BRIEF ENCOUNTER: Meeting Paul Westerberg in 1989

On March 11, 1989 I saw the Replacements at Bogart's in Cincinnati. This was my third or fourth time seeing the band and they were great that night, as always. After the show I went to see a friend's band playing at another club just down the street called Hot Shotz. After a few drinks I left Hot Shotz and started making my way home on foot, walking south on Short Vine. As I crossed Charlton and was walking in front of Sudsy Malone's I saw Paul Westerberg come out the front door of Bogart's and start crossing the street right in front of me.

I said, “Hey Paul, where ya going?” He replied, “To get a DRINK.” Very sarcastically I said, “YOU???” (The Replacements were notorious drunks.) As we approached the door to Dollar Bill’s Saloon he said, “Yeah, yeah… Smart ass. Come on!” And he gestured for me to join him. Paul asked the doorman how much the cover charge was and the dude said, “A buck.” Paul handed him two dollars and we went straight to the bar together. For the next couple hours we sat elbow to elbow at the bar, exchanging very few words except when we needed another round. We took turns buying the drinks and a lot of people came up to talk to Paul so I was really just kind of sitting there next to him but we didn’t talk much.

The Replacements were always good for a few obscure cover tunes in their set. Earlier that night at Bogart's they had played "I Wanna Destroy You" by the Soft Boys and "Born to Lose" by Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers. I do remember telling Paul how much I enjoyed hearing those. He said, "You might be more familiar with those tunes than some of the people who were onstage tonight." To his point, they were not exactly known for overrehearsing the covers they played!

The Raisins were playing at Dollar Bill's that night, as I recall, so I was happy as a pig in shit to just sit there drinking with Paul Westerberg, watching my favorite local band.

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Here is an excellent live recording of the Replacements in Allentown, PA just 2 weeks later: