Soul Asylum w/ Local H – ACL live Austin TX August 30th, 2021

Photos & Review by Andrew Calvio

Soul Asylum brought their hits to Austin’s ACL Live at Moody Theater on Monday night to an underwhelming crowd of Gen Xers. Maybe it was the pandemic, maybe it was just because of Monday. Local H joined them on this leg of the tour. After a dull 2020 music scene, they came as a welcome relief to get the wheels in motion again. 

Local H

This powerful duo out of Illinois took the stage with command as the night started. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the album As Good As Dead, Lead singer and founding member Scott Lucas announced that they would be playing the album in its entirety.

Breaking from the norm, Lucas then started with the recognizable opening guitar line of their biggest hit to date Bound for the Floor. The middle-aged crowd loved it as they chanted along with “you just don’t get it, you keep it copacetic.” Local H tore through the first four songs rolling from one to the next without skipping a beat.

As the set progressed Lucas and drummer Ryan Harding never slowed down, only pausing to take an occasional drink. Harding took on the persona of Animal from the Muppets banging the skins and keeping the beat going. As they were beginning to wrap up their show Lucas encouraged the audience to stand up in this seated venue. To put an exclamation on their performance, Ryan Smith the lead guitarist for Soul Asylum joined them onstage to fill in on bass for the final two songs.

Overall, Local H put on a high-energy show that left me wanting another listen of their second studio album released in 1996.

Soul Asylum

“Runaway train never going back Wrong way on a one-way track” 

Admit it, you know it….. you love it. It’s a classic that’s hard to resist. 

Soul Asylum opened with Got it Pretty Good a track off their latest album Hurry Up and Wait released in 2020. Dave Pirner the sole remaining original member poured his Soul into this performance as if it were his first tour. Singing and at times straining to reach the notes of hit songs written 29 years ago, Pirner kept driving forward to ultimately settle in and win the audience over. Being seasoned veterans of the music scene, the setlist was well balanced with songs off their most commercially successful album Grave Dancers Union peppered throughout.

Having a rockstar presence is all about keeping the audience engaged. The frontman didn’t shy away from filling in the silence between songs with a few dad jokes that were so corny that you couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe that’s because dad jokes are gold to me, my family not so much. As Runaway Train started I was anxious to hear the harmonizing vocals, I’m always a skeptic. Guitarist Ryan Smith and bassist Winston Roye nailed it with their buttery vocals putting my mind at ease. Drummer Michael Bland with an expansive musical career was consistent with his rhythms and kept the group on track throughout the entire show.

Soul Asylum was definitely a nostalgic show for me. As the tunes played, memories from high school days came back to mind putting a smile on my face. It was a shame that we couldn’t pack the house for this band. 

Setlist

Got it pretty good

Shove 

Misery

Little too clean

Losin’ it 

Nice guys

By the way

String of pearls

Here we go

Homesick

Veil of tears

Lately 

Hopped up feelin’ 

Good for you

Black gold

Runaway Train

Closer to the stars

Just like anyone

Can’t even tell April fool