SOUL ASYLUM
Review of June 1st - Dixie's Bar and Grill - Grand Old Day Street Festival
06-05-97
From the Daily Dish--Columbia:

nnnnSOUL STRUTTIN'
The Twin Cities' own Soul Asylum pulled up at the St. Paul Grand Old Days
street fair on Sunday, June 1, to dry-run some of the group's sizzlin' new material, reportedly more Cabooze than 7th Street Entry; Pirner & Co. even rolled out a chooglin' version of Dr. John's "Right Place, Wrong Time" during the band's 22-song set,
a skillful blend of crowd-rousers and vintage tunes.
They reportedly encored with their breakthrough hit, "Runaway Train"
before slamming into a medley of the Igman's "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and
a Lizard King-like rendition of Willie Dixon's "Back Door Man."

and another large scanned review from
St Paul Pioneer Press

From: Clydella <dells@dickinson.ctctel.com

After driving all night, we got to St. Paul in plenty of time to roam the street fair for a few hours before SA came on-stage.

I let my kids come along, so I couldn't get into the roped-off parking lot area (over-21 only), so we were in front of a building across the street. We had no chance to see them at all, but the sound quality was GREAT. About 1/2 way through the set, we moved to the side of the lot and worked our way towards the stage. The sound quality here was really bad, but my poor kids DID get to see Dave and Dan occasionally as ppl would mill about. After the regular set we migrated around to the back of the stage for the encore. We should have been there for the whole show. The sound was very nice and we had decent views from the sides of the stage and openings in the backdrop. And we were so close! My kid's enthusiasm started to pick up at this point...

I had heard all of the new stuff last September in Duluth and loved it all over again. Unfortunatly, I had to be "Mom" at this concert and couldn't really pay attention from "The Game" through "Blood Into Wine." :( Guess I'll have to go to another one... sans kids ;)

The band sounded great, but it was a little too hot for the crowd to get really worked up. I'd have to say that a street fair in 90 degree heat doesn't produce the best crowd to truly appreciate the performance. But I had a great time.

The set list (copied from the original) is as follows:

See Ya Later
Still Be Laughin'
Black Gold
Closer To The Stars
Lucky One
Cradle Chain
Without A Trace
The Game
No Time
Love Song
Draggin' The Lake
Blood Into Wine
Black Star
Misery
Losin' It
Creatures of Habit
Just Like Anyone
Somebody to Shove
Lies of Hate
Encore:
Bright, Sun-Shiny Day
Runaway Train
Back Door Man

I got pictures from the the sides of the stage, and of them leaving the stage. Dave had already gone into the building, but I called out Dan's name as he walked by so he would turn towards me for a pic, and he came up to me and chatted for a minute! I was in complete shock and forgot to tell him that the show was great and ask when the album was due out. :(

I was wearing a SA T-shirt that I had designed and the first thing he said was, "That's a bootleg shirt!" I told him I had made it for myself when I'd made one for Dave a couple of years ago, (he said that Dave hadn't gotten it - damn that security guy!). Oh well, after I told him that, he said it looked very nice. I never expected him to come over to me and was not prepared. I was completely at a loss for words, and blew my opportunity to get official info on the album release date. Sorry.

We hung around for a while, and chatted with their driver and a couple of their staff. I talked to the sound guy and he said not to expect the album until fall. Seems SA likes to tour with the songs for about a year (sometimes two years!) with the new material before releasing the CD. It's their style, apparently. He did say, however, that there are 5 new songs that no one has heard yet that will likely be on the album. I hope that "Lucky One," and "Cradle Chain" are on it, as they are very nice songs. And "Still Be Laughin'" is really great rocker.

I heard the sound guy tell the driver that they would be out in 1/2 hour, so we decided to stay for a while longer. I wanted to appologize to Dan for taking a pic without asking first (I felt really bad, since he was nice enough to come up to me, which I had NOT expected), and to get my kid's Minneapolis postcards autographed to top off their first big-city/concert experience. But the band's supper was running later than expected so their bodyguard got the autographs for them. I also had my Duluth ticket signed.

Clydella

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