413 - All Sports Bar and Grill, McCullom Lake 10.24.09

I stopped at All Sports Bar in McCullom Lake to see what was happening there. All Sports used to be The Cullom Knoll and in my opinion, has lost a lot of personality. They blew out a wall and moved the stage to a different corner. The main music area is a square, uninteresting, sterile box. It really is. I don't think it would take all that much to gussy it up a bit.

413 is a 5-piece hard rock outfit with two guitars, a bassist, a lead vocalist and a drummer. The lead vocalist was just OK. The guitar playing was adequate from both guitarists although I heard no solos of real complexity. The drummer was good as was the bassist. There were again, no harmonies I heard when I was there. When two people sang, they sang in unison. Again, the sign of a new band.

This was a garage band playing a gig in a bar. Some of the cardinal sins of beginning bands were evident which included one of my peeves, trying to sing too high for your vocal register. That's never a good idea because no matter how good the instrumental playing is, if the the vocals are strained and you're just not hitting the high notes in tune, the song WILL sound bad. Period. Now, I will give them credit for singing Back In Black an octave lower but when you do that, you have to sing in tune or it sounds like you're rapping it. It sounded like rap.

413 does show promise but needs to tighten up some more. Work on the "flow of the show", dress a little better so you don't appear as one from the crowd who just got up to play, and work on playing within your limitations. Just like Clint Eastwood said, "a man has to know his limitations." Play the songs within your abilities and don't get out over your skis in public. Practice pushing the envelope at home or in the basement and when you've nailed it, incorporate it into the act and into your playing. A song always sounds better, no matter how much you simplify it, if everyone is playing within their capabilities.

I counted 32 people in there and that included the band members and the bartender. It was very evident that many of the people there were friends of the band. There's nothing wrong with that! I couldn't find a web site for them besides http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=78763880074