter as his latter-day fans have come to know him: A barfly with a 12-string guitar and a songbook full of bittersweet melodies. But the rest of the show was Westerberg, unsweetened. Even his guitar solos tasted of vinegar, with their twisted harmonics suggesting the open tunings of lost blues songs. So it was appropriate that Westerberg finished the set by communing with the blues ghosts in "I've Got a Mind to Give Up Living."
He vowed it would be the last song, but, of course, it wasn't. He came back and ripped through two Replacements classics, "Alex Chilton" and "Left of the Dial," ferocious performances that qualified as crowd-pleasers for those in the crowd who came to enjoy the ride, wherever it led.
gregkot@aol.com
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Post by ElegantMule on Apr 18, 2005 10:32:58 GMT -5
"pillaging buccaneer"
beautiful.
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Post by HillBillyJunk on Apr 18, 2005 10:57:44 GMT -5
Wow. I have rhapsodized here in the past about how I think Jim DeRogatis is a pompous, self-important, uninformed tool, so I hope everyone here clicks that link and reads so for themselves. That said, I really didn't like the Chicago show. I don't expect a sizzle-less ol' run through of the hits sprinkled with selected "new" tracks, but I do feel I deserve a certain amount of professionalism for my hard-earned dosh. Smashing shit onstage doesn't say that to me, it says "feeling bratty." The covers were fun, and he played the usual oldies for the diehards, but I thought it was a bad crowd and a mediocre set. I def. got the impression that most Chicagoans are far too cool to dance or sing along at a show. They sure like their fancy drinks though. I loved the company I was in. be thankful. the only time people in minneapolis stood up was during replacements songs...fucking annoying and since when did anyone ever expect professionalism from paul westerberg?! and the tori hunter thing...i think all it was was commenting on the twins/white sox rivalry...
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Post by Kathy on Apr 18, 2005 11:02:26 GMT -5
I'm posting this from Kevin, his response to the Jim Derogatis review (http://www.suntimes.com/output/entertainment/cst-ftr-west18.html ):
Jim- I'm now going to review you. I've seen you play drums on stage and all I have to say is this..... Michael Bland is a friend of mine and sir; you are no Michael Bland.
signed, Kevin Bowe (a bar band hack and fvckin' proud of it)
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Post by UnderneathABigHorse on Apr 18, 2005 11:05:48 GMT -5
What, I thought she wanted to land on top of him? And I had to grin widely when you mentioned the ajax line; liking to thing he recalled hearing of the confusion over that line! I have a bruise and everything. If you look in the Chicago pictures with FAF and Tom in them, I'm pretty much.....underneath everyone... The worst part was the guy in front of me who had his elbow firmly planted into my chesticular area. Not so much fun. Well, at least if I ever get to meet Paul, I'll have something to talk to him about. Paul's not such a big horse... It was a really cool night. It was great meeting both FAF and Tom. I finally had someone rockin out up front with me! It was also great seeing the regulars again, though I only really got to chat with Zook and Monkey. Am a bit worried at the delinquency of both Christy and Blasty. Too bad I missed the Hoot, it sounded like fun. And by the way, everyone has to be reeeeaally nice to Scooter when he gets back...
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angela
Beagle Scout
smoochies to you.
Posts: 1,110
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Post by angela on Apr 18, 2005 11:40:30 GMT -5
Wow. That guy sounds really bitter. What a dickhead.
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cford
Star Scout
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Post by cford on Apr 18, 2005 12:09:20 GMT -5
Wow. That guy sounds really bitter. What a dickhead. Yea, he seems really pissed that Paul smashed that TV.. And "Westerberg imitating Ryan Adams imitating Westerberg" is below the belt! CF
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Post by deebee76 on Apr 18, 2005 12:26:35 GMT -5
Yeah really...what a joke. He also seems to be the kinda person who doesn't like to see people having fun, almost like he's contrary for the sake of being contrary.
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Post by FirstAveFiend on Apr 18, 2005 12:42:06 GMT -5
Utter mediocrity? Ok from the start there's no way I'm going to agree with the guy because he doesn't like the solo music. Of course thats what he's going to play and if you don't like the music how the hell do you like the show? But maybe if he didn't stand among the statues of the crowd he might have gotten the feel for how fun and rockin the show could be.
Zook has said it best in this thread
Raw is what Paul is. Sometimes when he goes on a tangent of covers I think that I would prefer to hear his songs. But I want to hear what he wants to play. I don't want to watch him go through the motions on a song he's just playing so fans will show up. You can tell when he's having fun and his guitar playing shows it. I don't know how you could not get into some of those songs. As Far As I know is one thats brought up a lot and thats because it is rock and roll. The drums are amazing the quicker paced guitar and the pure loudness, how can you not move to that?
