Further proof the Replacements were (or are?) a band for the ages: During the "Don't Tell a Soul" portion of Friday night's seventh annual tribute concert at First Avenue -- with the Melismatics and grade-A replacement drummer Michael Bland leading a procession of guest singers through the entire 1989 album – 19-year-old Jake Luppen of Hippo Campus sang "Asking Me Lies" sandwiched between Maurice Jacox and Curtiss A, two local music vets in their 60s.
Later, during a surprise 30th anniversary bonus performance of 1984's "Let It Be" album with the same rotating lineup, 17-year-old Max Timander of Stereo Confession sneered his way through "Gary's Got a Boner" ("Sixteen Blue" would've been too obvious). Eighties-era scenesters Lori Barbero of Babes in Toyland and Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum came before and after him, respectively, delivering "Seen Your Video" and "Answering Machine," one with the help of a lyrics sheet and one without (fans of the album can probably guess which was which). Those age variations mirrored a similar broad range of musical styles throughout the five-hour, two-room tribute bonanza.
Best moment, period: Probably the least obvious performer of the night, R&B/soul singer Jacox turned the mid-album highlight "They're Blind" into the most moving moment of the entire night -- yep, putting the soul in "Don't Tell a Soul." The Willie & the Bees star started it out with a whisper and crescendoed into a soaring, powerful climax as if it were the Replacements' own version of "Try a Little Tenderness." And here I thought it was their version of a country ballad.
Best song reinventions of the night: There were not one but two versions of "Skyway" that veered sharply from the all-acoustic original, starting with Entry openers the Person & the People's amped-up, urgently rocking take on it. Just 15 minutes later, the Blackberry Brandy Boys offered a violin-laced, twangier spin (led by fiddler Jillian Rae). Best of all – and similarly a full-band remake of an acoustic original – Two Harbors ended its all-around stellar, four-song set in the main room with its loud guitars still blazing through a reverberating, almost shoegazerly update of "Here Comes a Regular." That wasn't even the best of Two Harbors' set, either. Their "Little Mascara" almost left me crying.
Most personalized set: Stereo Confession – with members all younger than the last Replacements album by several years – stuck largely to the punkier tracks off the first two 'Mats efforts, making for the night's rowdiest set despite the lack of alcohol. Talk about timely song choices, too. Bassist Theo Pupillo couldn't make the gig because he couldn't get off from his job at Ikea on Black Friday, which made for a great tie-in with "Customer." Even better, Pupillo's fill-in, Malcolm Ragan, announced he had just dropped out of college before playing – you guessed it – "F*** School."
Best insider joke: The kids again. Introducing "Hootenanny" to end Stereo Confession's set in the Entry, Timander acted his age when he announced, "Hootenanny, in G… just kidding" ('Mats diehards will get it).
Best last-minute replacements: Nineties-styled power trio Fury Things were only invited to the party a week earlier, but they put on the night's best set in the Entry, with fiery versions of "Favorite Thing," "Color Me Impressed," "Kids Don't Follow" and, ahem, "New Day Rising." Nobody complained that the latter was actually a Hüsker Dü song. And anyway, what'd you expect on short notice? Also, the main room's host and one of the event's principal organizers, David Campbell of E.L.nO. and the Current proved his expertise by singing "Achin' to Be" on very short notice for a missing Actual Wolf (good thing it wasn't a harder/rarer track like "Inherit the Earth").
Biggest letdowns: Sorry Ma, but "Don't Tell a Soul" didn't stand up well to the tribute formula. The record simply boasts too many mid-tempo songs and plain, old dullards. After the Melismatics' own Ryan Smith sang a spot-on "Talent Show" to kick it off, the show quickly nosedived – just as the album itself does – with "Back to Back" and "Inherit the Earth." The two closing tunes also proved a bit too complicated and slow to effectively pull off. And what was with all the singers reading stiffly from lyric sheets throughout Friday's show? That was certainly understandable during the more rarely played "Don't Tell a Soul" songs, but not during the "Let It Be" tunes that came after, especially "I Will Dare," "Androgynous" and (gasp!) "Black Diamond."
