Photos and a review from Soul Asylum’s show in Ottawa.

[Another report from photographer Ross MacDonald and reviewer Karen Coughtrey. – AC]

The last stop on Soul Asylum’s North American ‘Slowly But Shirley’ tour was in Ottawa on Monday 4 November. But the band rolled into town on Sunday and took time to give a live and intimate experience to a dozen lucky winners at local alt-rock radio station LiVE 88.5. The station’s DJs asked Dave Pirner and guitarist Ryan Smith some questions and the band played half a dozen acoustic songs.

At one point the station played a special rendition of their daily trivia game ‘Survive 88.5’ (it has nothing to do with surviving, it just rhymes). Among the questions there was one “Which Lenny Kravitz song did ‘Runaway Train’ beat at the 1994 Grammy Awards?” This was correctly hummed by Ryan (‘Are You Gonna Go My Way’). There was also “how many children were saved that were featured on the ‘Runaway Train’ videos? Again correctly answered: “21”.

And DJ Noah from LiVE obviously did his homework, knowing that Dave played the trumpet in his youth. DJ Noah pulled out a trumpet and Dave proceeded to play some scales and then finished off with the theme from the movie Jaws.

A Journal of Musical Things had the chance to ask Dave and Ryan a question: Bands must get tired of playing their big hit songs at every concert. Do you draw some energy from the audience as they sing along with you? Dave and Ryan definitely agreed that this was the case, then proceeded to ask what song the contest winners would like to hear. Somewhat surprisingly it wasn’t ‘Runaway Train’, but another big hit ‘Misery’, which everyone in the studio sang along to with Dave and Ryan.

Dave and Ryan then proceeded to pose for photos with all the contest winners, they were very generous with their time chatting with the lucky fans.

The next night was a gloomy and wet fall Monday night, and there was no better way to make the most of it (as pointed out by the band) than to join Montreal band Blurry Eyes as they opened for Soul Asylum on the last stop of their Slowly But Shirley Tour at the Bronson Centre in Ottawa.

Emo Punk rockers Blurry Eyes have an early 2000’s sound. Featuring fast bass lines, one couldn’t ask for a better way to liven up a crowd on a cool dreary night. They opened with their songs ‘Hold On’ and ‘Let It Ring’.

Although they expressed they were thrilled to have been asked to join Soul Asylum on the last two stops of the tour, and the aforementioned nod to the weather, they didn’t have much else to say to the audience, instead focussing on packing in as many tunes as possible.

Their music is upbeat and some choices downright fun, with songs ‘Birthdays and Funerals’ and ‘Dancing With Ghosts’ both sounding like they could’ve been a TV cartoon theme song. After ending with ‘The Best Part’ and ‘Walls’ it was time for the main event.

Old timey “Come On Down” type game show music welcomed Soul Asylum to the stage. The band opened with two of their bigger hit singles ‘Somebody To Shove’ followed by a clear crowd favourite ‘Misery’. The audience singing along to the choruses of ‘Misery’ certainly caught Dave’s ear as he let the fans take the lead. It was a very powerful start to their concert and certainly got everyone jumping along; not easy to do in Ottawa, especially on a Monday night.

They too said little to the crowd between songs. Dave Pirner said more through his T-Shirt which was emblazoned with the words “Vote Vote Vote” an apt choice it being the eve of the American election day.

Although short on words they were not short on music. The tour is a celebration of their new album and the bands’ aim on this, the last stop of the tour, was to Rock the crowds’ balls off. They played of course several songs off Slowly But Shirley, including ‘The Only Thing I’m Missing,’ ‘High Road,’ ‘Trial By Fire,’ ‘Freeloader,’ ‘Freak Accident’ and ‘Sucker Maker.’

Dave Letterman once pronounced that Soul Asylum is “one of the best live bands in the country”. And that was an understatement to everyone at the show. Yes they were short on words, but not short on entertainment. Dave, Ryan, and Jeremy all made excellent use of the stage and flipping their long hair, but Ryan also made numerous jumps much to the delight of the fans (and how the hell does he keep shredding his guitar while jumping?!?).

There is no question the band is best known for their song ‘Runaway Train’ and it was interesting that they chose to play it and other crowd favourite ‘Black Gold’ in the middle of the set rather than make the audience wait for the encore. And Ryan’s guitar skills were shining alongside Dave’s stellar vocals. Ryan was holding notes and letting them ring out, while attacking the next string. They were moments that the audience will never forget.

The newest member of Soul Asylum is drummer Jerry Pentecost who Modern Drummer called “the Hardest Working Man”. And it was evident throughout the concert with big full-armed hits and mixing in some twirling of his drumsticks.

In a meet and greet the day before they explained their choice of encore songs and ultimately ended the Ottawa show (and tour) with ‘String of Pearls’ (by special request) and ‘April Fools’. Dave said of ‘April Fools’: “it’s goofy, and fun, and HARD!”

Which summed up the night, some goofy weather, but the concert was fun, and hard!

Soul Asylum
Dave Pirner – lead vocals, guitar
Ryan Smith – guitar, backing vocals
Jeremy Tappero – bass, backing vocals
Jerry Pentecost – drums, backing vocals

Blurry Eyes
Marc-André Beaudet – vocals, guitar
Louis Valiquette – guitar
Mike Gabriel – bass
Karl Houde – drums