The Replacements

Soulmonster wrote:
I guess this means that Tommy can't actively partake in any work on a new record in this period.

Tommy Stinson Credits Replacements Reunion to 'Aligning of the Planets'
Bassist looks forward to first shows with Paul Westerberg in 22 years
By Christian Hoard
June 14, 2013 3:55 PM ET

On July 4th, 1991, the Replacements capped off their set at Chicago's Grant Park with a winking, typically iconoclastic stunt: The members exited the stage one by one, leaving their roadies to pick up their instruments and finish the gig. "I remember feeling kinda sad," Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson tells Rolling Stone in an exclusive interview. "But at the same time it felt like an 800-pound gorilla had been lifted off my back."

For the great American garage band of the 1980s, it was the end of a 12-year-run full of brilliant albums (most notably 1984's ragged masterpiece, Let It Be), dashed expectations and heroically messed-up shows. But on Wednesday evening, the Replacements made good on one of rock's most prayed-for reunions, announcing they'll play three dates of the Riot Fest, starting August 25th in Toronto. "The universe seems to be trying to put us together to do our thing," Stinson says. "It was just the timing and the aligning of the planets."

It took a while for the planets to align: The band had been fending off reunion offers for years, and had to overcome frontman Paul Westerberg's reluctance to tour again. (Stinson's longtime gig with Guns N' Roses was also likely a factor.) But Westerberg and Stinson came together last fall to record the covers EP Songs for Slim, a benefit for Replacements guitarist Slim Dunlap, who faced mounting medical bills after suffering a stroke in February 2012. They hit the studio again in May, this time to record new material. "We had a really good time working together and reconnecting," Stinson says. "Coincidentally, this is when the [festival] offer happened happened to be out there."

It's almost certain the tour will continue beyond these three shows, but Stinson is mum on details – "We'll see," is all he says on the subject. The band hasn't revealed who will play with Westerberg and Stinson, either, though we know it won't be original drummer Chris Mars. He left the band in 1990 and is now a visual artist with no apparent interest in returning to his old gig. "We didn't speak to Chris because we knew the answer before we even asked – he'd say 'no,'" says Stinson. "We're currently working out who's gonna fill what shoes." (Also unclear: Whether or not there will be a new 'Mats album. "We're not sure if we're gonna do anything with any of [the new recordings]," Stinson says.)

Though mega-festivals like Coachella had been offering what Stinson called "silly money," the Replacements opted for the relatively under-the-radar Riot Fest. "We started talking to them in December," festival organizer Mike Petryshyn says. "As soon as it [was confirmed] we were in shock and awe. I had a little tear come to my eye. We're kind of numb right now." As for the money: "What we're paying them is pretty on par with other headliners," Petryshyn says. "It was pretty much what we can afford, and there was no back-and-forth with it."

Westerberg has played very few concerts since 2005, and his last release was the 2009 EP PW & the Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys. When Rolling Stone spoke with him in October, he seemed to be edging toward a Replacements reunion. "I've had offers to play with them, or without them, that are becoming stupidly ridiculous," he said. "To the point where someone thinks I'm playing hard to get. And it's not like I'm wealthy. I'm getting by. It was never about making money. If we can have a lot of fun, and make a lot of people happy, and make a lot of money – which means making a lot of other people money – then OK, I guess that's spiritually and economically sound."

Reunited Replacements Lineup Confirmed
Josh Freese and David Minehan round out lineup

Last we checked in with the Replacements reunion, the band was rehearsing "Alex Chilton" for, uh, nine seconds-- and more importantly, the full lineup of who, exactly, would be participating in the reunion wasn't confirmed. Well, now it is: the Star Tribune reports that noted L.A. session drummer Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle, Guns N' Roses) and Boston-based guitarist David Minehan are rounding out the lineup for the forthcoming headlining gigs at Riot Fests in Chicago, Toronto, and Denver.You might remember that, according to Rolling Stone, Stinson said they "didn't speak to [original drummer] Chris [Mars] because we knew the answer before we even asked – he'd say 'no."

Watch that nine-second "Alex Chilton" rehearsal video below.

Tommy Stinson of The Replacements takes us to his old house

by Sean O'Neal August 22, 2013


For a band that so embodied the antithesis of image-driven ’80s music, The Replacements have nevertheless evolved their own image-driven mythology. The epic alcohol intake, the sloppy performances, the raids on their own record company and tapes being flung into the Mississippi River, the many comic misadventures of late guitarist Bob Stinson—all have fed the legend of a band that propagated a strain of back-to-basics rock that sought to eschew legend, returning it to the hands of regular kids who don’t buy into that shit.

That mythology achieved an unlikely focal point with the cover of The Replacements’ third album, Let It Be. A candid shot of the bleary-eyed band hanging out on a rooftop, everyday kids clad in ordinary jeans and Converse sneakers, it similarly represented the antithesis of the posed album photos that tried so hard to present an image or convey meaning. And yet the image, as journalist Michael Azerrad wrote in Our Band Could Be Your Life, became “a great little piece of mythmaking” anyway—not only capturing each band member’s individual personality (Paul Westerberg, the caustic genius too busy talking to acknowledge the camera’s presence; Bob, the smirking imp, etc.), but providing something like a blueprint for every group that would take guitar and beer in hand and blossom into grunge and “alternative” rock.

What’s more, the photo’s “meaning” would be endlessly hypothesized about and debated. Perhaps, similar to the album title, it was a slyly scaled-down parody of The Beatles’ own rooftop performance in Let It Be. Or no, maybe it was a commentary on rock’s promise of reinvention, that stardom can elevate the ordinary kid from the basement to somewhere overlooking the world. Though, in keeping with the pervasive sense of alienation in Westerberg’s songs, that elevation can only go so far—maybe just outside their bedroom window, with the childhood trophies looming overhead a constant reminder of the small rewards afforded by even trying.

