because there so many people that can do it so much better:
At the core of Westerberg’s songs there is a loneliness that’s hard to take straight. The snotty boisterousness of the Replacements was always a way to sidestep this underlying pathos. Solo, he’s tempered this depth with cool studio craft and distance.
Saturday night, there was nothing to stand between Westerberg’s cracked, wrenching yowl and those often uncomfortable sentiments. Blasts of sadness like “Skyway” and “Swingin’ Party” can make the most sarcastic wiseasses squirm in their seats.
So who could blame the audience for lobbing embarrassed, incomprehensible jokes stageward? Hearing your goopiest desires laid bare in public isn’t always easy. Westerberg’s triumph was that he seemed so jauntily self-assured as he did so.