First, John Rzeznik made my heroes list with his comments about “The Next Great American Band.”
And then, last night, the show itself produced its strongest episode yet as the top eight performed one song, their rendition of a Billy Joel classic…
Let me end the suspense for you and tell you that the two bands we didn’t hear from were Rocket (as I suspected from John’s comments) and The Muggs. Dominic pointed out that those were the two bands that talked back to the judges, but Dicko said it was more about “death by lead singer.”
And the absence of those two singers paved the way for an hour of strong performances as every band made a perfect song choice.
However, I have to admit that I wanted to see Rocket butcher “We Didn’t Start the Fire” just out of curiosity…
Here’s the performance rundown…
Franklin Bridge: “Big Shot”
The sound mix was a little off since the music was a little too loud, but that may have been due to their lead singer being out of breath after rocking out at the beginning of the song. They’re still too rock for me, but they did tone it down quite a bit. B
Cliff Wagner and the Old No. 7: “You May Be Right”
Dicko said it put him to sleep, but I loved the arrangement of this one. I think a bluegrass band should seriously consider recording this one. A
Denver and the Mile High Orchestra: “Tell Her About It”
Denver gave his best vocal performance of the season and even showed a little smidge of charisma. A-
Dot Dot Dot: “Pressure”
As I feared, Adam bowed to the judges’ pressure and stood still. The judges liked it, but I thought the song would have benefited from his manic style. B
Sixwire: “She’s Always a Woman”
The vocals were gorgeous, but I like it better when they go uptempo. A
Tres Bien: “Movin’ Out”
It was a strong vocal, but something just seemed off—and the judges agreed. B-
The Clark Brothers: “She’s Got a Way”
Minus some slightly off chords and a strange ending, this arrangement was gorgeous with a strong vocal from Ashley. A
Light of Doom: “The Stranger”
This was definitely Erik’s best vocal performance, but I think I’m over them. C
Next week, only one band will be eliminated and the remaining seven will perform songs written by the legendary Leiber and Stoller.
Don’t look now, kids, but this could be turning into a real show after all…
