“I FEEL THE ROOM SWAYING”

“I FEEL THE ROOM SWAYING”

CENTERSTAGE

THE REPLACEMENTS The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, CA & The Variety Arts Center, Los Angeles June 24, 26-27, 1987

J. Kordosh

Fresh from a trip over to England, where rock ’n’ roll was invented, the Replacements are back in the U.S.A. Sadly, they didn’t fare too well in England—that’s where Simple Minds’ live album rightfully entered the charts at #1—but maybe when they return they’ll be better and make lots of money. In the meantime, here’s some impressions from these inaugural (for ’87) Stateside shows—the type of thing you can look forward to yourself:

• The first night, their last encore is “Hello, Dolly.” Yes.. .that was Paul, Dolly.

• The second night, a jet-lagged and tipsy Chris Mars struggles through the first song, then retires to the side of the stage. "Is there a drummer in the house?” asks Westerberg. Fortunately, there are many, and the show continues.

• The third night, Westerberg’s amp goes out. While repairs are made, John their roadie, plays “The Girl From Ipanema,” a standard crowd-pleaser.

• Every night, the Replacements wear plaid. Lots of plaid. Reams of plaid. There’ll be hundreds of cold horses in Minnesota come the frost.

• Back to the first night. Westerberg strikes up Them’s “Here Comes The Night." His fellow Mats watch, fascinated. Westerberg tries it again, singing the first few lines. Everyone watches, fascinated. Onto the next song.

• One of the concerts is a record company showcase of sorts, which means the dozens who toiled to shove Pleased To Meet Me into the Top 612 and had nothing better to do were out in force. Bassist Tommy Stinson, the devil in his eye, grabs the mike and yells, “There’s where all the people in the record company are!” He points them out to the undoubtedly appreciative audience as a smiling Paul shoves him from the mike.

• Along with “Hello, Dolly”—so amiable a number it’s incorporated into the set proper by the third night—the Mats cover some of the most popular tunes ever. In addition to “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” these include “Promised Land,” “Battleship Chains,” “Be My Lover,” “California Sun and Knockin On Heaven’s Door.” Bono Vox doesn’t appear onstage, unlike half the audience during the second show.

• While the Mats swap instruments during the second show, new guitarist Slim Dunlap is left temporarily axeless and sits things out awhile. He returns to engage Westerberg in a scathing dual lead on “The Ledge,” a song the Replacements term their favorite in ads everywhere.

• Seattle’s Young Fresh Fellows open for the Mats all three nights, amazing the crowds with songs like “My Friend Ringo” and “Amy Grant,” or at least their titles.

• The first night, a girl between the ages of 20 and 20Y4 who’s probably never heard of the Replacements, never wants to hear of the Replacements again, and probably dearly wishes they’d been taken up on their name, watches as they take the stage. She remains seated the entire night, her mouth open. Someday, someone will move her.

• During the three nights, the Mats manage to include a lot of their own songs, many among the most magnificent of the decade. The first night, Westerberg changes the lyrics of “Bastards Of Young” most adroitly; later on, he makes the line "definitely not L.A.” from "Left Of The Dial” sound like something less than a testimonial to a grand city.

There’s plenty more to look forward to at a Replacements’ show—one night, for example, Westerberg ended a string of boomboom false starts with "Waitress In The Sky” and “g’night.” Another found him dabbling with five seconds’ worth of Neil Young’s “Helpless,” and another had him turning in stellar acoustic versions of “Skyway” and “If Only You Were Lonely.”

Never dull and scarcely predictable, you could do a lot worse than seeing the Replacements. If nothing else, it’ll give you some great stories to tell at the next concert you go to.