Bash & Pop w/ So So Glos at 7th St Entry, Minneapolis (12 Jan 2017)
|
01/18 New York, NY – Mercury Lounge ©
01/20 Asbury Park, NJ- The Saint $ 01/21 Allston, MA – Great Scott $ 02/28 Seattle, WA – Chop Suey 03/01 Portland, OR – Doug Fir 03/03 Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s 03/04 San Jose, CA – The Ritz 03/05 San Francisco, CA – Swedish American Hall 03/07 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour 03/09 San Diego, CA – Casbah 03/13th – Austin, TX – SXSW $ – W/ The So So Glos © – W/ Mikey Erg Band
|
After almost a quarter-century away, Replacements / Guns n’ Roses / ex-Soul Asylum bassist Tommy Stinson has brought Bash & Pop back for a brand new album and raucous first performance at the 7th St Entry in Minneapolis, a room he’s been playing since the age of 14.
The new album, Anything Can Happen (Fat Possum Records), comes out this coming Friday but the night’s attendees (mostly supporters of the band’s successful PledgeMusic campaign) were treated to a pre-show listening party hosted by the band in First Avenue’s Mainroom, as well as could purchase the vinyl or CD early.
Brooklyn punk/garage rock band The So So Glos opened the evening with a hard-hitting 50 min set of songs in support of their latest album, Kamikaze (Votiv Records), opening headlong with the record’s first three songs.
The band, brothers Alex (vocals, bass), and Ryan Levine (guitar, vocals), along with Matt Elkin (guitar) and Zach Staggers (drums) keep the old school spirit of punk alive, while modernizing their sound and playing on more contemporary themes, such as “f**k my newsfeed” on ‘Magazine’ and a couple quips between songs about the incoming president.
The closing punch of ‘We Got the Days’ and 2013’s ‘Son of an American’ with singer Levine adding “it’s an honor to play here… at the end of the American empire”, reminds one that punk is at its most vitriol when it slaps you in the face with its own truth about the establishment.
After a short break, Bash & Pop took to the stage for their eighty-minute headlining set, setting the tone immediately with 1993’s ‘Fast and Hard’, and lead Tommy Stinson in an army green jacket to offset his trademark spiked and mussed hair. Though he’s best known as a bassist, Stinson played only guitar, leaving bass duties to the more than capable Justin (Screeching Weasel) Perkins while drummer Joe (Mighty Mighty Bosstones) Sirois and Steve (The Hold Steady) Selvidge on guitar completed the lineup of B&P 2.0, with each of the musicians also contributing to the new record.
“Now we’re gonna get another guitar!”, Stinson winced, tossing the instrument to his road crew member after only the first song, and constantly finagled with the mic stand, never really getting it to his ideal position, in a bout of Replacements-esque sloppiness.
Most of the new album, which was played overhead in the bigger room for the crowd prior, came to life in more urgent versions live, including the album opener, ‘Not This Time’, dedicated to his Uncle Tom, who apparently hung around and played with surf guitar legend Dick Dale.
“We try and keep it interesting for you”, Stinson said before the crashing intro of ‘Bad News’ kicked in for only a moment, only to have him stop and re-tune, before launching it again. Things did slow a third of the way in, as Stinson traded for an acoustic guitar on a series of campfire-tinged mostly sad songs like ‘He Means It’ and ‘Zero to Stupid’.
‘Tiny Pieces’ revved things back up again, a kind of anthem for this version of the band, with Stinson strumming effortlessly, like Keith Richards singing his solo songs. The new album’s title track was a barroom stomper followed by the revengeful ‘Unf**k You’, with Stinson stopping the final song of the main set shortly after starting, asking the boisterous crowd, “who out there thinks we suck?—this one for you, buddy” before crunching a swinging ‘It’s a Drag’.
The encore started gently, with a subtle ’Anytime Soon’ before volume turned back up to eleven for ‘Never Aim to Please’ and the title track of 1993’s ‘Friday Night (Is Killing Me)’before ending with an almost whispered last verse.
Despite over two decades away, Tommy Stinson’s Bash & Pop has not forgotten how to either “bash” or “pop”, causing a raucous ruckus to the select fans able to see this premier return performance of a re-born band. Though Anything Can Happen, it probably won’t be another quarter-century to hear even more new music from this still restless, still rocking collective.
