Caffiend attended this week’s NGAB taping, and she’s got the scoop.
Click on the jump to read her recap and find out who went home…
Cliff and the Old No. 7…go home…
It was Rolling Stones night at the Next Great American Band. Really cool retrospective on The Stones to open the show. I had no idea how cute Mick was as a teenager.
On to the show:
Tres Bien: Performed “Get Off Of My Cloud.” Lead singer is very appealing, doing agile footwork and dancing around. Dicko calls him the best frontman in the competition. I think these guys are dialing it in a little bit, but they’re darling.
Denver and the Mile-High Orchestra: “Free.” They rocked it. Johnny asked them why they didn’t do “Bitch,” prompting a scolding from the anti-swearing Sheila. Lots of Denver fans in the audience.
Sixwire: They did “This Will Be The Last Time,” and man, did they nail it. Brilliant. Wait till you guys hear it. This won’t be the last time they’re on the show, no doubt about it.
Light of Doom: Did “Jumping Jack Flash.” Lead singer accidentally started off in too low a key and had trouble hitting the “now” in “all right now.” Solid job overall. I doubt they’ll be next to go. Lots of fans.
Clark Brothers: I always look forward to hearing their take on a song. It’s so unpredictable and so infused with passion. They decide to do “Gimme Shelter.” No description of it would do it justice. All three judges stood and applauded. Dicko frigging loves these guys. Sheila said they were final 2 for sure.
And the last band standing is…Dot Dot Dot. It was the only song whose name I forgot to write down. I like Dot Dot Dot, but the judges felt Adam, the lead singer, was too frenetic and desperate for attention.
Cliff and the Old No. 7 goes home, not unexpectedly. The judges spent quite a lot of time praising and encouraging them, and Cliff was quite gracious, as you would expect him to be. A very classy exit.
The remaining six bands are very good musically. I’m still thinking it’s Sixwire and Clark Bros. in the final two. LOD and Denver are very popular. I’d say Tres Bien and Dot Dot Dot are vulnerable, but a lot depends on next week, when the bands will be performing songs by…Rod Stewart.
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Songs by Rod Stewart. Hmmmm….I hope they are not referring to his “Big Band” era…..
Great recap Caffiend. Thanks for the spoilers! I can’t wait to see The Clark Bros and Sixwire, Yay!
Ack! I have always gots to read these spoilers! Moth to a flame.
Oh well, it sounds like a really great evening in store Friday.
Old No. 7. - I had a hard time picturing them doing any Stones songs, so their going home was probably the right thing.
Thanks for the recap.
I kick myself for reading the spoilers but then am relieved at the same time lol!
I cannot wait though to hear the Clark Brothers. I hope that the judges response does not backfire like it did for Franklin Bridge.
Words can’t describe their performance - wow - I have felt that way for each of their performances. I can’t imagine how much greater it can get! Am I the only one besides Caffiend who feels their connection so intensely with the music? Isn’t that how music should be, touching you in your heart?
Thanks Caffiend. I wish I could have been there!
That’s too bad about CW, but I guess someone’s gotta go. They probably had no illusions that they’d win the whole thing, and they just got a lot of exposure for their band, so it’s all good. I would love to see CW live. Hey, Cliff, if you read this, come to MN!
Caffiend, thanks so much for the recap. Can’t wait to see “Gimme Shelter,” as I was hoping someone would do it.
Other interesting tidbits from the taping (this is my second one):
Dominic and the judges are pros. I have seen Dominic flub a line exactly once; he almost always is one take. And the judges’ comments are one take also. I am amazed what Dicko is able to come up with off the top of his head.
Johnny Rzeznik (sp?) toppled off his chair during a break in the taping. He jumped up and held up his arms in victory, and everyone cheered. The warm-up guy quipped, “Don’t worry, dude, nobody noticed.”
Sheila interacts with the audience a lot during the breaks. She talked about her charity for abused children, and gave away a hat to the best singer in the audience. She then offered to give away her shoes to any size 7 in the audience, which I thought was a bit much, but then she reneged when she realized she would need them for post-show interviews. BTW, Sheila is stunning-looking in person.
Much of the audience is augmented by schoolbusesful of kids from local high schools.
The show takes two hours to tape, not counting the waiting time beforehand while the audience is being seated. The crew changes out the band set-ups remarkably fast.
Thank you so much for this information! Looks like my two favorite bands are still doing great. Clark Brothers and Sixwire have that something to succeed, although I hope the Clark Bros. will one day have a drummer.
t2, haha Standards aren’t “Rod Stewart” catalog songs…
Since it is a “Rock show” I think would think they’d make them pick songs from his catalog in which he wrote.
Clark Bros. Probably were the best…Tres Bien were the most entertaining.
I think the Clark Bros. could benefit from Rod’s Folk-Rock songs, such as “Gasoline Alley” or “Mandolin Wind.” However that would be playing it “Safe.” However any Mercury Records recordings of Rod’s would be best for the instruments they play…Every picture tells a story would probably be best overall for them.
I would like to see Light of Doom play a Faces song, like “Stay with me” …Although they probably just want them to play Rod solo stuff.
I think Dot Dot Dot would work well with “Young Turks.”
Tres Bien would probably do good with one of Rod’s 80s pop songs done in a retro 60s feel…I don’t really see any of his 70s songs working for them.
Denver High …mmm somehow I think Da ya think I’m sexy would be something they’d do…
Something tells me one of them will do “Do ya think I’m sexy” because it is funny and fun.