I checked out single act, Kevin Spica last night at Wool Street in Cary. There was a decent crowd there. Not huge. Mr. Spica did a good job. He played electric guitar and sang and played lots of songs everyone knows ... Free Fallin', The Joker, Jealousy, Stepping Stone, Mrs. Robinson .... etc. He made effective use of a harmonizer that was blended very well with the mix. I liked it. He has a good voice and plays well. People liked what he did.
But my point with single act singing guitar players is that they just become background music. There's nothing wrong with that because that's what they're hired to be in a place like this. But it's a shame that when everyone is sitting around talking and watching any one of the 6 or 7 sporting events on the TV sets, the musician becomes one more distraction in the room. And in a bad sort of way, it almost doesn't matter how good you are .... nobody cares ... except for those immediate family members and friends that come. The good point is that it's a place to play that pays. That's a good thing.
Kevin Spica was good. He did the job. He did what he was paid to do very well. It's just that a place like Wool Street would do probably about the same business whether Kevin was there or not. It's just the nature of this particular place.
Showing posts with label Wool Street. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wool Street. Show all posts
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Hans and the Hormones - Wool Street, Cary 2.21.09
Wool Street's turning into quite the place. I really like it because you have a nice mix of ages there and nobody seems to feel like they're out of place, unlike the way you can feel at Duke's Alehouse on a Saturday night. Wool Street is not the best-arranged room for live entertainment but I still like seeing bands there.
It's no secret I like Hans and the Hormones. For a local area band that's doing a wide range of danceable music, I really think these guys are one of the best around. They have about the best song selection anyone could ask for. They started out with a lot of new music and pulled in a lot of great not-always-heard-in-bars classic rock as the night progressed. Hans is a very good singer and so is Vic. I like Vic's guitar playing and everyone in the band is a strong player. Hans and the Hormones consist of lead vocalist/guitar, lead vocalist/electric lead guitar, bass and drums. They have very good harmonies and they flow seamlessly from song to song thereby not giving the audience a chance to sit down once they have the audience up and dancing. Many of you other bands out there should go out to see the Hormones and some of the other excellent area bands to learn from these guys. One of my pet peeves is watching bands that take a minute or two between each song to get a drink or engage in some unintelligible banter. When you do that, you lose the dancers you fought so hard to gain.
Again, see these guys. Support these guys. They are another one of our local stable of talent that is about as good as a band gets. http://www.hansandthehormones.com/
It's no secret I like Hans and the Hormones. For a local area band that's doing a wide range of danceable music, I really think these guys are one of the best around. They have about the best song selection anyone could ask for. They started out with a lot of new music and pulled in a lot of great not-always-heard-in-bars classic rock as the night progressed. Hans is a very good singer and so is Vic. I like Vic's guitar playing and everyone in the band is a strong player. Hans and the Hormones consist of lead vocalist/guitar, lead vocalist/electric lead guitar, bass and drums. They have very good harmonies and they flow seamlessly from song to song thereby not giving the audience a chance to sit down once they have the audience up and dancing. Many of you other bands out there should go out to see the Hormones and some of the other excellent area bands to learn from these guys. One of my pet peeves is watching bands that take a minute or two between each song to get a drink or engage in some unintelligible banter. When you do that, you lose the dancers you fought so hard to gain.
Again, see these guys. Support these guys. They are another one of our local stable of talent that is about as good as a band gets. http://www.hansandthehormones.com/
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Who Knew - Wool Street (Cary) 10.18.08
Who Knew is a new band to me and appears to be another newer band being groomed in the Joey D stable (just my guess). I saw a set of theirs at Wool Street this last Saturday night. It was a moderate night over at Wool Street with a fair amount of turnover.
Who Knew consists of two women and three guys. The guys are carrying the bass, drums and guitar chores and they have one female singer and another female singing and playing some keyboard.
Vocals The "lead" singer, for the most part, was good and sang very well in tune. The other female singer who doubled on keyboard also did a good job and sang well in tune. Together , the harmonies were pretty tight ... for the most part. I saw the bassist sing a song. He was OK. Just OK.
Drums This guy was very good at his instrument and was the most inspired-sounding and aggressive of the whole group for the set I was there for (the 1st). Guitar Although I think the guitarist was good, he may have been better than I thought if it wasn't for his non-aggressive playing and indecisive playing. Bass Same thing. Rather indecisive and tentative. Keyboard To me, this is a very dangerous instrument to play in a band because the choice of sounds you use can determine a wedding band/lounge sound for the entire band or a garage band sound or a good pro act ... regardless of how rock-sounding the rest of the band is. My personal opinion was that on the songs I heard keyboard on, the sound was trapped between the lounge and garage band sound. The whole band should work together on the sound choices.
