The Next Great American Band - 3

The Next Great American Band – Program 3

I had a lot of anxiety sitting in the studio audience Wednesday night. I have found myself getting involved in the back stories of the bands and I have also met many friends and family members of the bands. We knew that two bands were going to be sent home but had no idea who they were. Rumors were flying all week that the producers were going to call the bands out one at a time and then the last two bands not called would be sent home. Unlike last week where every band knew when they were going to perform, this week none of them knew.

I was surprised throughout the entire show as the bands I thought should be sent home last week were called out to play. In fact none of the four bands that I had in the bottom were eliminated. Now in all fairness, websites like the goofy “Vote for the worst .com” and others like them were asking fans to call in a vote for bands like Rocket and Light of Doom (LOD). And apparently they did. Or is it possible that American television viewers simply can’t hear?

This week was Elton John week and for the most part the bands did pretty good covers. Each band started out with an original tune and then went straight into the cover song. Some of the originals were absolutely bad and others were very good.

First up was one of my favorite bands - Sixwire. It’s pretty clear that the producers like this band. There are two prime slots in a show like this; either opening the show, or closing the show. Last week Sixwire was the show closer. The original song was really good and the Elton John cover absolutely outstanding! This band has got something that none of the other bands have, three really good singers. (Some of the bands don’t even have one good singer like LOD, the Muggs, and Rocket.) Sixwire’s tight harmonies and rock solid playing should keep them in the competition for quite a while.

Next up was Tres Bien. These guys are fun to watch and their sixties shtick works for them. But they still struggle with their musicianship and singing. All around there was nothing remarkable, or memorable, about their performance.

Franklin Bridge came on third. My impression this week is much less favorable, although they played their instruments perfectly. My problem with this band is two-fold. The lead singer is a way better guitar player than singer. In fact his singing is very average. Second, the arrangements are so complex as to be undecipherable. I have mentioned in previous blogs about how good the drummer is, but I also am concerned that he’s not too savvy. His playing (along with the bassist) is too busy and tricked up. Pop songs need a solid downbeat on 2 and 4. If you move too much off of that, the groove of the song disappears and it is simply too hard to follow. I was left cold by their performance.

The Clark Brothers came on next. I am struggling to like this band. Everything sounds the same and unless they find a way to not overdo the mandolin and dobro, I feel we are destined to hear the same thing over and over. The Elton John cover was just so, so. The original was a fun, up tempo rockabilly song that I liked and these boys can sing. I just don’t like it enough.

Next up was the surprise of the evening as LOD took the stage. These metal rocking 13 year olds still sound like metal rocking 13 year olds. At least they were fully clothed this week. Their original tune was aptly named LOD and the lyric was simply shouting out the bands name about fifty times. The Elton John tune was also not good. Now, with all that said, they were better this week than any other time I have seen them play. But judge Ian Dickson apparently feels the same as I do in that he simply told them to come back and try again in five years.

The next group on was Dot, dot, dot. I was pleasantly surprised. The original tune was decent and the cover was one of the better ones of the night. The band took the judges advice to heart and stopped running all over the place. The lead singer actually started hitting some (but not many) of the notes and the arrangements were easy enough to listen to. This band does not have great players in it however and at some point, the lack of musicianship will catch up with them.

It was no surprise to me that The Muggs were called to the stage to play. Detroit’s favorite blues/rock group has really good players in the band. Although there are just three pieces, they have a very big sound. Unfortunately this week was a complete train wreck. The arrangements were not well done and the bands lead singer was not remotely close to hitting pitch. This was just not a good performance at all. Last week the judges encouraged the singer to not be afraid of the mic. My advice? Use it as little as possible.

Cliff Wagner and the Ol #7 came onto the stage next. Same old, same old. See my comments above for The Clark Brothers. Everything sounds the same to me. If Cliff and the boys want to stay then they are going to have to expand.

With four bands left in the green room and only two spots remaining it was a shock to me that the all girl group called Rocket were picked to play. The original song was a typically punk rock version of blather. Then the girls attempted to sing and play the Elton John tune Rocketman. Besides the cliché selection of the song itself, this was flat out horrible. The lead singer cannot sing at all. She also cannot play the piano. It was an absolute mess. I was sitting behind some family and friends and even some of them were cringing during the performance. Also, the nut job, Fifi LaRue from the original audition show showed up holding a Rocket sign. Enough said.

As I mentioned above, the prime slots are the opening act and the closing act. There were three bands left in the green room, including big band Denver and the Mile High Orchestra, and pop bands The Hatch and The Likes of you. The Hatch stunk it up last week and I doubted whether the show’s producers would use them to close the show out. The Likes of you is a LA based pop group with one of the best singers in the competition and last week DMHO started the whole show off.

It only made sense that Denver and the Mile High Orchestra was called out to close the show. This horn band from Nashville surprised the crowd and judges by doing an original disco tune and then followed it up with a huge Elton John number. John Reznik said only one thing, “Amazing!”, Sheila E compared DMHO to Earth, Wind and Fire and Chicago and Ian Dickson loved it as well. My take on it was that the original tune was good but not great. The Elton John tune was terrific. Denver took the judges advice to heart and showcased the horns during the whole performance and also got rid of his trademark red suit. The rhythm section in this band was exceptional and it’s easy to lose sight of that because of the volume of the horns. All and all it was a great performance.

So here is my ranking of the bands based on what I heard last night in order from best to worst of the show.

1. Denver and the MHO
2. Sixwire
3. The Clark Brothers
4. Cliff and the Ol #7
5. Franklin Bridge
6. Dot, dot, dot
7. Tres Bien
8. The Muggs
9. LOD
10. Rocket

Lod and Rocket need to go so that this show can be taken seriously. It’s disappointing to me that The Likes of you got removed and groups as bad as Rocket and LOD get to move on. I was not saddened by The Hatch not moving on and the lead singer’s classless comments when he heard they were not getting a spot reinforced my opinion.

Anyone who watches this type of show knows that good performers get voted off and lesser performers get to stay. This happens all the time on American Idol, remember Sanjaya? Hopefully the fans that do watch this show will continue to vote for the better bands in the program. DMHO deserves the vote this week and I intend to give it to them.