Soul Asylum & Blurry Eyes
November 4, 2024
Bronson Centre, Ottawa, ON
Canadian Beats Passport
Soul Asylum brought their Slowly but Shirley tour to the Bronson Centre in Ottawa for their final stop in the North American leg of their tour.
Supported by Blurry Eyes – a punk/emo band out of Montreal, some concertgoers were disappointed with the last minute change up from the Juliana Hatfield 3, who had been touring with Soul Asylum up until last week (a quick search of their website revealed that JH3 had scheduled 2 headliner shows November 2 and 3 in Massachusetts). However, this turned out to be a lucky break for Blurry Eyes. They relatively unknown band brought high energy and enthusiasm to a set of 9 tunes including “Hold On” and “Let it Ring,” winning over the crowd.
Soul Asylum did not disappoint, leading their set with “Shove”, “Misery”, and “Trial by Fire.” With Ryan Smith’s high-flying jumps, frontman Dave Pirner’s groovy dance moves, and epic hair flips all around, it’s hard to believe this band has been around since 1981. Changing their name from Loud Fast Rules to Soul Asylum in 1983, the band really hit their stride in the early 90s with hit albums “Grave Dancers Union” in 1992 and “Let Your Dim Light Shine” in 1995. With music featured in the films “Clerks,” “Clerks II,” and “Chasing Amy” Soul Asylum continued their upward trajectory.
Since that time, lead singer Dave Pirner is the only original band member remaining. Drummer Michael Bland (former drummer for Prince) joined the band in 2005, and lead guitarist Ryan Smith was added in 2016. Bassist Jeremy Tappero is the most recent addition, joining the band in 2020.
The Slowly but Shirley tour began in Boulder, Colorado on September 30th, and includes 26 dates in the U.S.A. and Canada, promoting their newest album of the same name. During the show, Dave Pirner said it was it was a long road. But the band gave it their all in Ottawa on their final tour stop. Their set included fan favourites “Misery,” “Black Gold” and “Runaway Train” in addition to a selection of songs from their new album “Slowly but Shirley.” With songs “Sucker Maker” and “Trial by Fire” the newest release proves to be an upbeat rock album, with new favourite “Freak Accident” which is reminiscent of Soul Asylum’s classic hits.
With one fan sharing he had been waiting 30 years to see Soul Asylum live, we have to believe it was worth the wait!
