Awesome NGAB correspondent, Caffiend, turns in another entertaining recap from last night’s taping of The Next Great American Band…

If you want to be spoiled, click the jump….

Dot Dot Dot is eliminated this week…

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When I got back from this week’s taping about two hours ago, I was so pissed
off that I didn’t feel like writing a recap. More on that later.

It was Queen night, but I recognized only two of the four songs chosen. I was wondering how the producers planned to fill an entire hour; the answer is, each band did a Queen song and an original song.

I was dying to see whether The Clark Brothers had added band members, and I didn’t have to wait long to find out. They were first, and guess what: They showed up with a drummer and a bass player — friends from Nashville, they said. They did “These Are The Days of Our Lives” — never heard the song, but Ashley played the fiddle and really stepped out of the box as the lead singer. The band sounded amazing. Dicko pointed out — and he was right — that the additional members freed Ashley creatively so he could be a real frontman. Dicko told him to embrace his inner rock star — he does have star quality. I’ll be interested to see what you all think of the adding of band members.

I thought their original song was really good, and so did Sheila and Johnny, but Dicko didn’t like it, and he got roundly booed.

OK, believe it or not, next up was Light of Doom. Half the audience is made of Light of Doom family and friends from San Diego, including Erik’s (the lead singer) brother, who was sitting in front of me. He was a sweet kid, around 15 or 16, who said Erik is the youngest of three boys and that the family also has three “girls” — female boxer dogs. Anyway, the LOD moms, dads, grandparents went bonkers when their names were announced.

But it quickly became evident that the producers have decided that LOD’s run needs to come to an end. Sure, it’s been a kick to have these junior rockers on the show, but for God’s sake, there is no way these toddlers are getting a frikkin’ record contract! They did “We Will Rock You,” and while I didn’t think it was that bad, it was skewered by all three judges. And the original song was even more poorly received.

In fairness to the producers, the remaining bands in the competition are just way better than these kids, as well they should be. They’ve been musicians twice as long — or longer — than these kids have been alive. And when it comes to songwriting, well, they’re just bad. What life experience will they draw on to write a song? Fights with their siblings? Playstation frustration? Yikes. I agree: It’s time for them to go.

Third was Sixwire. They did “Dominic’s favorite Queen song” — “Fat Bottomed Girls.” Is anyone else surprised by the song choice? But man, did they nail this song! Great arrangement, vocals, performance. Loved it! Dicko said that he thought the band was a little boring when they started the competition, but that in recent weeks they’ve gotten in touch with their “inner naughty boy.” Hee! Original song was outstanding as well. (Oh, and ladies, in the video segment it was revealed that sexy lead singer Andy is divorced! Can you say AVAILABLE??)

So now we’re down to Denver and Dot Dot Dot. I was in line with a Dot entourage, including family members and their publicity team, that had flown in from Chicago that morning to see the band play for the first time. One of them told me it was her first time ever in California.

Well, you guessed it: Denver was the pick. It could have gone either way. But now for what pissed me off. There was no exit interview with Dot Dot Dot. Nothing! They waved goodbye from the green room, and that was it.

Are you kidding??? I kept expecting the producers to talk with them, the way they did with the previous two bands. But they never did. I could not believe it. This band made it into the Top 5! They had tons of fans in the audience…as many or more than LOD. I felt awful for them. They were just flicked off the show like a pesky mosquito.

It’s especially inexplicable, considering how there were only four bands left and seemingly plenty of time for an interview.

Oh, Denver did “Sleeping on the Sidewalk” (???) I thought it was a really strong performance. Denver really stepped up his vocals. I think I even heard a growl. The judges thought their original song lacked a hook.

I’m still pissed. But probably not as pissed as the producers will be if the
teens make the Final 3.

No hint about next week’s format or whose songbook they’ll be doing. Next Wednesday is the final performance show; the finale show is being taped Dec. 16 in the same studio. It’ll be interesting to see how the time is filled.

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