Basically, I thought the band was just OK. I won't address the Stevie Wonder song or a couple of the others. You guys in the band know what happened there. The band just needs some seasoning. Of course, I heard a lot of the same songs every other band plays but that's OK. The band was basically a snoozer ... up until exactly 10:53pm when they did Crazy Train when it seemed like they all woke up. I was leaving during Sweet Child Of Mine which was sounding pretty aggressive.
Also, the look was a little lacking. There was an uneasiness or a kind of we're not used to being up here kind of feel. That was reflected in the tentativeness in the playing. Just go for it. If you're going to make a mistake, make it a big one .. but commit and be aggressive. Play to the crowd. Always keep a smile on your face and keep eye contact with your audience. Play and sing like you're in your basement and nobody's watching. Play like you own that audience.
Who Knew is an OK band now. I'd like to see these guys again in about 6 months. I'll bet you they'll be great! http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=324825533
Who Knew consists of two women and three guys. The guys are carrying the bass, drums and guitar chores and they have one female singer and another female singing and playing some keyboard.
Vocals The "lead" singer, for the most part, was good and sang very well in tune. The other female singer who doubled on keyboard also did a good job and sang well in tune. Together , the harmonies were pretty tight ... for the most part. I saw the bassist sing a song. He was OK. Just OK.
Drums This guy was very good at his instrument and was the most inspired-sounding and aggressive of the whole group for the set I was there for (the 1st). Guitar Although I think the guitarist was good, he may have been better than I thought if it wasn't for his non-aggressive playing and indecisive playing. Bass Same thing. Rather indecisive and tentative. Keyboard To me, this is a very dangerous instrument to play in a band because the choice of sounds you use can determine a wedding band/lounge sound for the entire band or a garage band sound or a good pro act ... regardless of how rock-sounding the rest of the band is. My personal opinion was that on the songs I heard keyboard on, the sound was trapped between the lounge and garage band sound. The whole band should work together on the sound choices.
Basically, I thought the band was just OK. I won't address the Stevie Wonder song or a couple of the others. You guys in the band know what happened there. The band just needs some seasoning. Of course, I heard a lot of the same songs every other band plays but that's OK. The band was basically a snoozer ... up until exactly 10:53pm when they did Crazy Train when it seemed like they all woke up. I was leaving during Sweet Child Of Mine which was sounding pretty aggressive.
Also, the look was a little lacking. There was an uneasiness or a kind of we're not used to being up here kind of feel. That was reflected in the tentativeness in the playing. Just go for it. If you're going to make a mistake, make it a big one .. but commit and be aggressive. Play to the crowd. Always keep a smile on your face and keep eye contact with your audience. Play and sing like you're in your basement and nobody's watching. Play like you own that audience.
Who Knew is an OK band now. I'd like to see these guys again in about 6 months. I'll bet you they'll be great! http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=324825533
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Chasing The Day - Wool Street (Cary) 9.13.08
Good band. Two guitarists, one bassist and a drummer. One guy sings. Two sing back-ups but not great harmony and the two back-ups were mixed pretty low so you didn't hear them much. Good players. Not mind-blowing but some good playing. Good vocal. Not mind-blowing but definitely good.
That's what I miss ... the harmonies. CTD just didn't have much for harmony. They had a good song selection (for the time I was there). I do have to say that the Tommy Tutone song "Jenny" was unrecognizable to me in the intro (and I do that song) and this song, as well as most everything, was performed with a very heavy buzz-saw edge. Nothing wrong with that. However, I like some variety and some change in sound (and vocal lead) so I was not blown away with the sound.
Don't get me wrong. This was a good band. Since they play a lot, they are well-rehearsed and tight, but for me, they simply just did not blow me away. There was nothing here to set them apart from the other bands.
I think Chasing the Day is worth seeing. Good band. Just not a lot different from the other stuff you see out there. I'm thinking maybe I was just having a bad day today so I'll make a point to get out again to see them. Oh ... they started at about 10:20 rather than 10 pm. (pet peeve, and this may have been the club's fault)
One other point. Not a big crowd at Wool Street. Decent-sized but not packed. See my other blog - Rant !
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=194148413
That's what I miss ... the harmonies. CTD just didn't have much for harmony. They had a good song selection (for the time I was there). I do have to say that the Tommy Tutone song "Jenny" was unrecognizable to me in the intro (and I do that song) and this song, as well as most everything, was performed with a very heavy buzz-saw edge. Nothing wrong with that. However, I like some variety and some change in sound (and vocal lead) so I was not blown away with the sound.
Don't get me wrong. This was a good band. Since they play a lot, they are well-rehearsed and tight, but for me, they simply just did not blow me away. There was nothing here to set them apart from the other bands.
I think Chasing the Day is worth seeing. Good band. Just not a lot different from the other stuff you see out there. I'm thinking maybe I was just having a bad day today so I'll make a point to get out again to see them. Oh ... they started at about 10:20 rather than 10 pm. (pet peeve, and this may have been the club's fault)
One other point. Not a big crowd at Wool Street. Decent-sized but not packed. See my other blog - Rant !
