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'The Next Great American Band' lives up to its name
I don't tend to expect much great music from reality shows like The Next Great American Band or American Idol or all the rest. On a good night, I figure, there will be some decent -- or at least not painful -- music. On a bad night, well, at least I get to point and laugh. But tonight, I got something spine tingling, something thrilling, something real and alive and amazing. I feel like I need a cigarette. I'm spent.
Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a woman of spoilers and taste.
Our ousted band this week was Cliff Wagner and the Old #7. I'm not surprised -- they were good, but in a genial, back-porch sort of way. I liked their music, but I won't miss them. I wish them well, but I didn't want them to win.
With them gone, we're getting to the point where I don't actively dislike any of the bands. I wouldn't hate it if any of them won. But one band completely dominated tonight, putting out a performance that would stand up anywhere: The Clark Brothers. Holy crap, they were incredible. They played Gimme Shelter, which is a good rock-out song that you don't immediately think would suit a three-piece, drummerless gospel-influenced band. But oh my god, people, it was incredible. They turned that song into a spine-tingler with tension that built and built until you could hardly stand it, and then broke over you in waves. The hair stood up on the back of my neck. I'm keeping this episode on my TiFaux just for that performance. The guys were amazing. Forget being a best-selling band, I could see these guys heading up a cult. Fantastic.
Having that performance stuck in my head makes it hard to write about the other bands. They were all good, and fun, and decent performers, but the Clark Brothers? They were on a higher plane of existence. Wow.
ANYway. On to the rest.
Tres Bien! opens the show with "Get Off of My Cloud" (and I can't help but think of the sheep joke when I hear that song), and they're fine. They monkey with the rhythm a bit -- someone with music training tell us in the comments the technical term for the stop-start beat they used -- and threw the a riff from Satisfaction, then a gratuitous key change. They should have picked just one, maybe two, or those embellishments. As it is, I have to agree with John that it sounded a bit like a Broadway tribute thing.
Denver and the Mile High Orchestra introduces themselves as D&MHO, which I think I will adopt from now on as it's easier to type. It also signifies them moving away slightly from the straight big-band sound. They again do the 70s Steely Dan type funk, and again I like it a lot. The fact that they choose a song -- "I'm Free" -- that basically flips a bird to the judges is just gravy. They get conflicting advise from the judges: John wants them to get dirtier, while Dicko wants them to stick to their original brief. Oh well -- at least Sheila likes them.
Sixwire does a really good cover of "The Last Time," rocking it out more than usual. I'd gush but the Clark Brothers captured all of my squeeage this week. Dicko praises them for being more masculine this week, which Andy immediately torpedoes by blowing Dicko a kiss. Hee!
Light of Doom does "Jumpin' Jack Flash" relatively straight-up, and again, they rock out. It's a little low for Erik, but he's still got a really compelling voice. If only someone else had added their voice as well -- I agree with the judges that it could have used some harmony.
Dot Dot Dot closes out the show, and I'm glad they got through. They perform "Let's Spend the Night Together," and again, I just really, really like this band. Rose is a phenomenal guitar player, and I like Adam's manic energy. However, I can sort of see what Dicko means when he tells Adam there's a fine line between commanding attention and being desperate for attention, and Adam may fall to the desperate side. I still love them.
Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends:
- Honest to god, The Clark Brothers blew me away. The judges agreed, giving the guys a standing ovation. And Dicko is worth quoting at length: "I don't mind telling you that I'm not terribly religious, but I pray that you're going to come on stage." Dicko said he was worried about an acoustic trio playing "one of the Stones' most belligerent songs," but they did it exactly right: "You started with folky, psychedelic trippy sound and built the tension, and yet again you turned it into blind panic. I had goosebumps, and it can't all be the male menopause. It was sensation, absolutely thrilling, fantastic." Damn straight.
- Sheila says The Clark Brothers are the band to beat. I'd be thrilled, except look what happened to the last band she said that about...
- And to top it off, Austin was playing an awesome Flying V Dobro. (Or resonator guitar -- a guitar geek will have to confirm or deny.)
- When John comments that Tres Bien!'s interpretation was a little Broadway, he threw in some jazz hands. I think I may love him for that.
- Sheila commented that the guitar was a bit out of tune for Tres Bien! - and she gets booed. She's incensed: "You're going to boo me?" Dicko comforts her: "You'll feel dirty at first, but you'll get over it. You'll learn to love the boos like I have. In more than one way." Heh.
- John wanted to know why D&MHO didn't do something with some edge, like "Bitch," Sheila is again incensed -- "What? This is a family show! There's no cursing!" Did she seriously used to hang out with Prince?
- John on Light of Doom: "You guys rock so hard. You little punks are killing me." I'm starting to love John.
- Dicko describing Light of Doom's usual style: "Normally you do straight-ahead rock that sounds like you're about to invade Poland." He also advises the boys to study up on the Stones - "And all that stuff Keith did? Don't do that."
- In the interstitial bits, we learn "surprising" facts about members of the bands. Denver and Andy from Sixwire do impressions; Lisa from Dot Dot Dot used to be a champion mountain bike racer; Cody from Tres Bien! has a titanium jaw. But my favorite reveals were about the kids from Light of Doom: Erik says Mitchell, the drummer, "plays army in his back yard. In a fort. With no girls allowed." Finally, evidence that these kids are actually kids!
