Chris DeLine

Chances are good that even if you can’t name a song by Mike Watt, you know of him. Chances are good that you’ve seen MTV’s Jackass; its opening theme is a song called “Corona” that was originally released in 1984 by a band Watt played in by the name of the Minutemen. Chances are good that you’ve heard of the magazine Rolling Stone; “Corona” is one of the 45 songs on Double Nickels on the Dime, which Rolling Stone included on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (#411, just behind Wire’s Pink Flag and ahead of Massive Attack’s Mezzanine). Chances are good that you’ve heard of McNally Smith College of Music here in St. Paul; in 2005 the school developed the Mike Watt Bass Guitar Scholarship in honor of the legendary musician. Taking this short list of achievements into consideration, even if you haven’t heard Watt or are unable to pick him out of a crowd, chances are good that you’d walk away from seeing Mike Watt and the Missingmen without a single regret. 18+.

[This critics’ pick was originally published by City Pages.]