Bash & Pop at the Mercury Lounge

Tommy Stinson

Tommy Stinson learned the bass at the age of 11 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and soon played in a band that in 1980 would become the Replacements. The Replacements became one of the definitive American alternative rock groups in the 1980s before splitting in 1991. Stinson moved to vocals and guitar and formed Bash & Pop from 1992 to 1994 and Perfect from 1995 to 1998. He joined Guns N' Roses (1998-2016) and Soul Asylum (2005-2012), and rejoined the Replacements for a reunion tour in 2015. Along the way, Stinson recorded solo albums in 2004 and 2011. Stinson, now a solo artist based in Hudson, New York, in recent years played with various musicians live and in the studio. Listeners said his recent studio work reminded them of Bash & Pop, so he rebranded the name and is releasing the second Bash & Pop album, Anything Could Happen, on January 20, 2017, 24 years after the debut album. Bash & Pop presently consists of Stinson on vocals and rhythm guitar, Steve  Selvidge of the Hold Steady on lead guitar, Justin Perkins, formerly of Screeching Weasel, on bass, and Joe Sirois of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones on drums.

The sold out show at the Mercury Lounge tonight was the first Bash & Pop concert in New York City since 1992. The band performed songs from both Bash & Pop albums as well as songs from Stinson's solo albums and two covers, the Rolling Stones' "Rip This Joint" and Big Star's "Nighttime," but no Replacements songs. Bash & Pop's 1960s-style shiny red suits and black dress shirts aligned with their early pop musical arrangements. The songs were structured largely on a traditional verse-verse-chorus-bridge-guitar burst-verse-chorus, with gang harmonies on the choruses. The speedy tempos and the thrust dynamics were more 1970s punk than 1960s garage, however, leading to a small but unmistakably older-men mosh pit for a brief period. (Stinson jokingly admonished the moshers, saying "Hey, keep it down. We are a little too old for that!") The band, which on this night included Stinson's neighbor, keyboardist Tony Kieraldo, played 20 rocking pop songs in roughly 90 minutes, demonstrating that there is a lot more to Tommy Stinson than just the Replacements.

Visit Bash & Pop at www.BashAndPop.com.

Setlist:

1. Not This Time
2. Fast & Hard
3. Rip This Joint (The Rolling Stones cover)
4. On the Rocks
5. Bad News
6. Never Wanted to Know
7. Tiny Pieces
8. Come To Hide (Tommy Stinson song)
9. Nothing
10. Anybody Else
11. Breathing Room
12. He Means It
13. Not A Moment Too Soon (Tommy Stinson song)
14. Anything Could Happen
15. Unfuck You
16. It's A Drag (Tommy Stinson song)
17. Encore:
18. Destroy Me (Tommy Stinson song)
19. Nighttime (Big Star cover)
20. First Steps
21. Never Aim To Please
22. First Steps