Soul Asylum & the Honeydogs @ OLL Blast! Mound, Minnesota 5.2.09

Remember when rock bands had long hair and wore flannel for comfort, not irony, and remember when they’d stumble around doing crazy things like PLAYING GUITARS WITH BEER BOTTLES and SPRINTING FROM ONE END OF THE STAGE TO THE OTHER?  Fuck the 80s revival, the 90s was obviously a superior decade.  Allow me to list the evidence:  fashion-stagnant icons (“grunge”), Winona Ryder’s snatch (been there, done that), glorified nasal tones, and, most importantly, a general dismissal of happiness in favor of talking about doing important things while doing nothing (see “Reality Bites” for reference).

On Saturday, Our Lady of the Lake Church hosted The Greatest Band Ever…to Come out of Minnesota between the Years of 1992 and 1995.  That’s right, mofos, I’m talking about Soul Asylum.  This band not only fulfills every 90s era requisite, as listed above*, but as a bonus singer Dave Pirner still appears to be living in the 90s, as confirmed by his torn jeans and Aquaman t-shirt.  It was—and I’m being completely sincere—an amazing night. 

The Honeydogs at OLL Blast!, Mound, Minnesota (05/02/09) ♥ photo by Kate

The show opened with another local favorite, the Honeydogs, who brought horns for the occasion.  Like many bands of a certain age and ilk, the Honeydogs are best heard live.  As a studio group, their music is straightforward mature rock with an unusual lyrical edge over similar acts (early song themes include race relations and cultural alienation).  Fussy twenty-somethings may not appreciate the band’s tame anthemic style or the crowd draw of mostly L.L Bean-clad professionals, to which I say “fair enough, but how many mid-90s bands can lure hundreds of fans to Mound, Minnesota (population 9,435, birthplace of Kevin Sorbo) and pull off a slim jean designed for men half their ages?”  (The answer is:  at least two.)  I should also mention that the quote of the night goes to Adam Levy who charmed the (presumably conservative) audience with a few deliberate “support your troops” cheers:

Levy:  (after informing us that his once-teenage son had intended to enlist) “By the way, my son never went to Iraq.  He discovered mushrooms instead.”

Soul Asylum at OLL Blast!, Mound,   Minnesota (05/02/09) ♥ photo by Kate Soul Asylum - Runaway Train Soul Asylum

I think you know you’ve “made it,” or in Soul Asylum’s case, “made it, lost it, and re-made it,” when you have a man whose sole responsibility is to hand you your guitar (or in Soul Asylum’s case, physically position the guitar in your arms).  Dave Pirner has (re)made it.  Another testament to your lasting fame is the number of women available to carry your child (at least one; she knocked me in the head while frantically waving her arms in what I determined to be code for “please infiltrate me with your love tool”).  Dave Pirner still has it.  Regardless of the holy location, Soul Asylum rocked the Devil’s music in a hard way, pulling out all the stops; never have I seen middle-aged men attempt—and almost succeed at—sweaty, dated stage acrobatics like Pirner’s hip gyrations (still sexy) and Dan Murphy’s awkward guitar slide.  At one point I turned to my friend and said “I feel as though I’m having a childhood experience that I never actually had” (this was likely during “Misery”).  And yes, I know what you’re wondering:  they still play “Runaway Train.”  In fact, despite years of heavy substance intake, Pirner’s voice sounded pretty good.  He looked pretty good too; moving about in a youthful manner, as I mentioned earlier, as well as telling some jokes, smiling, acting gracious and friendly…it seems that the bratty rock star grew up. 

The band played a full set plus encore, where Kraig Johnson, formerly of the Jayhawks, joined in for a few crowd-pleasing covers (“My Generation,” “Should I Stay or Should I Go”).  Johnson made a hasty exit after some trashy bitch threw a plastic beer cup at him (don’t worry, Tommy Stinson was ready with a hug**) and the show concluded with Pirner inviting his roadies onstage to play a few notes and later to pack up the instruments.

I have no idea if Soul Asylum are touring.  Their website hasn’t been updated since 2008, but feel free to dream.  The Honeydogs are a bit more prolific, with local shows later this summer (go HERE or HERE for more information).

UPDATE:  Soul Asylum has a handful of upcoming shows, as per their Myspace.

* Dave Pirner had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in “Reality Bites”
** Stinson (The Replacements) joins the band on bass and Michael Bland (Prince) replaces former drummer Karl Mueller, who passed away in 2005.