Or maybe they were all just really hung over and sitting on a roof.

For what it’s worth, meaning wasn’t even part of the conversation the day it was shot. We spoke to photographer Daniel Corrigan at the CC Club—another oft-mythologized Replacements haunt (it inspired “Here Comes A Regular”) that sits right across the street from the old Oar Folkjokeopus record store, former home of the band’s Twin/Tone label—and he was quick to point out that the shot was just a last-minute decision, taken after doing some shots of the band practicing in the basement. It wasn’t even his first choice for a cover: He preferred the (almost as legendary) photo of the band in an elevator, trapped there after Corrigan lured them with the promise of cocaine.

Any meaning ascribed to it is therefore definitely after the fact—and, indeed, maybe even a point of contention between Corrigan and Westerberg, whom Corrigan says remains somewhat aloof toward him after years of his photo taking on its own life. “I think Paul in some way, a little bit, resents still to this day that the picture is mine and not his—because if it was his, more of the project would be his,” Corrigan told us. “People do make such a big deal about the picture and how it represents all this stuff… And I think even that concept kind of bothers Paul.”

Of course, if anyone has cause to quibble with the mythology surrounding the Let It Be photo, it would be bassist Tommy Stinson—the very person whose roof it was taken on. When we brought Stinson to the home where he’d spent his teenage years jamming with his brother, accidentally formulating a career, he was equally blasé about its supposedly legendary status. To him, this was just his mom’s old house, and—as he showed us where she’d once done donuts on a motorcycle in the backyard, eventually crashing into the basement, or the front porch where he and his brother used to get stoned and watched the storms roll in, sometimes hearing the screams from a nearby halfway house for schizophrenics—he shrugged off any idea that it’s some sort of landmark, the same way The ’Mats shrugged off the very idea of stardom.

“When you’re in it and itʼs part of your daily life—youʼve got your friends, you walk around, you go do your shit, you go to the bar, Hums, whatever, you hang out with your family—itʼs not like you have this sort of surreal existence. Itʼs just regular life to us,” Stinson said at one point. “We didnʼt have any clue about that. Itʼs like, ‘Letʼs go make some racket, Paul. Let’s go beat it up.’”

Still, even that indifference is part of the mythology—just like the Stinson house, or the CC Club, or the Hums Liquor store he mentioned within “stumbling distance,” which the band also made legendary through photographs. As is the band’s commitment to just banging out some tunes, regardless of where they might end up—something Stinson and Westerberg were doing the very day we talked.

At the time, Stinson didn’t let on that their new “racket-making,” ostensibly as part of the Songs For Slim project, was ready to blossom into a full-on Replacements reunion, with shows scheduled at Riot Fest dates in Toronto (Aug. 25), Chicago (Sept. 15), and Denver (Sept. 21). But much like the Let It Be house being just a house, he probably only would have downplayed their importance as just some shows. Even though, to so many people, it means so much more.

August 25, 2013

Warning, watching this video of THE GODDAMN MATS doing "Favorite Thing" and "Color Me Impressed" will rip your heart out,throw it on the floor, then stomp on it for good measure. (unless you were at the show).

It's all over now - thank you to  Slicing Up Eyeballs and  The Star-Tribune for the live updates. They were painful but awesome. More to come tomorow of course, but for now, here's the phenomenal set list and check the FB page for some pics. Yes, I am so sad not to have been there but I am really thrilled and so truly happy that it seems like the show was a resounding success for all.

1. “Takin’ a Ride”
2. “I’m in Trouble”
3. “Favorite Thing”
4. “Hanging Downtown”
5. “Color Me Impressed”
6. “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out”
7. “Kiss Me On the Bus”
8. “Androgynous”
9. “Achin’ to Be”
10. “I Will Dare”
11. “Love You ‘Til Friday” (w/ Chuck Berry’s “Maybellene”)
12. “Merry Go Round”
13. “Wake Up”
14. “Borstal Breakout” (Sham 69 cover)
15. “Little Mascara”
16. “Left of the Dial”
17. “Alex Chilton”
18. “Swingin Party” (“Special request from our friend Slim back home”)
19. “Can’t Hardly Wait”
20. “Bastards of Young”

21. “Everything is Coming Up Roses” (From ‘Songs For Slim’ EP)
22. “IOU”

Uli wrote:Not much (I guess). They had 3 gigs last summer, if they'd wanted they could've done more. (Btw, their current drummer is pretty busy playing in various bands etc., so in my opinion they won't do big tours right now anyway.)

Sept. 14, 2014
Well, it's all over, including the shouting. The Mats show at Midway Stadium in St. Paul last night was an unqualified success, to the say the least. Everything I have heard or seen about the show has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic. After looking at a bunch of review this morning, I think this one by Chris Riemenschneider seems to capture the night the best (i.e. will make you weep that you were not there to see it): http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/275038201.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y

Now, the Replacements say they'll likely make an album at some point in the future. Westerberg, who often writes on piano as well as guitar, has plenty of songs in the hopper. One candidate for inclusion might be called "Are You in It for the Money?"; another is titled "Dead Guitar Player"...

Since reuniting last year, the Replacements have played a handful of shows and announced that they are "likely" recording a follow-up to their last album, 1990's All Shook Down. Today, the Minnesota band have shared "Poke Me In My Cage", a 25-minute long jazz improv piece recorded at Woolly Mammoth Sound in Waltham, MA. The track, which was uploaded to the band's Soundcloud along with copyright info, was unearthed by Brad Searles of Bradley's Almanac; listen above.