Hey, Where’s Tommy?
I saw Tommy Stinson at the Mercury Lounge last Saturday. A legend at 15, Tommy was the bass player for the late, lamented Replacements. He had a couple of promising bands in the 1990’s done in by corporate indifference. He wound up, of all places, as a well compensated side-man in the new Guns-n-Roses. Contrary to reports, he hasn’t left. Being in Axl Roses’s new Guns is a lot like being in the National Guard these days; you can be called up at any time, and your tour of duty might never end. There was something a bit dispiriting about watching Tommy go through all the rock star moves in support of his pretty decent new solo record at the tiny Mercury. He may be a legend, but it’s because of his mis-spent youth playing Robin to Paul Westerberg’s Batman. But the guy could have been a rock legend in […]