I know I shouldn't let it bother me, "It'll destroy you if you try to make it mean anything to anyone but yourself" right?
But this is in print and this ass thinks he's better than what he saw. So much that he calls this band a hack bar band. I don't care if you don't like the songs but thats so over the top. Obviously the bands he sees in bars are the Who, the Stones and the Faces.
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Post by ElegantMule on Apr 18, 2005 18:00:08 GMT -5
(claps)
Take a bow, FAF. Well done.
And FWIW, I know that Paul isn't exactly an icon of professionalism, but shit...
sometimes you have to take into account that people have travelled 100s of miles in some cases, and in almost all cases they have shelled over an almost uncomfortable amount of money just to see your dog and pony show. Does that mean Paul should always be on his best behavior? Not necessarily. But should he be allowed to just slide by being a brat due to his reputation? (What a nice reputation it must be - you're 45 yrs. old and a good chunk of your fanbases gets off on you being a lout. )
He's a performer when he's on tour. His job is to perform.
Not to be a dink about it.
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Post by kgp on Apr 18, 2005 18:21:08 GMT -5
I'm only guessing, since I didn't attend the Chicago show, but it does seem, at least from what's posted here, that the 'trainwrecks' have the least responsive audiences. Chicago, San Diego--I think, the last Pantages show that didn't sell out. I don't know, maybe he feels he has to be crazy to get the crowd into it. I've only been to two, but both had pretty good crowds. (especially Columbia, which surprised me since it's such a small town and I doubt he's got a lot of fans among Mizzou students.)
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Post by FirstAveFiend on Apr 18, 2005 18:37:09 GMT -5
I'm in agreement (at least I think this is what you're saying KGP). I think that he train wrecks because people stand there like statues and he looks out after rockin his ass off and there's nothing. He's staring at a painting, so he tries something different to get people in the mood. If that doesn't work he throws back some more whiskey and says fuck it, I'll do what I want.
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Post by Cotton on Apr 18, 2005 19:15:26 GMT -5
I'm in agreement (at least I think this is what you're saying KGP). I think that he train wrecks because people stand there like statues and he looks out after rockin his ass off and there's nothing. He's staring at a painting, so he tries something different to get people in the mood. If that doesn't work he throws back some more whiskey and says f*ck it, I'll do what I want. <a non-hostile observation> FAF - the Portland crowd was described by you as being the worst of the west coast shows. PW & the band rocked hard & tight ... sans whiskey & train- wreckage. I'm seeing two or three different versions of shows on this tour - depending on the night, venue... pre-show P preparation and the show from the night before. (i) Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Dallas, KC, N.O, (ii) Austin, Columbia, Milwk., Louisville (?) (iii) LA 1/2, Tempe, SF, Chicago Denver - hamstring... Memphis - er? (Loose groupings)-
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Post by cellarfullofnoise on Apr 18, 2005 19:19:06 GMT -5
This review by Greg Kot simply begs to be pasted into this thread One good turn deserves a bad one ... (at least this review appears under the "Entertainment" heading) Westerberg falls short of past glory April 18, 2005 BY JIM DEROGATIS Pop Music Critic Since making his recorded debut with the Replacements in 1981, Paul Westerberg has had three distinct careers. The singer and songwriter was at his best mixing punk fury and naked soul on timeless Replacements albums such as "Let It Be" (1984) and "Tim" (1985). Next, he tried to clean up his act, win the affection of mainstream radio and elbow his way into the heartland-rock pantheon somewhere in between Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp, issuing three bland solo efforts from 1993 to 1999. After that, the lovable curmudgeon became a hermit in his Minneapolis basement, until he resurfaced in 2002, back in the ranks of the independent labels where he started. The three discs he has released since then, including last year's "Folker," are by no means equal to the 'Mats classics. But at least they sounded as if he had some fun making raw and ragged noises down in his root cellar. Unfortunately, it was the glossed-up mid-period Westerberg who came to the Riviera Theatre on Friday night, the second gig of his first tour with a band since 1990. As he gears up for the May 17 release of "Besterberg," a misleadingly titled 20-track anthology culled from those post-'Mats solo albums, the 45-year-old performer once again seems overly eager to please the invisible Powers That Be in the music world, walking a blurry line down the middle of the road between unrestrained rock 'n' roll aggression and slick, mature and thoroughly boring professionalism. Westerberg is touring with a group he wittily calls His Only Friends: bassist Jim Boquist (Son Volt), guitarist Kevin Bowe (Okemah Prophets) and drummer Michael Bland (Prince). Accomplished players all, they simulated punk excitement, blues sincerity and country honesty. But they never rose above the level of a hack bar band. The Replacements were, of course, a bar band, but they were so electrifying and unpredictable that