While the music of Soul Asylum can become a little mundane at times, the Minneapolis, Ind.-based band proved its live shows are full of good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll.
The band - guitarist/vocalist Dave Pirner, bassist Karl Mueller, drummer Sterling Campbell, guitarist Dan Murphy and session keyboardist Tim Ray - took the Saltair stage at 8:45 p.m. and punched out 1 1/2 hours worth of sounds.The mix was highlighted by a flashy light show. Well-timed strobes, chasing stage lights, white-hot spotlights and dim street-light props hit it off during each tune. Another visual tool was the use of a backdrop that took the shape of an inner city dead end.
Soul Asylum's music is a pleasant blend of folk, rock and modern angst. However, the show Thursday night seemed to give a nod to the power-chord progressive sound, with a little punk sprinkled in for good measure.
The effective, feedback-laden "Head On Out" seemed to get the mostly young crowd stirring for the other tunes to come. The dynamic quiet-to-blasting "Black Gold" kept the crowd guessing what would come next. Then as the funky power pomp of "Bittersweetheart" rang through the system, the audience bobbed, slammed and cheered.
"Bittersweetheart" is one of those songs that could actually be based on Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" formula. It's filled with raging guitars, pounding beats and quick-stop wordplay. But the Pirner/Murphy harmonies keep the sound fresh.
However, after shouting and screaming out the first four or five songs, Pirner's voice developed an uncontrollable croak. It cracked as he spoke with the crowd. It creaked as he began the mellow verse to the band's latest hit "Misery" from the new album "Let Your Dim Light Shine," and it snapped when he tried to scream the chorus to "Nothing to Write About."
But Pirner's vocal chords aside, the band kept the music tight. Campbell, who replaced Grant Young during the "Let Your Dim Light Shine" recording sessions and became a full-fledged member right after the album's completion, kept the raging beats and gave sporadic fills while Mueller laid the groove. Murphy's lead guitar screamed at times, though he kept the scales under control. Ray spiced the songs with his underlying keyboard strains.
The band pittered out the road-trip anthem "Promises Broken" and quickly slipped into a slower, folklike progressive arrangement of "Eyes of a Child." Soul Asylum mixed the feel with a waltzy "String of Pearls," during which Pirner became more animated, slung his guitar over his shoulder, grabbed the microphone and sang to the crowd instead of over it.
The brooding "Crawl" and the confusing "Caged Rat" - a song that featured a muted trumpet (played by Pirner) and a double-time punk blasting beat chorus - filled the hall and tweaked any unprotected ear. "Just Like Anyone's" pop-rock chorus closed the set.
The encore featured a wild rendition of "Blah, Blah, Blah."
Local band Myrrh was called at the last minute to fill in for opening act Radiohead, which was stuck in Denver for unknown reasons.
Myrrh held its ground as it droned its style of psychedelic downer tunes. The band was surprisingly good. Even the mix was more balanced than the screaming high hiss of Soul Asylum's assault.
For many, the rock-out and mellow-out fix was purged Thursday night.