Still Feelin' it: '80s alt-rockers hit up Philly's Union Transfer

Remember when R.E.M. was cool?

So cool, in fact, that when they went out of their way to drop a reference, their slavishly loyal fans immediately went and checked out that reference. It’s for this very reason that Big Star finally got its due, and why Alex Chilton has ascended to alt-rock god status. 

What about the Velvet Underground? 

Repeated prop-giving and the slightly countrified covers of “Pale Blue Eyes” and “Femme Fatale” on the still-underrated 1987 b-side and outtake comp “Dead Letter Office” had to have had something to do with VU’s warp-speed jump to the inner-circle of FM classic rock and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And did Pete Buck’s guest guitar solo on The Replacements’ “I Will Dare,” off the 1984 album “Let It Be,” have anything to do with that album getting named album of the year by music mags all over the place.

Maybe it didn’t quite have the same impact Hoboken, N.J.’s The Feelies, but like Pylon (also covered on “Dead Letter Office”), R.E.M.’s citing of their 1980 album “Crazy Rhythms” which included rad tracks like "Raised Eyebrows") as a major influence helped put them on the map, as did Buck’s signature light-touch, reverbified production of their 1986 album “The Good Earth.”

Feelies, Pavement, MoB...these are your REO Speedwagons.

And lookie here! The Feelies are one of those reunited alternative rock bands, a la Mission of Burma and Archers of Loaf and the SoftBoys and Pavement and Superdrag, that became modern-day REO Speedwagons and Night Rangers for fans in the 33-43 year-old range. And for that, they owe a big thank you to Berry, Buck, Mills and Stipe.

The Feelies play Union Transfer, 1024 Spring Garden St., Philadelphia, on Friday March 22. Doors open at 8 p.m., and the show starts at 8:30 p.m. 

Tickets are $22 and can be had right here. Visit www.utphilly.com for more info.

A Craic with the Saw Doctors at the TLA

Ol' Owen hit the triple crown of badass - diddlin' the boss' wife, diddlin' the boss' help, and punkin' the boss' bro.

If you dork out for HBO shows like I do, you suffered one of those patented holy shit moments when a New York mob faction went all "Seven" on Nucky Thompson right-hand man Owen Sleater toward the tail end of the most recent ah-meah-zing season of "Boardwalk Empire."

Maybe we shoulda saw it coming, but if your first thought was "ah, what's in the box" when Nucky received what looked like the lamp from "A Christmas Story" at 4 a.m. and thought you'd find this inside, then give yourself a prize. Me? Yeah, I was all kinds of torn up for ol' Margaret Schrooooeeder, but I was also so scared of Gyp Rosetti I felt like he was coming after me next.

Nothing soothes the soul of losing one of our own from the Ol Sod like some good old Celtic Rock, and, if it's St. Patrick's Day, anything featuring a dude with an accent and a band boasting fiddle, banjo, accordion, mandolin or any other similar instrument will suffice.

I said kelly green, not ... ah nevermind.

But if you want the top shelf stuff, you reach for The Pogues, Black 47 or the Saw Doctors, who will be at the Theatre of the Living Arts, 334 South St., Philadelphia, on Sunday March 17.

Take some Beatles, add a little Bruce, stuff it with a punk sneer and smother it in kelly green and voilà - you've got stuff like "Never Mind The Strangers," "Ivana in the Brogue," "About You Now" and "I Useta Love Her."

Sunday's show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25. Visit the TLA's website to buy em or for more info.