The Next Great American Band Show 6

This week the bands honored the music of The Rolling Stones. Mainly by performing them better than the Stones did. I am wondering about something. If the show is looking for the Next Great American Band, why do they have to keep doing music from tired out British rockers? Elton John, The Rolling Stones and now, next week Rod Stewart? Doesn’t England have any current bands the groups can cover? Or better yet, how about doing covers of some of the great American bands?? Or possibly even better then that, let’s hear some original music! Oh well, I digress. Onto my review.

And then there were six. Cliff Wagner and the Ol #7 were sent home this week. After two fairly safe performances Cliff finally didn’t get enough votes to keep going. That’s too bad in my mind. Even though I picked them to go home this week I was disappointed. These guys could play. I would rather hear them do a musically competent version of…..anything vs. LOD and Tres Bien doing a lousy version of everything.

First up was:
Tres Bien – Get off of my cloud
This was a very good song choice for this band. It was especially comfortable for the lead singer who I thought is was pretty good. For those of you who have read my weekly blog you know I have been hard on these guys. Tonight they were better then usual. Now, with that said, it may be that I am just getting used to the sound. The tempo and pitch problems persist and this week the guitar was horribly out of tune. No excuse but what can we really expect either?

DMHO – I’m Free
The Rolling Stones catalog does not particularly fit this band. Fortunately the rhythm section was outstanding and the sax solo incredible. The overall arrangement was a little too middle of the road for my personal taste and I would prefer more edge to the vocals but the band sounded great. Again Rzenick blasted the guys. After that embarrassing performance at the Lions/Packers game Thursday, he had no right to say anything. Sheila loved the band this week and Dicko once again wants them to be a blues band for some reason. Why not just judge the performance rather than try to make them do something else?

Sixwire – This could be the last time
This is exactly what I expected from Sixwire. The vocals were great and I really enjoyed hearing this guitar band do a solid rock song. This was an outstanding performance from the most consistent band in the competition……but I need to hear more to see if they can break out of their routine.

Light of Doom – Jumpin Jack Flash
If any other singer in the show sang the way the lead singer sang this week the judges would have creamed them. They called Rockets lead singer horrid and told Danny of The Muggs to get a new lead singer. Why the “kid gloves” with LOD. The lead singer was off pitch for the entire song. Is it any wonder the judges kept asking “does anyone else sing?” I am honestly not trying to pick on this kid but just giving an evaluation of what I heard. The rest of the band sounded like they always sound. The drums varied so much in tempo throughout the performance I was starting to get seasick. Might I suggest a metronome for practice? And also maybe an instrumental number? No forget it. I’ve heard enough Jr. High music recitals in my life.

Clark Brothers – Gimme shelter
First of all I absolutely love this band and feel that they are winning the competition. With that said, I feel that this band is better singing a ballad than the dark rock tune assigned to them. The song didn’t work for me at all. Once again I am at odds with the judges who loved it. I think the instrumentation and arrangement was awesome but the arrangement required the lead singer to shout through the last half of the performance to give it some power. It didn’t do it for me; I think in part because this is what has become the norm for this group. If I were watching American Idol I would like this more. But since we are looking for the next great band, the group simply doesn’t have the punch and depth required. Yet, if I were to predict a winner, right now it would be The Clark Brothers. The judges just love them and week after week of that, will eventually convince viewers.

Dot,dot,dot – Let’s spend the night together
This week I felt the dots went backward. Once again a group took the judges advice and featured the girls. Unfortunately they featured the girls singing. Bad move. If you are going to sing it’s pretty much a requirement to sing the right notes. Vocally the girls were all over the place. Once again the lead guitar player saved the day with a better than average guitar solo at the end. If the dots are lucky that’s all the voters will remember.

So based on last nights performance I think LOD is going home. But then again I have thought that for every week. With Franklin Bridge out, all fans can assume that their favorite band is in trouble. You need to vote every week and stay in it with the band of your choice until the end. For me, it’s DMHO!

Each week is going to get mathematically harder to stay in. NO BAND IS SAFE in my opinion. Each band needs to stretch a bit. For example, as much as I like Sixwire, they have played it safe every week. I would like to hear more from them musically. I feel that DMHO and The Clarks are pushing the boundaries as the judges suggest. It’s working for the Clarks but not DMHO in the judge’s mind. No reason to even try getting into Rzenicks mind, it would be too hard to find. Tres Bien, LOD and the Dots could all try to go further musically if only they could.