Next week, the final five play Rod Stewart covers. Stick to the early stuff, please!
I love this show. I wish Fox would have given it a real chance instead of putting it in it's Friday Night slot of death, which has devoured every other show to ever play at that time. The judges are great, the bands are great. It's as good as idol if not better because we didnt have to deal with 2 months of filler to get to the real competition.
I also like Dot Dot Dot, and think the judges give them a hard time, but I think they have the most commercial appeal of all the bands.
But they are all good. However, I do have a problem with The Clark Brothers and Sixwire being on the show. Both bands have had record deals in the past and can be found on your local karaoke bar song list. The Clark Brothers were part of The Clark Family Experience and Sixwire well was always Sixwire, but I still don't think they belong in the competition. But still love the show!
realgenius | Nov 24, 2007 7:20:15 AM | #The Clark Brothers and The Clark Family Experience are two completely different groups.
The Family Experience was a six piece band with a drummer, bass player and a different lead singer. The oldest brother sang lead.
Adam was like 18 when the group signed a record deal, Ashley was like 16 and Austin was all of 13. Doubt they had that much say in what was going on in the band since they were younger members of the group.
Let's be honest all the bands except the 12 year olds are seasoned musicians who have all been around the block a few times. Most of these guys have paid their dues and deserve this chance. And what they have done in pass shouldn't be held against them.
SW | Nov 24, 2007 8:37:06 AM | #It has bugged me from day one that Sixwire had their chance before. They didn't make it work before and the show is called America's NEXT Great Band. I just think it should be groups that didn't have deals with big labels. Clark brothers were never just the 3 guys that have the same taste and they were a different type of music. I think Light of Doom by far has the chance to make the most of the chancebeing that they are young and that they are playing true heavy metal. That type of music is really under represented in the music culture right now. I lvoe the show also which I guess is what matters!
Utterchaos | Nov 24, 2007 10:38:01 AM | #What Austin was playing is a custom Flying V version of a Melobar guitar, a company that is most known for making lap-steel guitars. Melobar is a division of Smith Guitars. Austin's version differs in that is a 6-string rather than the traditional 10 of the lap steel, and it is tuned to open G like a dobro rather than E. He also has a version in white that he has played in the past with The Clark Family Experience and SHeDaisy.
A Guitar Geek | Nov 24, 2007 11:29:17 AM | #In no particular order:
Sixwire-Probably my favorite overall. Great vocals, tight arrangements and outstanding musicianship. What's not to like?
Clark Brothers-I have to admit Gimme Shelter really impressed me. For once they let the energy build over the course of the song instead of their usual "blitzkrieg" attack. These guys ARE extremely talented and I can see them in the same musical niche as Nickel Creek.
Tres Bien- Are you kidding me? They're a 3rd rate garage band at best. It's one thing to be a retro Brit-Pop band but you at least should have the musicianship to back it up. That guitar player is an insult to the instrument (even when he's in tune!)
Dot Dot Dot- Okay, so this band is kind of my "guilty pleasure". Their energy and sense of fun is infectious but the vocals and instrumentals are good enough to pull it off legitimately (unlike the aforementioned Tres Bien).
Denver et al- I have to agree that Denver himself is only adequate as a front man/lead vocalist, even within their big-band genre. Still, I'm continually impressed with the instrumental arrangements they keep coming up with on such short notice. These guys ARE consumnate pros in that regard.
Light of Doom- A novelty act at best. Admittedly, I am not a fan of heavy metal as I find the posturing and pretention annoying and even laughable. Watching these kids emulate their "heroes" with one cliche after another only reinforces this impression.
Of course, as Dennis Miller says "This is just my opinion. I couls be wrong".
The Curmudgeon | Nov 25, 2007 6:17:31 AM | #Thanks Guitar Geek! And you realize I use that term Geek in the most reverent and respectful sense, right?
I don't have a problem with bands that have been touring/had a contract/have previous experience/etc. being on the show -- nothing about the show says they have to be completely unknown or undiscovered, just that they're not signed anywhere, that they want to take it to the next level (if you'll excuse the cliche). If, say, the Go-Gos came on -- a band that had a good career, broke big, and then just went out of style -- then I'd object. But Sixwire was never big-breaking band.
I, too, think Tres Bien! is the weakest of the bunch. But I'm resigned to the fact that a lot of people seem to like them, that they're a fun party band, and that they're no worse than a lot of the pop bands out there now. I don't think they're the best band there, but they may be a commercial band that the makers of this show can sell.
And that makes me wonder about something else -- do I really WANT the Clark Brothers to win? Because I kind of want them controlling their careers themselves, not the company behind a reality TV show. Tres Bien! can be manipulated and molded with no real harm to their sound. The Clark Brothers? I think they'd suffer if they got into a restrictive contract. Same with D&MHO.
I have no objection to Light of Doom -- yeah, they're a party trick, but they're a damn fun party trick. I have my head-banging moments, and they, like Tres Bien!, would probably benefit from studio interference/help.
Sarah | Nov 25, 2007 11:21:44 AM | #
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