Tommy Stinson co-founded The Replacements, had stints in Guns N’ Roses and Soul Asylum, and will soon join the long list of rock icons to play The Cap.
Matt Carter
I’ve written about this kind of thing before. These chance opportunities we small city folk get to be in the presence of greatness. Greatness, of course being subject to interpretation, but somewhat monumental, nonetheless. These moments when an artist or band we have long held dear to our hearts, or those we may believe deserve far better (?) than the 10’ x 8’ stage at our favourite local bar, show up on our doorstep to play a gig. For me, events like these fracture my once held belief that once someone achieves rock star status, they are suddenly propelled into a world far removed from the realities of life most of us share. The daily grind. Playing music in small, crowded rooms. Paying for parking. You know, real life stuff.
As a music obsessed kid growing up in the 80s and 90s, a time when the entire world of popular music was repeatedly flipped upside down with wave after wave of new noise, the distance I felt between my world and those of the musicians who dominated my turntable, populated my headphones, and accounted for endless hours of poorly dubbed cassette tapes traded between class and discussed over home-rolled cigarettes in high school parking lots seemed astronomical. We formed our own shitty bands to feel closer to a world we believed to be light years away; one we could never really understand. But time has a way of lifting these veils and revealing the realities we all blissfully ignore.
The internet is great at this too. Remember when a photographer snapped a photo of Glenn Danzig carrying a box of kitty litter? I wonder how many rock star illusions that image shattered. The thought of Mr. Am I Demon myself curling up on the couch to watch, I don’t know, four hours of Forensic Files with a cute little kitty on his lap makes me happy. We’re all just people living our lives the best way we know how. Our basic needs are the same. Food, clothing, shelter, and friendship. Love. What separates us is how we go about achieving these life essentials.
All these thoughts came rushing back to me last week when I read Tommy Stinson was coming to play a show at The Cap. Over the years The Cap has announced many shows that made me scratch my head. Evan Dando. Comeback Kid. Every Time I Die. Deer Tick. The Sadies. Frank Turner. Bands or artists you can find on YouTube playing before thousands. This is the kind of stuff that reminds me why I love living in a small city.
So. Tommy Stinson. Maybe you’ve heard of him? Bassist for The Replacements. Maybe you’ve heard of them too? The American rock band from Minneapolis credited for helping launch the alt-rock movement and influencing an entire generation of musicians. Among his many post-Replacements projects, he also formed his own bands Bash and Pop, and Perfect, before joining Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Guns N’ Roses for a six-year stint. Maybe you’ve also heard of them? You may have even seen them in Moncton this past summer. I heard they drew a crowd.
I’m not going to write Stinson’s biography here. I just wanted to touch on a few reasons shows like this makes me happy. I just wanted to touch on a few reasons to go to the show, and to share a few examples of how Stinson’s influence has most likely touched your life in some roundabout way. Because I‘m sure it has.
Tommy Stinson | October 3 | The Cap | 7:30 p.m. | w/ special guest Pasteur Papillon | View Event