The band continues its US Tour into the spring, even stopping by The Late Show with Steven Colbert on Thursday and its PledgeMusic campaign is also still in motion, with chances to have the band play billiards with you, or host a keg party in your basement, or even have Stinson officiate your wedding, available at premium levels—anything can happen.
The new album, Anything Can Happen (Fat Possum Records), comes out this coming Friday but the night’s attendees (mostly supporters of the band’s successful PledgeMusic campaign) were treated to a pre-show listening party hosted by the band in First Avenue’s Mainroom, as well as could purchase the vinyl or CD early.
Brooklyn punk/garage rock band The So So Glos opened the evening with a hard-hitting 50 min set of songs in support of their latest album, Kamikaze (Votiv Records), opening headlong with the record’s first three songs.
The band, brothers Alex (vocals, bass), and Ryan Levine (guitar, vocals), along with Matt Elkin (guitar) and Zach Staggers (drums) keep the old school spirit of punk alive, while modernizing their sound and playing on more contemporary themes, such as “f**k my newsfeed” on ‘Magazine’ and a couple quips between songs about the incoming president.
The closing punch of ‘We Got the Days’ and 2013’s ‘Son of an American’ with singer Levine adding “it’s an honor to play here… at the end of the American empire”, reminds one that punk is at its most vitriol when it slaps you in the face with its own truth about the establishment.
After a short break, Bash & Pop took to the stage for their eighty-minute headlining set, setting the tone immediately with 1993’s ‘Fast and Hard’, and lead Tommy Stinson in an army green jacket to offset his trademark spiked and mussed hair. Though he’s best known as a bassist, Stinson played only guitar, leaving bass duties to the more than capable Justin (Screeching Weasel) Perkins while drummer Joe (Mighty Mighty Bosstones) Sirois and Steve (The Hold Steady) Selvidge on guitar completed the lineup of B&P 2.0, with each of the musicians also contributing to the new record.
“Now we’re gonna get another guitar!”, Stinson winced, tossing the instrument to his road crew member after only the first song, and constantly finagled with the mic stand, never really getting it to his ideal position, in a bout of Replacements-esque sloppiness.
Most of the new album, which was played overhead in the bigger room for the crowd prior, came to life in more urgent versions live, including the album opener, ‘Not This Time’, dedicated to his Uncle Tom, who apparently hung around and played with surf guitar legend Dick Dale.
“We try and keep it interesting for you”, Stinson said before the crashing intro of ‘Bad News’ kicked in for only a moment, only to have him stop and re-tune, before launching it again. Things did slow a third of the way in, as Stinson traded for an acoustic guitar on a series of campfire-tinged mostly sad songs like ‘He Means It’ and ‘Zero to Stupid’.
‘Tiny Pieces’ revved things back up again, a kind of anthem for this version of the band, with Stinson strumming effortlessly, like Keith Richards singing his solo songs. The new album’s title track was a barroom stomper followed by the revengeful ‘Unf**k You’, with Stinson stopping the final song of the main set shortly after starting, asking the boisterous crowd, “who out there thinks we suck?—this one for you, buddy” before crunching a swinging ‘It’s a Drag’.
The encore started gently, with a subtle ’Anytime Soon’ before volume turned back up to eleven for ‘Never Aim to Please’ and the title track of 1993’s ‘Friday Night (Is Killing Me)’before ending with an almost whispered last verse.
Despite over two decades away, Tommy Stinson’s Bash & Pop has not forgotten how to either “bash” or “pop”, causing a raucous ruckus to the select fans able to see this premier return performance of a re-born band. Though Anything Can Happen, it probably won’t be another quarter-century to hear even more new music from this still restless, still rocking collective.
The band continues its US Tour into the spring, even stopping by The Late Show with Steven Colbert on Thursday and its PledgeMusic campaign is also still in motion, with chances to have the band play billiards with you, or host a keg party in your basement, or even have Stinson officiate your wedding, available at premium levels—anything can happen.
|
So So Glos |
So So Glos |
So So Glos |
So So Glos Setlist |
Bash & Pop Tour Poster |
Bash and Pop Setlist |
Bash and Pop |
Bash and Pop |
Bash and Pop |
Bash and Pop |
|
Bash & Pop at 7th St Entry, Minneapolis (12 Jan 2017) |