NGAB #2

The Next Great American Band – Program 2

As a member of the studio audience on Wednesday night and a television viewer I had the opportunity to see the show twice. I confess, I liked the show. I am a bit of a reality show junky. I have found it interesting reading what the reviewers and bloggers say about the show and the participants. I wish everyone could be a bit more gracious in their thoughts. Last week I was a bit too harsh and will try to clean up my own act here.

This week each band had to perform a cover version of a Bob Dylan song. I have never been a big Dylan fan, but I was curious how each band would do. Then each band had to perform an original. Here’s my biggest problem with the show so far. Each band got three minutes of time to perform two songs. This is really hard to do. Because of the time limits the producers have put on the bands it is difficult to judge too harshly but here are my thoughts on the winners and losers this week.

Doing the covers – Best of the bunch
Denver and the Mile High Orchestra – The producers picked this band to kick off the regular season of the show for a reason. The cover of Freight Train Blues was way better than the original and gave the show a fantastic start.
Sixwire – The producers selected this band to close the show. It was a wise choice. Sixwire was great. A strong beginning with DMHO and a strong closer with Sixwire really helped the show.
Franklin Bridge – Awesome!
Cliff Wagoner and the ol #7 – I am not a bluegrass fan at all but I’ve got to admit, these guys are good performers.

Worst of the bunch
Light of Doom (LOD)
Tres Bien
Dot, dot, dot
Rocket

The rest of the groups were pretty good but not good enough to be better than average.

Playing the originals – Best of the night
Franklin Bridge
Sixwire
Denver and the Mile High Orchestra
Clark Brothers

Bottom of the pack
LOD
Tres Bien
Dot, dot, dot
Rocket

Overall my general observations are this. FOX will need to promote the show better if it wants to move up in the ratings. The Friday night time slot however works well for some bands and penalizes others. For example, will Franklin Bridge fans actually be watching the television on a Friday night? Franklin Bridge is arguably the best band in the competition. Since they are running two hour shows, will people on the east coast stay up and vote that late. This could penalize east coast groups like Tres Bien and Franklin Bridge but work in favor of the West Coast groups like Light of Doom, Rocket and The likes of you.

The Friday time slot provides a demograph that I think works well for Denver and the Mile High Orchestra, Sixwire, The Clark Brothers and ol #7. That is, if the more adult audience will take the time to dial in their votes, or if they even watch. It’s a tough call.

So here is my prediction. The following four groups, in my opinion blew it and two of them should be sent home.

LOD – Their lack of experience and musicianship will hurt them. I actually found myself feeling bad for them. They are clearly trying hard but simply do not have the experience and skill to hang with the rest. Maybe if they had waited until they were 17 years old they would be better. I am honestly shocked by some (so called) professional music reviewers who can’t hear where they are at; and shame on the judges for bringing them into the competition to embarrass themselves.

Rocket – This all girl band is better suited for the club life and not for commercial success. The lead singer struggled with pitch problems on both songs.

Dot, dot, dot – It may be bye,bye,bye for this below average group from Chicago. Their frenetic performance style and lack of musicality is going to send them home early.

Tres Bien – The darlings of the media were simply not on their game. Every time the drummer began singing he slowed down. This created flamming between the bass guitar and the kick drum that was painfully hard to listen to. Their loose playing is likely to cost them votes if the TV audience can get beyond the cute 60’s factor.

Groups that are completely safe.

Only two groups, in my opinion, have nothing to worry about and can relax this week. Sixwire and Franklin Bridge. For the rest, they need to make sure that whatever fan base they have starts dialing in and continues to do so for two hours.