you couldn't turn away to order another round. One minute, they'd skirt sheer chaos -- frightening, amusing or disgusting you. The next, they'd bring you to the brink of tears with a flawless rendition of the saddest and most romantic song you'd ever heard. Westerberg avoided such extremes at the Riv, except in pathetic bursts of stupid playacting. For no apparent reason, he attacked a television set with a guitar, destroying both the TV and the Fender axe. He later reprised the bit by smashing an old telephone. At least he could have updated the Who routine to include an iPod, laptop and cell phone. And he should have tipped the stagehand who dutifully swept up his mess. Bringing to mind Paul Westerberg imitating Ryan Adams imitating the Paul Westerberg of yesteryear's drunken 'Mats sets, the artist also demanded a bottle of whiskey, rolled around on the ground, slaughtered a number of cheesy covers (Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer," the Stone Ponys' "Different Drum" and Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever" among them) and mangled or forgot the words to some of his best-known, most-loved songs -- not that there were many of these. The 36-tune set list drew most heavily from Westerberg's solo albums. The more recent basement-tape material lost its unpolished charm as it was slicked up by His Only Friends, while the older major-label stuff echoed the 'Mats' best but fell far short, lacking the killer hooks, unbridled energy and elusive soul. These songs were schlock-work when they were released in the '90s, and they haven't grown in stature since. Inexplicably, the faithful fans adored and cheered Westerberg's every move. Maybe they never saw him at the height of his powers, two decades ago. Or maybe they were so eager to relive those days that they happily settled for this sad updated simulation. Westerberg certainly shouldn't confine himself to living in the indie-rock past, like his former peers the Pixies, who've been raking in the cash on their nostalgic reunion tour. But this is an artist who wrote two dozen of the best rock songs of the '80s. Delivering more than two hours of utter mediocrity from the 15 years that followed his heyday isn't a brave step forward -- it's a sad reminder of a great talent that has either been squandered or lost to the passage of time. ---------- He can have his opinions, but he got it wrong about being the second gig of the tour. And it's not really right to say "Different Drum" is the Stone Poneys'. It's Mike Nesmith's considering he wrote and recorded it. I suppose Derogatis much prefers his boys in Wilco performing a song called "Kicking Television" to someone actually doing it. Or should that be "Looking Crossly at Ipod"?
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Post by FirstAveFiend on Apr 18, 2005 19:24:41 GMT -5
I understand what you're saying here Cottonwood. Portland was definitely the worst crowd but was a lot tighter than the Chicago show. I guess I'm just trying to rationalize whats going in his head, which is dumb cause I'm never going to figure it out. And also maybe a bit of subliminal messaging to get some people going out to future shows on this tour to do some rockin out in the crowd.
I also don't think I would put SF in with Chicago and LA2. While there was a lot of excitement it was still a tighter set. I would definitely not call SF a train wreck, it was just all out fun.
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Post by Cotton on Apr 18, 2005 19:29:36 GMT -5
okay...SF, I just put it there because of the smashing, bloody ear stuff.
i would probably put Vancouver and Milwaukee seperate too. getting their sea legs class.
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Post by maybellene on Apr 18, 2005 19:34:52 GMT -5
<a non-hostile observation> FAF - the Portland crowd was described by you as being the worst of the west coast shows. PW & the band rocked hard & tight ... sans whiskey & train- wreckage. I'm seeing two or three different versions of shows on this tour - depending on the night, venue... pre-show P preparation and the show from the night before. (i) Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Dallas, KC, N.O, (ii) Austin, Columbia, Milwk., Louisville (?) (iii) LA 1/2, Tempe, SF, Chicago Denver - hamstring... Memphis - er? (Loose groupings)- I'm not sure what you are saying here Cottonwood. What is that 1, 2, 3 grouping mean? A lot of these shows were not like the others... Trying to understand because maybe I just dreamt I was at really great shows. I've seen a lot of the shows and the only crazy one was Chicago. San Diego was tighter than a drum. Didn't see New Orleans, Memphis or any of the other "crazy" nights. I have not seen a lot of dancing but a lot of polite bouncing and pure enjoyment based on the crowd response of cheers and applause. There was a lot of pushing in Chicago behind me from some obnoxious fanboy serial killer looking guy. Anyway, most of the fans are past their mosh pit days and more polite now. Not sure what the expectation should be for this crowd. You think Paul is looking for dancing? There was a girl flailing in Louisville spilling her beer all over me and showing me the love and hugging me for god knows why... Is that the kind of appeciation that needs to be given? Just wondering... Btw, I bop appreciatively, shouted some covers in Chicago and clapped loudly at the right times. Should we be doing more to show our support? Maybe we can do the WAVE!
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