Gallery: Replacements Tribute at the Satellite, featuring the Henry Clay People

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The Henry Clay People broke their promise. And all it took was some beer and the Replacements.

When the scene favorites played Echo Park Rising last year, ending a decade-or-so run highlighted by two great albums (2008’s “For Cheap or for Free” and 2012’s “Twenty-Five for the Rest of Our Lives”), they vowed it would be their last show. The members parted ways to pursue careers and family lives and, in the case of founding brothers Joey and Andy Siara, advanced college degrees.

Their advanced skills as a cover band, however, brought them out of the closet Tuesday night when the Satellite hosted one of its monthly tribute nights, this one
saluting the Replacements. The Henry Clays, of course, had a reputation; at their locally legendary New Year’s Eve shows at the Silver Lake venue, they were known to play an hour of originals leading up to midnight and then two hours of punk/indie-rock/classic rock covers until the place kicked everybody out.

Suffice to say there are few bands who could pull off the beer-drenched irascibility of the Replacements so well. After some stellar short sets by other local standouts, including Geronimo Getty and the Breakups, the Henry Clays roared through six Mats favorites – “Left of the Dial,” “Little Mascara,” “Shiftless When Idle,” “Can’t Hardly Wait,” “Color Me Impressed” and, finally and with feeling and with Joey Siara fresh off a year at Harvard, “Bastards of Young.” They were abetted by vocalist Jeremy Levy (Ready the Jet), who’s one of those scene savants who seems to know the words (and probably chords) to everything.

Then, after come cajoling, they returned to perform three originals, including the still-relevant-after-all-these-years “Working Part Time.”

It felt a little bit like 2008, except too smart and well-executed to be pure nostalgia. At least two generations of L.A. punk/indie-rock bands have come and gone since then, each barely giving a whiff about its predecessor. (Was there anybody under 30 at the Satellite on Tuesday, or was there some ’60s girl group playing in Echo Park?) No matter, the songs remain. The Replacements’ sounded great on Tuesday, so good we were reminded of the title of the Henry Clay People’s farewell album: “Twenty-Five for the Rest of Our Lives.”

Photos by Bronson