Tommy Stinson's Bash & Pop Played The Saint with The So So Glos, 1/20/17

Tommy Stinson of Bash & Pop

Friday Was Killing Me

I'm just gonna come right out and say that Friday was a tough day for me. The pendulum swings back and forth. I get that. But something about this time feels more ominous and depressing.

Anyway.

Music -- especially live music -- often serves to pick me up at those times when I'm feeling most down. I understand that rock or pop music isn't going to save the world; but it's one of the things that, even just for a few hours, can make you feel like you can do anything. And, sometimes, I think it can give you that little push you need to get off your ass and do something. That's how I felt on Friday night anyway.

This was advertised by The Saint as an early show, and openers The So So Glos did hit the stage at just about 8:20. They're a band I've loved for a lot of years, and it had been a while since I'd seen them. The three founding members -- Ryan and Alex Levine and Zach Staggers -- are joined now by Davey Jones of Lost Boy ? on guitar; and, on Friday night, the band were as tight as I'd ever seen them.

The So So Glos

Their set included songs from their latest album, Kamikaze, which is just a really good rock and roll record. It covers many of the same themes that The So So Glos have been hitting on for their whole career, the most important of which is to make sure you live in the real world -- the here and now -- and make human connections. That was a hugely important message for Friday and for every day.

The So So Glos also played several songs from 2013's BLOWOUT, an album I list as one of my absolute favorites of recent years. I think I may have shouted into the mic for the appropriate-for-the-day "Son of an American." They closed with a version of "Eve of Destruction" for which they had written some new lyrics of their own.

There was a bit of a wait before Tommy Stinson's Bash & Pop started their set. The 10pm curfew was obviously out the window. There was some rustling for about 30 minutes behind The Saint's red curtain, and the crowd grew a little bit restless. But then Stinson said, "Let's do this!" into the mic, the curtain opened, and we were off.

Bash & Pop

There was a setlist at Stinson's feet that included just about every song from the two Bash & Pop albums, 1993's Friday Night Is Killing Me and the just-released-that-very-day Anything Could Happen. It turned out that the "setlist" was more of a crib sheet from which Stinson called out songs mostly at random.

Bash & Pop traffic in pure, twangy, whiskey-soaked (yes, Replacements-style) rock and roll. From rowdy songs like "Unfuck You" or "Fast & Hard" to quieter numbers like "Nothing," Stinson's songs hit you with a "Let's do this" immediacy. The only thing between Stinson's guitar and his amp is a tuning pedal, and all of Bash & Pop's songs reflect that plug in, fire it up, and let it rip attitude.

The sold-out crowd at The Saint did get a little grating at times, shouting at the band to "move it along" or incessantly calling out requests. After justifiably warning, "If you talk to me like that again, I'll walk right the fuck out of here," Stinson took most of it in stride and tore through a beautifully ramshackle set.

At the conclusion of the main set, the band exited the stage door as the crowd chanted for them to return. Once they finally came back out, there were some problems with Stinson's amp. Ad-libbing, as he had been all night, Stinson grabbed his acoustic and climbed up on The Saint's bar for an unplugged encore that included a rousing and cathartic sing along of "Friday Night Is Killing Me." One of my favorite live show moments maybe ever.

I walked out of The Saint feeling energized. Energized for what exactly, I don't know. But I felt less hopeless than I did as I walked into the place. The show was a combination of community and an unwillingness to take any shit that was flat out inspiring. As I scanned my social media feeds and read the news the next day, I could see that those feelings weren't confined just to The Saint. They were everywhere, and they're just what we need.

All of the pictures from Friday night are in the Flickr galleries.