Soul Asylum at First Ave (December 28, 2024)

The great holiday tradition arrived again. No, not Christmas or Hanukkah, or even Festivus. It’s the annual Soul Aslyum show at the First Avenue Mainroom. This is a long-standing event from the Minnesota mainstay, who have been performing this December show for most of the century.

Before the headliner, there was another legendary performer opening things up. And there’s really no other way to describe Tommy Stinson. A quick recap of his glorious career. Obviously, he’s most recognized for being the bassist for The Replacements, a quintessential pioneer of alternative rock. There’s the underrated Bash & Pop. There’s the stretch where he was simultaneously playing bass for both Soul Asylum and Guns ‘N Roses. And a solo career and music production to boot.

Stinson, sporting a fantastic suit, arrived on stage with a seven-member band, including saxophone. It was a full range of sounds from Stinson and company. The Bash & Pop song Bad News had a bit of twang, but was followed by a straight alt rock song. This is a well-honed band, and it was fun to see Stinson direct them on the long intro for Dream and how quickly they responded to his lead.

A lovely duet with fellow vocalist and guitarist Diane, called Too Late, was amusingly followed by Not a Moment Too Soon, off of Stinson’s solo debut album, Village Gorilla Head. Every member of the band got their moments in the sun from the sax to the keys, including a great set of guitar riffs and solos during the song That’s It. A late song, On the Rocks (another Bash & Pop number) was classic alt rock and a nearly perfect summary for the band. Stinson and crew delivered a varied and entertaining 45 minute set.

Dave Pirner has been the one constant for Soul Aslyum for the nearly 45 years they have been performing. He brings a lot of energy to his performance and the rest of the band follows suit. With that 90’s grunge sound, it is perhaps unsurprising that the front three members were sporting a lot of hair, although the clean shaven drummer was sort of balancing things out.

There’s a few ways a band with this kind of longevity can go. The first is to rely solely on the nostalgia, play the hits, and call it a day. The second is what I might label the Springsteen method; there’s a lot of newer music, but you’ll also get some unpredictable percentage of the greatest hits. The third, and what Soul Asylum did, is to mix in the new music while still hitting all of the classics. It was enjoyable to watch the band play a number of new songs from their 13th album, Slowly but Shirley, released earlier this year, starting the set with The Only Thing I’m Missing. This was immediately followed up by Misery, off their 1995 release Let Your Dim Light Shine.

That approach certainly worked well with the packed audience. It also seems to be bringing in new fans. During the song Freeloader, off the new album, I noticed an 18 year old and her father both singing the lyrics. In fact, there were a number of younger audience members at this 18+ show, though there was definitely a good representation of the Gen X-ers in the house. Pirner held good rapport with the audience, even telling a dad joke (“What does Santa get charged for parking? Nothing, it’s on the house!”). He and the rest of the band certainly seemed appreciative of the audience and the opportunity to still be performing, with a cover of the recently deceased Slim Dunlap (Little Shiva’s Song) underlining that point. Overall, Soul Asylum delivered an excellent end of year treat to the First Avenue audience.