I must say that this was one of the the best shows I've seen at the 9:30 Club in a long time!
Basically, I was there for the English Beat . Soul Asylum played well and the 4 songs I knew were really good. The crowd seemed split about 1/4 SA fans and 3/4 EB fans. Everyone paid attention and bobbed heads to Dave Pirner's set. The highlight for me was when Dave intro'd the band and pointed out that the quirky cool, familiar-looking ace bass player was Tommy Stinson ... TOMMY STINSON?!?!? Wow! I lurved the Replacements in college. Ok! That just made my evening better. LOL
When the English Beat came out, Dave Wakeling was very high-energy and the band was so tight. You wouldn't has guessed that it was like their 3rd or 4th show of the tour. The vibe in the room was one of excitement and nostalgia. EB provided a soundtrack to many a high school party and the good time flashbacks could be read on each and every face in the audience.
They played almost every song from the Best of... CD (except my fave Sole Salvation ). {pout} LOL
However, when we, the rabble, called out for tunes not on the docket, Dave, good-naturedly, gave us a cappella snippets for our memories banks. Very kewl!
Equally pleasurable to watch was Dave's new man on horns, the saxy Domonic Dean Breaux. Yummy! After the sound guys decided to turn on his mic after the first two songs, we got hear his beautiful contributions instead of just reveling in his fine form.
But wait, I digress. Seriously, the guys, D & D, Rhythm, Rick, and... why didn't I get the name of the enigmatic fella on the keyboards(?).. were all amazing. The show was well worth the wait of 20 odd years since I first heard the opening strains of I Confess on MTV. Dave's voice was in fine form. I did wish that Roger was there to share in the experience, but maybe with enough good press, he'll decided to join the show.
Mistress Kelly
