Tonight's Replacments' show at the Fillmore was everything a 'mats fan could ask for - at least this 'mats fan. The boys were tight, having fun belting out the hits (Minehan is just a beast the way he's ripping through solos, absolutely tore up the Ledge).
The opener was a Blink-182ish band from Wyoming that called themselves Teenage Bottlerocket, a well-rehearsed, enthusiastic neo-punk outfit, but somewhat of a one-tempo band that still found it necessary to shout "Make some fcuking noise!" at various intervals. They proclaimed themselves honored to be opening for the Replacements, and played original songs as well as a few choice covers - Van Halen's Panama, The Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop, and even a sampling of Cheap Trick.
The 'mats took the stage to Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, a song with a bit of personal meaning to me - it was my intro song for wrestling matches (in my glorious misspent youth).
They are now three years into the reunion, and the practice is paying off. The energy hasn't dropped off a bit - I actually think it has increased. The boys were in much better form for this show than they were at Boston Calling last year, and the crowd knew it. Everybody was rocking out like we had all collectively reverted to our early twenties again, no easy trick for a lot of us, that.
Somewhere between three and four thousand people came out for the show. The crowd seemed to be men & women my age or better, though I did see a number of kids, you know, those under-thirties who can still pull off skinny jeans.
The set list was a loosely followed guide - the band played a number of tunes not shown on the list, as well as a countrified version of Waitress In The Sky, a sample of the drum intro for the Knack's My Sharona, a T-Rex medley consisting of 20th Century Boy and Bang A Gong (with Dave Minehan taking the vocals for 20th Century), and a shambling cover of the old doo-wop tune My Boy Lollipop.
Paul asked the band if there were any requests, and after listening to the crowd shouting out songs (I heard everything from Jumping Jack Flash to Freebird - oh wait, that was me) the band did a few seconds of a discordant mash-up that sounded like "bleagh", but with instruments.
The new blues tune (Whole Foods on the set list, to the tune of The Thrill Is Gone) was played, and a few added treats followed - All Shook Down, Anywhere Is Better Than Here, Can't Hardly Wait with a surprise guest on the trombone for the first break (I have no idea who it was).
Paul came out solo for the first two encore numbers - Skyway and If Only You Were Lonely. Tommy, Josh, & Dave then joined him for Left Of The Dial followed by the best live version of Alex Chilton I've ever heard - an incredible blast of raw power and tangible emotional energy.
With the exception of the first reunion show at Riot Fest in 2013, this was the best Replacements show I've ever experienced, and a lot of what gives the Riot Fest show the edge over this one is sentiment, as it was the first 'mats show I'd seen in 25 years.
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