Next Great American Band Show 5

My blog this week may be a little longer than normal. I have a lot of thoughts running through my head right now and it may take a little bit to sort it all out.

First of all, this week Dicko has been out trying to drum up support for the program. The show ranks dead last in the ratings. I disagree with his thoughts on this, but rather than repeat what he has said let me offer my own. The concept of the show is good and for the most part the bands were ok with a few notable exceptions being LOD and Rocket. LOD continues to surprise me by staying around, Rocket made it further than they should have by getting through the initial video tape auditions. If FOX really wanted this show to work, they would have put it on a different night. But since they didn’t, then they needed to promote it, which they didn’t. FOX is getting the result that should be expected. Not enough people even know about the show. The blame for this falls completely on the network for the lousy job of promotions. FOX publicity has completely and totally botched this up; and they continue to do so. I do believe that the show will go on with its very modest growth but will never achieve the level of success everyone hoped for without serious structural changes.

Speaking of change, here are some ideas for next time around if they decide to do this again. Whoever is responsible for selecting the 12 finalists need to be better at what they do. If it is the judges putting groups through then a more competent judge needs to be selected, if it’s the producers, then maybe there is no hope. Giving bands like LOD, Rocket and Tres Bien a slot on the show diminishes the competition. None of these bands have serious musicians and are all gimmicky. America will listen to a gimmick for a while but as happened here they eventually tired of it. After the best bands are selected then the show needs to be promoted effectively and placed in a schedule where there are viewers. Neither of these things happened. If the show tries again next year hopefully FOX will have learned some things.

Now onto last nights show. The band eliminated last night was Franklin Bridge. Franklin Bridge had the best players in the competition and was still voted off. I was not totally surprised by this (see my previous blogs) but I was disappointed. They were the musical sunshine on this show. FB consists of profoundly professional and extraordinary players who are deeply theoretical; all the things that trips my trigger. The problem? They simply didn’t connect. The standoffish “I’m cool and you aren’t” vibe the lead singer gave off probably did not work with the audience demographic. I was anxious to see what they would do this week and very disappointed when they didn’t advance. It’s a bummer to me to see LOD and Tres Bien still in it and Franklin Bridge out. The show lost some credibility last night and the goofy comments by the judges certainly didn’t help.

Let’s take a look at who played.

LOD – Jailhouse rock
WOW that was really, really bad. I am going to be honest which is something the judges apparently refuse to be. This was pathetic. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Dicko is correct – They are a gimmick and not a very good one. I want to predict that they won’t be back next week but after losing Franklin Bridge tonight who knows, and besides, as usual, the judges love them. I wonder? Are the producers pre-writing the judge comments?

The Clark Brothers – Saved
These guys are flat out good performers. I was not real fond of the song they picked but they put everything they had into the performance. Passionate, aggressive and a…..bit boring. I am surprised that they hang in there with full bands that have drums and bass. I mentioned last week problems with the Dobro. Here’s some advice, if you are going to try to play that instrument like an electric guitar, just get out an electric guitar. Otherwise it just looks, and more importantly sounds goofy. Also, what’s with the hard rock stance of the mandolin player? Weird. As usual the vocal performance was very good. This band should be safe for another week.

Dot,dot,dot – Love potion #9
This band keeps getting better. This week was another decent performance. Vocally the lead singer was just ok and the band sounded, well, just ok. I do not like the singer constantly mugging for the camera all the time. Also, they are not “tight” players and they continue to have some modest tempo problems. I am not sure where that is coming from; the drum or bass player so I will blame both. Sheila E. suggested featuring the girls more. My recommendation is to feature the female guitar player only. She’s a pretty good player but more importantly she’s gorgeous. Just keep the camera on her.

Cliff Wagner and the Ol #7 – Poison Ivy
When this group was selected to be on the show, I was intrigued. With all the hope I could muster about a blue grass band I was anxious to hear more. After tonight I am only anxious for them to go home. This was the second dry, lazy performance in a row. Last week I said they “sleep-walked through” the performance tonight they just slept. In my opinion they need to go up tempo or go home for thanksgiving.

DMHO – Ruby baby
Well, I learned a couple things about the judges tonight. First of all John Reznik doesn’t know what funk is. What DMHO did tonight was not funk in the purest definition of it, although the tone selected by the keyboard player gave it a bit of that vibe. The problem is that last week he told the band to mix it up, stretch the boundaries, and do something new. This week he complained about it. The second thing I learned about the judges is that Sheila is the only one who actually knows music. This sounded much more like Maroon 5 than Sly and the Family Stone. I was a little concerned about the song selection but one thing was really nice. DMHO featured a terrific rhythm section that usually plays second fiddle to the horns. Special kudos to the drums and guitar; the drumming tonight was spectacular and the guitar playing was solid. Since the band has apparently determined to play a bunch of different genres in the competition, I suggest adding to that list swing. The band is good at it and a cool up-tempo swing/rockabilly version of something would resonate.



Sixwire – I keep forgettin
Well you have to say one thing about Sixwire - this band is consistent. The problem with it is that they sound exactly the same each week. Finally however, we got to hear some of the great guitar work that any Sixwire fan knows they have. The guitar playing was outstanding and I think they should feature that more and back off of the three part harmony provided by the vocals. If they don’t we may be forgettin Sixwire, because overall this was a pretty forgettable song choice.

Tres Bien – Some other guy
My mother once told me that if I have nothing good to say then don’t say anything. Ok, in deference to my mother, here are my thoughts on Tres Biens performance last night.

Now, it’s up to the fans of each band to vote. I am concerned that the energy DMHO has gained so far may get lost as people tire of voting. Please hang in there and keep voting. If they make it to the final three you are gonna see some special things from the boys!