The Replacements Reunite for Live Gigs: Why You Should Care
Minneapolis-bred alt-rock legends the Replacements are reuniting for their first gigs in over 22 years. Why should you care? Well.
Do like Green Day? How about Wilco? Vancouver, BC, rock duo Japandroids? Brooklyn's pint-swilling rockers the Hold Steady? New Jersey's Gaslight Anthem? What about R.E.M.? Or how about a little band out of Seattle called Nirvana? Remember them?
None of the aforementioned bands would've been possible without the Replacements, so the just-announced gigs are a big deal. Those in the know are thrilled. Those who aren't should be.
The band, who played their last gig in Chicago on July 4, 1991, have announced three shows on the traveling Riot Fest in Chicago, Denver and Toronto.
The Chicago stop, September 13-15, also features Fall Out Boy, Blink 182, Public Enemy, Best Coast, Rancid, Gwar and many more; Denver, September 21-22, includes Iggy & the Stooges, Yo La Tengo, Matt & Kim and more; Toronto, August 24-25, includes Iggy & the Stooges, Dinosaur Jr., Every Time I Die and more.
The Replacements' Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson, who's spent the past 15 years playing bass with Guns N' Roses, recently reunited for Songs for Slim, a covers EP to raise money for onetime Replacements guitarist Slim Dunlap, who had suffered a stroke. Now they're taking the reunion to the stage. The band has had numerous lineups throughout its history; Westerberg and Stinson will definitely lead the reunited iteration, though the rest of the band is TBA.
Listen to the Replacements' classic jams "Can't Hardly Wait," "Bastards of Young" and "I Will Dare" below.
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