Tres Bien! is eliminated from the Next Great American Band
This week on the Next Great American Band the remaining five bands would perform songs written by legendary performer Rod Stewart. Overall I liked four of the five performances and was really thrilled to find my remaining two favorites move through to perform this week. Here’s what I thought of the performances, in the order they performed on the show.
Dot Dot Dot. This had to be the first week that I really enjoyed what they did. They performed the song “Young Turks” and it really seemed to be a good fit for them and their musical style. There was this urgency and kind of angst in the original that came across to me in their performance, but it was not just a cover of the original. They really seemed to make the song their own. John said it was the perfect song for them, and the best performance to date in the competition for them. Sheila E. liked their energy and presentation but thought it was kind of frenetic or sporadic. Dicko agreed with her but did say straight out that they are improving as a band. I thought so too.
Denver and the Mile High Orchestra. Here’s my first favorite band in the competition, and they did the song “Baby Jane.” In the beginning of the show Denver stated that it was difficult for the band to sometimes find an appropriate song, because they are religious and don’t like to sing raunchy or sexy songs they feel are inappropriate. Sheila E. asks them after their performance if this makes it hard for them to find a song that can fit into both their musical style and their values but Denver said no matter what it is always hard in this competition to find the perfect song to perform that will showcase the bands well. I loved the performance. John thought it was a better vocal performance and that it was not a wedding band-ish performance. Sheila E. loves them – she said they are a real band, real musicians, have great arrangements and she is happy every week they make it through. Dicko actually said he loved it, and then qualified that it was to a point. He thought the band made some poor choices when cutting down the song to fit in the time allowed for the performance.
Sixwire. Wow. This is my other favorite band in the competition and I was thrill3ed to see them again. They performed the song “Hot Legs” and they owned it. They are a country influenced band but this week I really got to hear that they can be a great rock and roll band too. They really made the song their own. They got a standing ovation from Sheila E. John and Dicko commented that they did not like the bass solo, but Dicko said they do so much better as a band when they let their hair down and have a good time.
The Clark Brothers. They brought Sheila E. to tears with their version of “You’re In My Heart” and all three of the judges just absolutely loved it. I didn’t like it. I don’t know why, but the song did nothing for me. The song’s words are beautiful and the original had this kind of happy undertone to it. To me the arrangement The Clark Brothers did was kind of sad and dark. John thought they did a great job brining the emotion to the song and was moved by the performance. Sheila E. was completely speechless for about a minute when it was her turn to give a critique they said it was overwhelming. Dicko said they brought something magical to the performance, but thought yet again that the fact they are only a three piece band there were limitations. He told them that under the rules of the competition they can hire and fire band members at any point and they might want to consider brining in another Clark brother or two next week.
Light of Doom. They did the song “Infatuation” and surprising to me I enjoyed their performance. It still had the hard rock edge and feeling to it, but it seemed to be more accessible to a larger audience (i.e. me). John made some comments that indicated he thought it was good. Sheila E. and Dicko both commented on the improved vocal performance, and the lead singer admitted he has been taking vocal lessons. The judges were very happy about that and Dicko said keep doing it because it is working for them.
The band eliminated this week from The Next Great American Band: Tres Bien!
Next week the remaining four groups will be taking on the music of Queen. I hope someone does Bohemian Rhapsody. I wonder what song Denver will perform?
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