Photos by Chris Besaw
Review by Kelly Besaw
Soul Asylum made a stop on their current tour to perform for a sold-out crowd at the Homer Center for the Arts in Homer, New York Friday October 25. The band is currently on tour in support of their most recent release Slowly but Shirley and brought along with them supporting act The Juliana Hatfield Three.
The Juliana Hatfield Three received a warm welcome as they took the stage. The band is on tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut album Become What You Are. The band recorded the album in 1993 prior to disbanding in 1994. Hatfield reunited with drummer Todd Philips and bassist Dean Fisher in 2014 and released Whatever, My Love. The band played mostly songs from Become What You Are including their biggest hits “My Sister” and “Spin the Bottle” which was featured on the Reality Bites movie soundtrack. They had a strong fanbase in the audience and did a wonderful job warming up the crowd for the main act.
Dave Pirner, lead singer/guitarist and founding member of Soul Asylum has been writing catchy tunes since 1981. Although the band is probably best known for their 1992 release “Runaway Train,” they have so many other hits and I feel they are incredibly underrated as songwriters and musicians. Truthfully, Grave Dancers Union was the very first CD I ever purchased. Back then, CDs were expensive, so you really had to love an album to make that commitment. I played the heck out of that CD, and it is one of the few CDs from my vast collection that I still own.
Despite loving the band, I had never seen them live and did not know what to expect. Soul Asylum did not disappoint. From the second they took the stage, they started in with “Somebody to Shove” moving back and forth in unison to the rhythm while the fans sang along. They kept the sing along going with “Misery” followed by “Trial by Fire.”
The band has been through their share of difficulties throughout the years, but they always seem to resurface with Pirner’s ever positive attitude, outstanding new music and often new band members. The current touring lineup includes Ryan Smith (guitar), Michael Bland (drums) and Jeremy Tappero (bass). Soul Asylum worked their way through a nineteen-song set including “New World” “Black Gold” “Runaway Train,” and ending with “Just Like Anyone.”
They briefly left the stage before returning for a two-song encore including what Pirner described as “a story” “String of Pearls” and ending the evening with “April Fool.” I was thrilled to finally see them live and enjoyed the entire set including the songs off their newest release Slowly but Shirley. I recommend checking out the new album and please catch Soul Asylum live if you have a chance. It’s totally worth it!
Setlist:
Somebody to Shove
Misery
Trial by Fire
Freeloader
Little Too Clean
Never Really Been
Without a Trace
New World
The Only Thing I’m Missing
High Road
Sucker Maker
Freak Accident
Black Gold
Runaway Train
Bus Named Desire
Bittersweetheart
Just Like Anyone
Encore:
String of Pearls
April Fool
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