Though Soul Asylum’s recent tendency toplay casinos and state fairs suggests the group has continued with theircomplacent ways, their actual performances speak otherwise. The Soul Asylumthat showed up for Friday’s show at Potawatomi Bingo Casino’s Northern LightsTheater more closely resembled the clamorous, club-filling Minnesota rock bandof the late ’80s than the pandering soft-rockers of the late ’90s.
For an ostensible nostalgia act, theirset was refreshingly raw. The band fumbled with songs, entertained themselvescovering Johnny Cash and joked, cussed and bickered with each other, whilesinger David Pirner (looking little changed from 1995, with grapefruit-sizedholes in the knees of his jeans and blond locks hiding his face, a la KurtCobain) swigged his way through a beer or two too many. He was wildly moody,easygoing one song then righteously pissed off the next, but that anger lent hisvoice a convincing bite.
Soul Asylum’s current lineup may actuallybe its most interesting. After the 2005 death of bassist Karl Mueller, formerReplacements bassist Tommy Stinson joined the band, serving as a reminder ofthe group’s rock ’n’ roll roots. The choice to fill their rotating drummer slotwas similarly inspired: Michael Bland, a sometimes-Prince drummer built like asumo wrestler. Sporting a mohawk and a pair of heroically stitched, brightpurple overalls, he looked like a real-life version of one of the Gorillazcartoons, and he pummeled the drums with all the delicacy you’d expect from aman his size.
The group barreled through hits like“Misery,” “Somebody to Shove” and “Black Gold,” with “Runaway Train” receivingthe least fanfare, not only from the band, which buried it halfway throughtheir set, but also from the crowd of mostly enthusiasts, who were much morevocal during hard-rocking non-hits from 1988’s Hang Time.
If history remembers Soul Asylum fortheir misguided attempts to carry the weight of the world, the band has nobodyto blame but themselves, but Friday night the band captured their old spark,making the case that they deserve a reappraisal.
