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Song du Jour

The Ike Reilly Assassination, "The Uprising" (from the forthcoming new IRA CD).

When I told him I was going to see Reilly at Valleyfair this weekend, an asshole lawyer said to me, "So has he changed the face of rock & roll yet?" It took me a second to catch on to the dig; that he was referring to my constant proclamations and critical hosannahs over the years about Reilly, not to mention all sorts of other music I've gone heels-over-head for, but I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to say that Ike Reilly stood on a stage at an amusement park in Shakopee, Minnesota last night, in front of 200 or so hardy souls in fucking hats and gloves and down coats, fending off winter and celebrating Halloween and Friday the 13th, and sang "Who says you can't take a shot at a president?" and "We're drinking to your assassination" three weeks before Election Day. And those might not have even been the best moments; those came during all those complicated love songs. Then he and his band showed up at the Liffey in St. Paul and drank and sang on stage with me and my brother's band and blew away a surprised rockin' wedding party, whose gobsmacked groom it turns out is a huge Reilly fan. After Reilly and the Belfast Cowboys graced the room with an impromptu "Wasted Friends," and serenaded the couple with a gorgeous "Crave," the groom said to me, "So I guess this marriage is getting off to a good start," and so I guess my answer to the asshole lawyer would be

Yes.

Posted by Jim Walsh at October 14, 2006 12:11 PM

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