The Replacements, punk’s most underrated outfit, are revived in special Dublin tribute gig
Super group cover band, Seen Your video, played Whelan’s main hall last month in support of Woman’s Aid.
‘The band that could have, but didn’t.’ That was how music critic David Carr described The Replacements, a four-piece punk band hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Replacements stemmed from the punk explosion that engulfed Britain, and soon after America, in the late 1970’s and initially became known for their infamous and erratic live shows, which could be as intense and brilliant as they were obnoxiously disastrous, depending on the bands mood and level of drunkenness.
Their early work, though harboring an evident yet untamed energy and excitement, was not wholly distinguishable from other punk outfits of the day.
That was until 1984’s Let it Be, however. On Let it Be, their third album, song writer Paul Westerberg stirred away from the raucous and expeditious songs which had populated their earlier work, instead opting to dabble in more sensitive, raggedly reflective and piercingly mature material.
On Let it be, and their following two albums Tim and Pleased to Meet Me, their epitomising trilogy and an essential starter pack for any would be fan, The Mats, as they were known to their cult following, wrote songs that defined the lives of a generation of young American punks, dealing with a wide spectrum of conflicting human emotions and anguish.
On Androgynous, Westerberg sings about gender ambiguity and sexual identity, on Unsatisfied, an inherent and indescribable dissatisfaction with life, teenage loneliness and despair is visited on Sixteen Blue, heartbreak and rejection on Answering Machine, the shattering sense of a lost love and friendship on Left of the dial and suicidal thoughts on The Ledge.
They were a band that had the talent to be ‘the’ band of the 1980’s, but not the inclination. While their contemporaries such as REM and U2 felt no shame in their own relentless and far reaching ambition, to be as big as they could possibly be, The Replacements rallied against it, viewing commercial success as somehow toxic.
The closest shave they had with the mainstream was a one off appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1986, following which they were banned for life after performing their set intoxicated and out of tune. Paul Westerberg also let slip a profanity on live television, which was the nail in the coffin as far as the SNL producers were concerned.
After the performance, Executive Producer of SNL, Lorne Michaels, sought out The Replacements manager Russ Rieger and bawled at him, ‘How dare you do this? Do you know what you just did to this show? Your band will never perform on television again.’
Although with an altered attitude The Mats would have reached a larger audience, it is precisely this attitude that endears them to their cult following and defines them as a unique rock and roll band.
They have always been the outsider’s band, the band that championed the losers. The distorted pride they took in their rejection of the mainstream suited their music. Paul Westerberg summed up their atypical attitude when he remarked on their increasing fame in the mid 1980’s, ‘we’d much rather play for fifty people who know us than a thousand who don’t care.’
The band’s only Irish performance came in The Olympia theatre in Dublin in 1991. They disbanded later the same year. A scarce reunion tour took place in 2013 and The Replacements pitched up at a number of North American festivals but another visit to these shores seems unlikely.
So it was a rare treat for Irish music fans when it was announced last month that a Replacements cover band consisting of accomplished Irish acts James Vincent McMorrow, Conor O’Brien of Villagers, Peter Toomey of The Immediate, Conor Lumsden of The №1s and James Byrne of Soak had been formed and would be playing Whelan’s Main Hall, in a one off gig in support of Woman’s Aid.
The quintet are presumably fans of what singer Peter Toomey referred to as, ‘probably the greatest Rock and roll there’s ever been.’ Toomey told the packed Whelan’s Main Hall that if anyone had never heard of the replacements, not that you imagined there were many in the room who hadn’t, then they’d better go out and ‘buy the Let it be album, it will change your life.’
Indeed the size of the crowd attracted by the name of a band that had not performed in this country or released new material in twenty-six years, and even at the height of their fame were not particularly well known here, was extraordinary. James Vincent McMorrow, who performed on rhythm guitar and keyboards throughout the evening remarked with a smile at one stage that, ‘we really didn’t expect this many people to be here.’
The cover band kicked off their set aptly enough with Seen your Video, then darted through Alex Chilton and Bastards of the Young, only taking a breather to promote Replacements badges they were each wearing, which were on sale in the hall with all proceeds going to Women’s Aid, as was the €10 entrance fee.
It was clear from the outset that they were attempting to channel The Mats infamous on-stage energy. Bassist Conor Lumsden and lead guitarist Conor O’Brien trashed at their instruments and skidded around the stage like giddy children. Toomey sang Westerberg’s vocals with a deep-seated intensity, like they were the most important thing he’d ever heard. It was evident from this intense and vigorous performance that this was a project of passion.
The remainder of the set was a run through of The Replacements greatest hits and Seen your Video continued on in their ultra energetic and excited manner. All songs were taken from The Replacements famous trilogy of albums in the mid eighties, bar Talent Show, which appeared on the lesser known sixth album, Don’t tell a soul.
After a ninety minute set, Seen your Video returned to the stage for a two song encore, a beautiful rendition of the heartbreaking discontented war cry, Unsatisfied. Followed by The Ledge, a song that looks to empathise with the desperation felt by those who are pushed to suicidal thoughts.
The evening, both the performance by the passionate and supremely talented cover band and the receptive and excited crowd, was a tribute to The Replacements, a celebration of their great music and a nod to their impact, influence and attitude. Thirty-three years after the release of Let it be, Twenty-six years after they played in this country, nearly a thousand of their cult following turned up to hear and champion their music and importance. On this evidence perhaps, in hindsight The Replacements are the band that could have, and did.
