Tommy Stinson

Tommy Stinson's position as ultimate rock-and-roll bassist is undeniable. His astoundingly mature efforts at putting bass and backing vocals into the Replacements catalogue were unmatched. He followed those achievements with a gig as frontman for the aptly titled Bash & Pop, whose Friday Night Is Killing Meremains one of the best rock-and-roll recordings of all time, a scrappy masterpiece of bar-room pop.

For the past few years, Stinson (right) has held the somewhat surprising role of bassist for Guns N' Roses, but he's taken a break from Axl and company to release a much-awaited solo CD, Village Gorilla Head. The disc's clips sound like more Replacements-meet-Stones-meet-Faces pleasure -- if a tad less "Fast & Hard" than Stinson's previous solo gem. For the Bluebird gig, the bassist will play both new and older tunes, in solo fashion and with Alien Crime Syndicate as his replacement band. Welcome back, Tommy.