Maybe you're like me, and you were a big flashing target for Soul Asylum when their wrecking ball of an album, Grave Dancers Union, hit in 1992. "Runaway Train," "Black Gold," "Somebody to Shove" — the record went multi-platinum for a reason and launched the band as part of the era's alt explosion.
I remember standing at the counter of my local CD emporium a couple years later and impatiently waiting for the clerk to finish ringing up Let Your Dim Light Shine, which was "my" Soul Asylum album. The soaring chorus of "Misery," the alt-country sway of "Promises Broken," the circular story-song "String of Pearls" and — most of all — the heartbreaking final track, "I Did My Best."
It was a seminal album for me. So when Soul Asylum walked in Friday for a late-afternoon Studio Milwaukee Session, grown-up me was hoping for a performance that resurfaced at least a flash of my giddy teen self.
Dave Pirner and Ryan Smith overdelivered for me, as well as the many kindred spirits who filled our space. The duo were warm, funny and — this might not make sense since they were visiting us — welcoming.
Right from the start, it felt like we were being invited to settle in for a career sandwich of a set: "Somebody to Shove" and "Runaway Train" on either side of "Freak Accident" from new album Slowly But Shirley. Right after the more recent track, Pirner chatted with 88Nine's Jon Adler about the drag-racing-themed record, his Wisconsin parentage and the tight-knit Minneapolis music scene.
This was a rare happy hour Studio Milwaukee Session, with the weekend waiting just on the other side. But the time didn't seem to matter to the crowd. Teenaged, middle-aged or other, they smiled through the set regardless.
Studio MKE: Soul Asylum set list
- "Somebody to Shove"
- "Freak Accident"
- "Runaway Train"
