“It was 45 years ago tonight… .”
Dave Pirner got around to mentioning the raison d’etre for Friday night’s big little Soul Asylum gig about halfway through his band’s 80-minute performance. Coming just three nights after Lizzo made her joyous return to First Avenue’s Mainroom, the only other Minnesota-made act to enjoy multi-platinum record sales after cutting its teeth next door at 7th St. Entry returned to the smaller room to mark the venue’s 45th anniversary.
Pirner and his solidly rebuilt band dup deep into the Soul Asylum way-back machine to kick off a three-night run of 7th St. Entry anniversary shows. They didn’t even get around to playing “Runaway Train” or anything else involving an acoustic guitar on Friday, an indicator of how different, loud and fast this crowded sold-out show was from their usual sets.
When he mentioned Friday being the actual anniversary date for the club — rechristened from the former Greyhound bus depot’s café space on March 21, 1980 — Pirner welcomed out Curtiss A, the Minnesota rock legend who headlined the Entry’s opening night festivities. He played there many times in the ensuing years, too, with younger punks like the Replacements, Hüsker Dü and Pirner’s band following his lead.
“My idol,” Pirner said as Curt Almsted, 74, strutted out from the curtain behind the small stage.
Curt howled and screamed through the R&B classic “Money (That’s What I Want),” a song he sings next door in the Mainroom every Dec. 8 for the John Lennon tribute concerts (a tradition that also grew out of the Entry). His appearance capped off a night dedicated to the club’s generative ’80s era. Arcwelder and the Mighty Mofos also returned to the room Friday to round out the lineup, the latter band led by longtime Entry sound engineer Billy Batson.
With Michael Bland back behind the kit — the former Prince drummer has been with Soul Asylum for 20 years but hasn’t been touring with them of late — Pirner led his quartet through a fun sampling of their new album, “Slowly but Shirley,” including its crunchiest tracks “Freeloader” and “Sucker Maker.” Those blended will with the trove of ’80s nuggets that otherwise filled Friday’s setlist.
Some of those oldies have been semi-regularly played elsewhere of late, such as “Little Too Clean” and “Made to Be Broken.” However, many hadn’t been performed much since co-founding guitarist Dan Murphy left the group in 2013, including “Sometime to Return,” “Freaks,” “Tied to the Tracks” and “Spinnin’.”
