It’s no wonder that Soul Asylum’s performance at Thursday at the Square was a jam-packed, rollicking success.
After all, this Minneapolis quartet is one of the quintessential blue-collar rock bands of the past 20 years — a distinction that a pair of smash hits in the mid-‘90s couldn’t dispel.
From the moment lead singer/guitarist Dave Pirner, guitarist Dan Murphy, bassist George Scott McKelvey and drummer Michael Bland hit the stage, the mood was loose and unpretentious.
Every note, every snippet of between-song banter and every technical mishap — Pirner’s guitar wasn’t working quite right for a bit — belied the band’s supreme comfort on stage, the product of a 23-year history of being a “little band that could.”
And as Buffalonians tend to have a love for the underdog that borders on psychotic, thousands drank up the band’s tight, Tom Pettymeets- The Replacements rock with fist-pumping glee.
On the raucous opening tune “Somebody To Shove,” Pirner was all smiles, delivering the chorus in a snotty punk snarl with his guitar slung down below his knees. His voice is still Soul Asylum’s main attraction, shifting between a rough, nasally crackle and a tender tenor.
Whether it was the irresistible, Generation X-laden majesty of “Misery” or the wretchedly cornball sentiments of “Crazy Mixed Up World,” the combination of Pirner’s pipes and Murphy’s taut, economical guitar work made it all worthwhile.
But while the music was high quality, it was only part of what made this a particularly refreshing Thursday at the Square.
It was worth it just to see how much fun these guys were having — especially Pirner and Murphy, who have been sharing stages together since 1981.
Pirner, who I always thought was too serious for his own good, made comedic rock star poses all night, gyrating his hips, sticking out his tongue, and breaking into the chorus of Paul McCartney’s “Silly Love Songs,” smiling and laughing through it all.
Murphy told a story about the band’s last stop in Buffalo, when he accidentally took four Tylenol PMs before the concert to treat a cracked rib.
Then he joked, “This time, I’m just drunk.”
All in all, Soul Asylum put on a humble, energetic, well-executed rock ’n’ roll show.
If they’ve been officially cataloged in the genre of ’90s has-beens, it’s awfully clear that they couldn’t care less.
And Pirner & Co. wasn’t the only pleasant surprise of the evening.
Opening act, The Alternate Routes, melded pop and roots-rock with the style and grace of Ryan Adams at his best, especially on the first song, “Please Don’t Let It Be.”
The evening kicked off with the no-nonsense bar band rock of Floozie, a sloppy, exuberant local quartet that sang lyrics like, “When she’s going down the road/I think she’s all alone/I think she’s going to California,” with complete conviction. God bless ‘em.
Appeared in the August 17, 2007, edition of The Buffalo News.