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=194148413
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Eleventh Hour - Wool Street in Cary 4.12.08
This was the first time I've seen a band at Wool Street, the new restaurant in Cary. Wool Street is another one of the new generation of bars where they go for the high ceiling, two levels of seating/standing and they cram the place with as many TVs as they can hang. (a la Finn McCool's, Fire Bar, etc.). This is supposed to draw 25-year-olds like moths to a flame. This place even has a GINORMOUS projection TV on the wall over where the band plays which has the band playing on the screen as well via a well-placed camera. Brand new place. Still a little sterile. Needs a little breaking in. It's a JD-booked place which means there is yet another place you can see Insomnia at once a month.
The acoustics were not near as bad as I imagined they might be.At the time of this writing, I just got back from Wool Street. I don't mean this in any kind of a bad way but, this is a wedding or lounge band with an edge. The place was busy and crowded with 30-somethings and maybe a few Lower-Forty-Somethings having a good time in their own 30-something and Lower-Forty-Somethings way. You know what I mean. Those people that obviously don't get out a lot and when they do, they just don't look real natural having a good time. It was actually kind of like a wedding where people were not dressed in suits and dresses and the band was not in tuxes.
Eleventh Hour although good, reminded me of a lounge band; both in song selection and general sound. The drummer was good. The bass player could hardly be heard but I think he was good. The guitar player was good. The keyboard player was not very audible most of the time and adequate. It was the singer that put the final touch on the lounge/wedding sound. She was OK. She was a bit pitchy dawg. She moved like a wedding/lounge singer and sang pretty good but didn't sound particularly better or worse than 90% of all other female lead singers. She's very attractive but for me, the whole package just wasn't totally there.
They sounded good. The wedding/lounge sound come from the not-varied-very-often sound of the keyboard, the guitar sound and the female vocal. I got there after 11 pm and without looking at the songlist on their web site at http://www.eleventhhourlive.com/ I'll bet there was some Melissa E and Benatar songs done earlier before I got there. The other thing that creates the lounge/wedding sound is the song selection. When I got there, Promises In The Dark (Benatar) was being performed and I then heard, Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy, Freak Out, Knock On Wood (vocal was off on this one), Shake Your Booty, Walk This Way, Sweet Home Alabama (not a great version) and when I was getting ready to leave, Faithfully (Journey). See what I mean?
Actually, this was not a bad band at all. It's just that it was a band for the older, straighter and whiter crowd. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Also, the place was pretty crowded and very into the music. I've seen several bands at Duke O'Brien's lately that didn't get the crowd or the crowd response that this band had this night ... and generating crowds is really what this is all about. Therefore, Eleventh Hour had a very successful night!
The acoustics were not near as bad as I imagined they might be.At the time of this writing, I just got back from Wool Street. I don't mean this in any kind of a bad way but, this is a wedding or lounge band with an edge. The place was busy and crowded with 30-somethings and maybe a few Lower-Forty-Somethings having a good time in their own 30-something and Lower-Forty-Somethings way. You know what I mean. Those people that obviously don't get out a lot and when they do, they just don't look real natural having a good time. It was actually kind of like a wedding where people were not dressed in suits and dresses and the band was not in tuxes.
Eleventh Hour although good, reminded me of a lounge band; both in song selection and general sound. The drummer was good. The bass player could hardly be heard but I think he was good. The guitar player was good. The keyboard player was not very audible most of the time and adequate. It was the singer that put the final touch on the lounge/wedding sound. She was OK. She was a bit pitchy dawg. She moved like a wedding/lounge singer and sang pretty good but didn't sound particularly better or worse than 90% of all other female lead singers. She's very attractive but for me, the whole package just wasn't totally there.
They sounded good. The wedding/lounge sound come from the not-varied-very-often sound of the keyboard, the guitar sound and the female vocal. I got there after 11 pm and without looking at the songlist on their web site at http://www.eleventhhourlive.com/ I'll bet there was some Melissa E and Benatar songs done earlier before I got there. The other thing that creates the lounge/wedding sound is the song selection. When I got there, Promises In The Dark (Benatar) was being performed and I then heard, Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy, Freak Out, Knock On Wood (vocal was off on this one), Shake Your Booty, Walk This Way, Sweet Home Alabama (not a great version) and when I was getting ready to leave, Faithfully (Journey). See what I mean?
Actually, this was not a bad band at all. It's just that it was a band for the older, straighter and whiter crowd. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Also, the place was pretty crowded and very into the music. I've seen several bands at Duke O'Brien's lately that didn't get the crowd or the crowd response that this band had this night ... and generating crowds is really what this is all about. Therefore, Eleventh Hour had a very successful night!
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