Aah, the Replacements. I was chuffed to bits when I dug these old snaps out, all thanks to my brother for scanning them & to my old point & shoot (nothing's changed there then) Olympus trip for taking them.
The Replacements & the solo work of Paul Westerberg was all your dear scribe had in the late eighties & most of the nineties.In an era of second rate hairspray, bands they were a breath of fresh air.
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| The Berg & his soon to be trashed Rickenbacker. |
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| Tommy gets his tonsils out. |
Their gigs were legendary, they could either totally annoy by degenerating into a sloppy shambolic mess & abuse the audience & each other, whilst playing half assed cover versions for two hours & never completing a single song.
On the other hand when they'd got their shit together they were pure dynamite.
I guess I should consider myself very lucky. On the three occasions I got to see them they were stunning. The most notable being Sheffield Leadmill. They hit the stage dressed in archetypal American tourist garb. All green & yellow checked shirts & jackets, with silver spray painted work boots with dollar signs. How I wish I'd taken my camera that night.
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| Pre Guns & Roses Tommy |
They started with out 'n' out rocker 'Iou from 'pleased to meet me' & from thereon in, the pace was relentless.
The Leadmill was the kind of place where the bands had to finish early to make way for the place turning into a nightclub. As the late night clubbers were drifting in they decided to play an hours worth of cover versions for an encore, from Black Sabbath to Mama Cass. GENIUS!
The snaps you are viewing are from the Manchester Boardwalk in 1991. They were touring on the back of their last album 'All shook down' a much slower affair which showed off Paul Westerbergs husky, late night, smoky voice.
They never came across as hard living rock stars. They were more like the naughty little boys from 'Little rascals'. Instead of coke fuelled sex orgies, they always looked like they'd be more at home throwing eggs at your windows then hiding in the bushes giggling about it.
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| Paul soaked in sweat & tcp. |
As is usually the case where great talent is concerned, they never got the credit they deserved. Influencing a generation of bands, one producer of note, on hearing 'Never mind' by Nirvana, quoted; 'yup, they've made a half decent Replacements album'.
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| The Berg goes surfing. |
So there you have it boys & girls. THE REPLACEMENTS. Often imitated, never bettered.
This post is dedicated to Bill from Edinburgh. A man who finished work on a friday, hopped on a plane to the States on the same afternoon, went to a Paul Westerberg gig & then flew back home.
My friend; the word 'Legend' doesn't even begin to come close.
N.B. Check out the duet with Paul & Joan Jett from the Tank Girl soundtrack.
Chin Chin my dears.
Superb photos, Mark!
ReplyDeletestellar - i've never seen any photos from their uk shows. the clubs they were playing at this point on their uk tour were a fraction of the size of the halls they were playing america. it's great to see such intimate close ups from this era as if it were 1984 all over again.
ReplyDeleteHi Matthew, thanks very much for your comments, it's always great to get feedback.
ReplyDeleteThey really were small venues, I believe the one in Manchester had a capacity of about 200 & it was by no means full. We knew we were watching something special when we saw the Mats.
Take care mate.
F.T.
I've still got my ticket from The Boardwalk gig,
ReplyDeleteThe date Wednesday 17th April Admission £5
I was the idiot down the front leaping about while wearing a black Crombie
and looking like a 15 stone vampire bat about to take flight.
Thanks for the photos, great memories of a fantastic night.
now posting on Guardian website as miserlyoldgit
Hi there. Was that the Leadmill show 1986 or 1987? They played a great set. Most memorable moment for me was when one of the audience asked if he could get on stage and sing a song. Of course they let him do it. He looked the part too, a Lemmy knock off, biker leathers, long hair and pint in hand. To top it off he really could sing. I remember Paul and Tommy looking over at each other with wide grins on their faces while they let him take the limelight. A magic band.
ReplyDelete