The Replacements: Classic or Dud?

that PW pic looks like one of conan o'brien's robert smigel interviews

I too wish I had discovered the 'Mats in HS. As well as a whole mess of other bands.

I think these days my favorite post-band Paul song is "World Class Fad."

Mine too.

I first heard of Westerberg and the Mats from a Musician article written by Cameron Crowe before the release of Singles in which he recounts the experience of wooing the musicians to contribute songs.

A year later "World Class Fad" was all over my college radio station.

In spring '95 I bought PTMM and Tim at my college bookstore on tape. None of the descriptions matched what I heard.

The Replacements worked perfectly for me as a big part of my soundtrack to '84 and '85, when I was just out of university and fairly directionless. I'm intrigued by the thought of having them around when I was in high school...don't think they would have replaced Neil Young at the top of the pile, but I can see similarities there in terms of old-before-your-time.

My folks figured it out and vocalized it best to me when I was playing Let It Be & Tim endlessly in HS - "oh they're like your generation's Stones" ...

Discovered them at 17, forgot about them til I was between girlfriends at 22 and Paul suddenly seemed to ~get~ me, man. My next band was a Mats ripoff we called The B Team.

Uh, guys?

https://twitter.com/RiotFest/status/344998590952906753

Riot Fest
‏@RiotFest
We are honored, excited and all together amazed to announce that THE REPLACEMENTS are headlining all 3 #RIOTFEST http://ow.ly/lYUVo

I mean Twitter's been going insane for the last few hours and over here's been all "Ah, remember when, if only."

What a bunch of bullshit.

If Chris doesn't play with them it's fuckin bullshit

So it's Paul and Tommy and...? Mars doesn't play anymore, and Dunlap is presumably not able to.

Like I said.

Ya got me.

Don't worry, it's the version with Axl Rose in it.
LOL

I mean, it's nice and everything, but it's hard for me to envision it coming across as any more exciting than Westerberg solo with an old bandmate in tow.

unlikely that Chris would play so yeah, idk who besides Paul and Tommy

Steve Foley's dead. Slim's in no condition for this. Mars won't be there. So you've got Paul and Tommy. Who they gonna get, the other two Posies?

Pitchfork's given a general 'rest of lineup to be confirmed later' note so I nominate Tarfumes and VG to be the backing band.

Also what they're not saying is that it's just going to be a faithful full-album-set of The Shit Hits the Fan.

:D

I play an excellent triangle

Right on!

I love The 'Mats but that ain't them.

I gotta say, Foley was the shit. I was disappointed that Mars left before I saw them in '91, but Foley sounded amazing.

And I'm reluctant to say "that's not the Replacements!" As someone who's seen 10 post-Kenney Jones Who shows (and two of those post-Entwistle), I'm really not in a position to judge.

It's not The Replacements without Chris

I fuckin discovered these guys in high school and they were long broken up by then and I've dreamed of seeing them but not this way. Fuckin bullshit.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, oh-oh-e-oh-oh-oh,
I'll beat Paul up, show him what I've got

Can't read my,
Can't read my
No he can't read my waterface

And I'm reluctant to say "that's not the Replacements!" As someone who's seen 10 post-Kenney Jones Who shows (and two of those post-Entwistle), I'm really not in a position to judge.

I remember some weird tour thereabouts 1994 or so where Roger Daltrey Sings the Music of Pete Townshend (with Pete Townshend on guitar.)

And now they're calling that The Who.

I understand this is a little different than "A Different Jam" or whatever that was supposed to be without Paul Weller. The main guy is still around. But c'mon. Would rather just see a Westerberg show because you might get a chance at "Seein' Her" as the encore.

I have major mixed feelings about this announcement.

I was excited for about 30 seconds before I realized this makes them the Slayer of indie rock.

I remember some weird tour thereabouts 1994 or so where Roger Daltrey Sings the Music of Pete Townshend (with Pete Townshend on guitar.)

The tour was called "Daltrey Sings Townshend," and John Entwistle was in the band, but not Pete. They actually booked an Australian tour as the Who -- on Pete suggestion, oddly enough -- but no one bought it, and it was cancelled.

Tommy said on WTF last week that they get festival offers every year, and eventually they'd accept one. I guess this was the year.

Not sure if this is how I want to see my imaginary high school boyfriend. Jesus, isn't GBV playing Riotfest too? Toooooo muuuuch memories. Someone would have to carry me out of there.

the entire riotfest lineup is pretty cringey

It is the RockIsNotDeadReally lineup.

the entire riotfest lineup is pretty cringey

it is basically my dream festival

The tour was called "Daltrey Sings Townshend," and John Entwistle was in the band, but not Pete. They actually booked an Australian tour as the Who -- on Pete suggestion, oddly enough -- but no one bought it, and it was cancelled.

