Article 2 12/21/97
Minneapolis's 400 Bar was the site of Sunday night's (Dec. 21) sold-out homecoming for the local supergroup the O'Jeez as well as a solo acoustic set from the band's drummer/ Soul Asylum frontman Dave Pirner.
The band -- which includes Pirner on trumpet as well as drums, Jessy Green (ex-Geraldine Fibber) on guitar and violin, and Run Westy Run's Kraig Johnson on bass -- recently returned from their two- week, twelve- show tour (thier first ever).
With hair in face, guitar in hand, and the mumbled words, "Hi, my name is Dave, and I'd like to play a few songs for you," Pirner opened the evening with a surprising cover of Woody Guthrie's "Pretty Boy Floyd." Following which, he made his way through a set of Soul Asylum material which included "Grounded" from 1990's And The Horse They Rode In On, "New World" off of Grave Dancer's Union, and the strikingly beautiful "Closer to the Stars" from the bands 1986 release While You Were Out.
Pirner also used the evening to unveil two new songs -- "Close" and the tentatively titled "Blackout" -- from Soul Asylum's long- awaited and finally finished new album. The latter displayed some of his finest songwriting in recent memory, capitalizing on both his talent as a storyteller and his knack for hooks.
After completing seven songs on his own, he was joined by Greene on violin for a beautiful version of "String of Pearls," rescuing the song from the dismal keyboard arrangements that mar its studio version. The duo proceeded to make thier way through "Somebody to Shove" and "Eyes of a Child" before inviting Johnson onstage to close out the set with the rare Soul Asylum B-side "I Feel Like a Stranger."
Following a short break, the trio again took the stage, this time formally as the O'Jeez with the band's name lit up behind them not in neon but in Christmas lights. Despite the occasional addition of Greene's violin and Pirner's trumpet, the band stuck pretty much to a straight guitar, bass and drums arrangement, moving relatively effortlessly (if not strangely) from funk to folk to metal to something resembling free jazz. The set of originals kicked off with "Ordinary Life," a song which highlighted Greene's breathy Patty Smith- meets- Exene Cervenkova vocals and incited cries of "We love you Jessy" that echoed from the crowd throughout the evening.
But the true strenghth of the set lay in the amount of fun the band was having. A few technical glitches (a broken guitar strap, for one) and occasionally sloppy playing actually added to the evening's insanity. The band's three- Part vocals (never in harmony) lent a wild texture to the show, ranging from a sound reminiscent of X on songs like the punky "Superbaby" to a folk- rock vibe on "Each and Every Day" to the stright- out heavy metal screaming of "Where Did You Go." All this mixed with a couple of improvisational bass, trumpet, and violin interludes combined to create one of the most playful nights of music that either the club or the city has seen in some timme.
Pirner proabbly best summed up the evening with his post- show comment: "Watching people learn to play together is a lot more exciting than watching people who are bored playing together." Realizing that the quote might hit print, Pirner soon returned with the clarification, "I certainly didn't mean that about any of the other bands we play with." Fair enough.
-Bill Snyder
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