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| Paul Westerberg - Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, Feb. 17/05 https://www.obner.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4147 |
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| Author: | Radcliffe [ Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:19 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Paul Westerberg - Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, Feb. 17/05 |
(moved this to the review section, just so I could find it easier) Last night I saw Paul Westerberg for the first time since the Replacements called it quits. Times have certainly changed. The audience, for one thing, didn't seem to be there to watch and/or provoke a trainwreck, instead there was a vibe close to hero worship (deservedly so, IMO). And Westerberg, amazingly enough, was genial and seemed to be enjoying himself. There was no warm-up band, just Westerberg and his Only Friends playing an extended set of great tunes. He dipped into the Replacements catalogue with a surprising lack of reserve. "I Will Dare", "Little Mascara", "Left Of The Dial", "Kiss Me On The Bus", "Valentine", "Can't Hardly Wait", "Alex Chilton", "Skyway", "I'll Be You", "Someone Take The Wheel", and "Merry Go-Round" all made it into the set. He even croaked the first couple lines of "Beer For Breakfast" in response to a fan's request. It struck me that, when placed side by side, Westerberg's songs have been incredibly consistent over the last two decades. "Making Me Go", "Looking Up In Heaven", "High Times", "Knockin' On Mine", "Psychopharmacology" - they're all songs that could've fit proudly on any Mats album. Of course, the flirtation with chaos is missing in his solo work, but maybe that's a simple matter of survival. Besides, that old chaos did make a brief appearance last night when Westerberg couldn't stop laughing while performing the hushed "Crackle And Drag" ("It's not funny," he said. "It's tragic as hell.") Covers last night were Billy Joe Shaver's "Live Forever" ("You're gonna miss me when I'm gone" seemed to be the sentiment of the evening), the Partridge Family's "I Think I Love You", and Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" (done as a lark - and only up to the first chorus). And after the perfunctory encore, PW earned a real encore - which I don't think I've witnessed since the '70s. The house lights came up, the club's canned music started playing, and it was time to go - but the crowd kept cheering (a true rarity for laid-back Vancouver folks). Westerberg came back out and ripped into a bluesy stomp I didn't recognize, playing slide guitar and then harmonica, and as the band kind of collapsed around him he yelled what seemed like a total non-sequitur ("Glockenspiel!" - some kind of in-joke, I imagine), then led the crowd in the old Fish cheer, and then just muttered "good night", dropped his mike and left. Very odd way to end the night but, still, sorta perfectly Westerberg. Anyway, I recommend everyone see him on this tour. Give the guy some love. We will miss him when he's gone. |
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| Author: | seafoam [ Thu Apr 21, 2005 1:03 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
he'll never come 'round these parts, but I sure as hell dig him and even his latest stuff |
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