That's right. Even more bizarre.

for what it's worth it was never really the replacements without bob. it wasn't even close. no offense to slim. but still.

that said, paul has been a dependable and generous solo performer over the years, and tommy is never anything but fun, so go at it with low expectations and there's a good chance you'llcome out way ahead.

Yeah, the one Paul solo show I saw in the mid-'90s was great, adding Tommy won't make it worse. And Paul's still the best-qualified guy to sing Replacements songs, whoever he's with.

I would pay to see Paul & Tommy & whoever imo

for what it's worth it was never really the replacements without bob. it wasn't even close. no offense to slim. but still.

I hear that fcc, and wouldn't try to argue against you.

But. You think about it, after Bob left, they became this band that really did try to shoot for the stars but got mooned instead. Before they were loveable fuck-ups who said whatever the shit, it's us against them. After Bob left, they really did fuck up. Kinda what they thought they were aiming for from the beginning, except since they were actually going through the motions of opening for Tom Petty and playing on a major label and making real videos, not just haha static ones, that failure sealed their legacy much more than being the happy-go-lucky failures they were in the beginning.

In other words, he who laughs first didn't get the joke. Soon as they turned from rock and roll clowns, leaving Bob behind, to becoming rock and roll ghosts, ironically THAT's when they fucked up the most.

This tonic and gin tastes good tonight. Anyway. I do think it would be an appropriate show to see since the replacements who replaced some original Replacements have now been replaced. God, if they could get Axl to show ups for Nightclub Jitters, that'd be all she wrote.

interesting perspective, pp. to me, though, the difference between the bob mats the slim mats is that the bob mats were a band in every sense of the word, four guys negotiating the crowded space around every note in addition to the even more crowded space around every six-pack. four guys laughing loudly, sometimes together, sometimes at each other, but always laughing. or at least smirking. the slim mats were a solo singer-songwriter and his tasteful backing band, much too reverent of the lead singer to ever negotiate anything except maybe their meager paychecks. i can't hardly blame them for sacking bob considering all i've read about him, but they never figured out how to be after that.

i saw them a few times on the major-label opening-band circuit, and those shows generally sucked. not because they were drunken and shambling, though they sometimes were, even in those years. they sucked because their hearts were completely not in it. they fucked up, but not from trying too hard, and not from lack of trying either. they just kinda gave up.

they still tossed off a few more great songs. i wish they had shot for the stars, but i don't think they ever really did. they couldn't even be bothered to shoot themselves in their feet.

revisit them occasionally but not a lot. when I do I'm usually struck by what a clever lyricist Paul was.

yeah, i'm not usually one to pay much attention to even my favorite bands' lyrics but i love westerberg's stuff. there's something about how casual his lyrics always sound, as if he's just making them up on the spot -- but he always comes up with the most incredible lines. i'm especially fond of 'on the prairie pavement/losin' proposition/quittin' school and going to work and never going fishin'.' which somehow feels very sad, like he's taken the essence of a beer-sozzled dropout's wasted life and boiled it down to a few seconds.

the writer he reminds me most of, actually, is chuck berry -- there's the same perfect blend of what-the-hell casualness and eloquence.

interesting perspective, pp. to me, though, the difference between the bob mats the slim mats is that the bob mats were a band in every sense of the word, four guys negotiating the crowded space around every note in addition to the even more crowded space around every six-pack. four guys laughing loudly, sometimes together, sometimes at each other, but always laughing. or at least smirking. the slim mats were a solo singer-songwriter and his tasteful backing band, much too reverent of the lead singer to ever negotiate anything except maybe their meager paychecks. i can't hardly blame them for sacking bob considering all i've read about him, but they never figured out how to be after that.

Extremely OTM. I saw both the Bob Replacements and the Slim Replacements and Bob was the random anarchy element that made it work. See also: Keith Moon

"So it's Paul and Tommy and...? Mars doesn't play anymore, and Dunlap is presumably not able to."

My guess would be that Josh Freese would play drums.

And Paul's still the best-qualified guy to sing Replacements songs, whoever he's with.

Which I guess is what's pulling me in, at least a little. I've never seen Paul live, but I've seen Tommy-era GNR twice, so I probably owe the guy.

Today I contemplated the mysteries of "Jesus rides beside me/he never buys...any smokes"