Dave Pirner, the principal songwriter and longest member of Soul Asylum, had paid his dues long ago. Co-founding the band in 1981 as Loud Fast Rules, the name was changed to Soul Asylum a few years later before their debut LP in 1984. For forty plus years, Pirner has crafted some of the best power pop around. He has a knack for consistently great tunes that, whether played at 11 or strummed on his old black Gibson J-200 that make you want to hum along. So when I heard Dave and Soul Asylum guitarist, Ryan Smith were hitting the road and making a stop on their acoustic tour at The Recher in Towson, I had to go.

We were in for more than one treat, though, as Living Colour’s Corey Glover, accompanied by collaborator and multi-instrumentalist Stevie D, opened with a commanding set filled with new songs and some old favorites including Living Colour’s biggest hit “Cult of Personality,” which Glover told the crowd he hadn’t performed in a while and which apparently wasn’t planned.

Hitting the stage, Dave Pirner and Ryan Smith started off their set with “Somebody to Shove” and “Misery.” The one time fry cook whose craft was honed in the early days of Midwestern punk served up one hit after another, while “Bittersweetheart” from Let Your Dim Light Shine, a fun rocker that spotlighted the harmonies of Dave and Ryan.

Breaking up the set with some hilarious (and some corny) jokes in between songs, Pirner had a way of making the show seem more intimate and more like a room full of old friends than a rock club. The story goes that after a series of loud, ear-splitting records Dave felt he was losing his hearing and, out of a sense of desperation started writing on acoustic guitar. And witnessing Pirner and Smith playing this stripped down set seemed to let these songs showcase the brilliance of that songcraft.

After hearing that a member of the audience had a birthday that night, Dave started the crowd singing Happy Birthday before going into the hit “Black Gold.” But it was “Runaway Train” that everyone singing along as not only the single but the album Grave Dancers Union just turned 30.

Watch the video for “Runaway Train” by Soul Asylum:

It was an incredible night that seemed to be the perfect prescription for the world weary – an escape into a few hours of great songs. Soul Asylum wraps up their acoustic tour in the Spring with more shows hopefully soon, and it’s a show not to miss.

The setlist included:

Somebody to Shove
Misery
If I Told You
Bittersweetheart
New World
Don’t Bother Me
String of Pearls
Never Really Been
Make Her Laugh
Freak Accident
Summer of Drugs (Victoria Williams cover)
Without a Trace
Black Gold

Eyes of a Child
Runaway Train
Closer to the Stars
Get On Out

Here are more photos of Soul Asylum at The Recher on February 7, 2023: