Two For the Price of One...
Greetings and salutations.
The theme of this week’s column? Sometimes it just pays to be in the right place at the right time. The good folks in Drivn had sent me a message about their New Years show, but if all goes as planned, I’ll be passing out in 2005 and waking up in 2006. Such a plan leaves very little opportunity for an honest (or coherent) review, so I did what any polite phantom would do: crash an earlier show uninvited and hope for the best.
Drivn were playing with Cobalt Media in Salem, and given the choice between that and 3 more hours in Valley View’s famous holiday traffic, it seemed like a no-brainer. I’d seen their show flyer, but couldn’t tell if Drivn were opening for Cobalt Media, or vice versa. I wandered if it’d be worth my time, but I’d grown tired of wrapping presents, so I took my chances. Turns out it was a “co-headlining” show.
No, really.
Not that kind of co-headlining where the opening band has too much ego to admit they’re just opening, but an actual division of each band's sets to break up the night.
How…retro.
And thus the tone was set. I found a quiet corner and observed as Drivn plowed through a covers-heavy set of classic 70’s rock, with a few modern favorites tossed in to keep it current. Most bands that play covers like to talk about making a song their own, which usually means remaking something into their genre, or simply screwing it up so it sounds like the same crap that they write. Drivn, however, manage something entirely different. They produce music that's painstakingly faithful to the originals, yet so infused with their own captivating energy that you would easily believe they wrote them. Not discounting group chemistry, their single greatest asset in this undertaking was their lead singer, whose talent seems to come about as easily to him as my sarcasm does to me. I know, I know. I was shocked, too. Equally able to conjure the spirits of Morrison and Plant as he was to find his own voice, I watched him capture the audience’s attention and dance them like puppets on his string. There was sincerity to his blues and confidence to his bravado, and he took the crowd with him through every writhe and twist. Backing this showman was a twin guitar assault that landed somewhere between Page and Slash, and a bass/drums combo that you could feel in your chest. For all this glossy appeal, it was the band’s attention to detail that impressed me most. The music was, of course, dead-on. The vocal harmonies were there. The changes were tight. Everyone knew their place, and shined in it.
Following Drivn’s retro vibe were Cobalt Media, who took us from the 70’s straight into the 80’s. If you’re into local music at all, you probably know Cobalt’s frontman and self promotion extraordinaire, Wes. There’s little I can say about him that he hasn’t already said about himself, but he’s a talented and determined player on and offstage, and I’d been curious to see Cobalt Media since their formation some months back. Vocal duties for the group seemed divided; there was a standalone singer who performed on the first few songs, there was Wes, and they took occasion to let their female guitarist sing a tune or two. At a quick listen, the band’s driving force is their rhythm section; lending considerable weight to their down-tuned mix of metal and just-for-the-hell-of-it pop. Under the hood, the bassist and drummer did a remarkable job of avoiding the cliché and keeping the crunch feeling fresh while Wes wailed on leads and did his best James Hetfield impression. The band’s covers were admirable, especially those performed with their “designated” singer, and their originals showcased a penchant for writing the next great Godsmack riff.
Musically, both bands captured the spirits of their genres and drove their points home - hard. I think the award in performance goes to Drivn, but they’ve also been together longer, and time plays a big part in smoothing any group’s edges. In contrast however, 90% of Drivn’s show was their singer, whereas Cobalt Media spread the show around in a “sum of their parts” kind of way. Drivn’s comfort in their style creates the awe-inspiring illusion that these five gentlemen simply ooze this sort of talent everyday. Still relatively new, Cobalt Media continue searching for their comfort zone, but their contribution is definitely unique and should shine as they settle in to one another.
Of course, if you happened to be at this particular show, you’re familiar with the excitement surrounding the end of the night. Seems it was a room full of “local celebrities” that evening, with members of some of the area’s best bands in the crowd. There’s a rule about musicians that they can’t resist a stage, and by the end of the night, members of Drivn, Cobalt Media, and TK421 were together onstage playing Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. As I saw cameras exploding at the “once-in-a-lifetime” photo opportunities, I took it all in. If that many musicians can be together in one room, for one night, and have that much fun, is peace on Earth such a radical concept? If the stage is really big enough to hold all of them, then perhaps sharing this world isn’t that hard. If two bassists can share one instrument, can not mankind find unity? Maybe it was just magic in the moment. Maybe it was a Christmas miracle.
Or maybe it was the beer. Who knows?
Happy Holidays from the Phantom, and keep your eyes peeled. New Year’s Eve is only days away, and I’ll be passed out in a corner booth near you. Until next we meet…
- The Phantom
The theme of this week’s column? Sometimes it just pays to be in the right place at the right time. The good folks in Drivn had sent me a message about their New Years show, but if all goes as planned, I’ll be passing out in 2005 and waking up in 2006. Such a plan leaves very little opportunity for an honest (or coherent) review, so I did what any polite phantom would do: crash an earlier show uninvited and hope for the best.
Drivn were playing with Cobalt Media in Salem, and given the choice between that and 3 more hours in Valley View’s famous holiday traffic, it seemed like a no-brainer. I’d seen their show flyer, but couldn’t tell if Drivn were opening for Cobalt Media, or vice versa. I wandered if it’d be worth my time, but I’d grown tired of wrapping presents, so I took my chances. Turns out it was a “co-headlining” show.
No, really.
Not that kind of co-headlining where the opening band has too much ego to admit they’re just opening, but an actual division of each band's sets to break up the night.
How…retro.
And thus the tone was set. I found a quiet corner and observed as Drivn plowed through a covers-heavy set of classic 70’s rock, with a few modern favorites tossed in to keep it current. Most bands that play covers like to talk about making a song their own, which usually means remaking something into their genre, or simply screwing it up so it sounds like the same crap that they write. Drivn, however, manage something entirely different. They produce music that's painstakingly faithful to the originals, yet so infused with their own captivating energy that you would easily believe they wrote them. Not discounting group chemistry, their single greatest asset in this undertaking was their lead singer, whose talent seems to come about as easily to him as my sarcasm does to me. I know, I know. I was shocked, too. Equally able to conjure the spirits of Morrison and Plant as he was to find his own voice, I watched him capture the audience’s attention and dance them like puppets on his string. There was sincerity to his blues and confidence to his bravado, and he took the crowd with him through every writhe and twist. Backing this showman was a twin guitar assault that landed somewhere between Page and Slash, and a bass/drums combo that you could feel in your chest. For all this glossy appeal, it was the band’s attention to detail that impressed me most. The music was, of course, dead-on. The vocal harmonies were there. The changes were tight. Everyone knew their place, and shined in it.
Following Drivn’s retro vibe were Cobalt Media, who took us from the 70’s straight into the 80’s. If you’re into local music at all, you probably know Cobalt’s frontman and self promotion extraordinaire, Wes. There’s little I can say about him that he hasn’t already said about himself, but he’s a talented and determined player on and offstage, and I’d been curious to see Cobalt Media since their formation some months back. Vocal duties for the group seemed divided; there was a standalone singer who performed on the first few songs, there was Wes, and they took occasion to let their female guitarist sing a tune or two. At a quick listen, the band’s driving force is their rhythm section; lending considerable weight to their down-tuned mix of metal and just-for-the-hell-of-it pop. Under the hood, the bassist and drummer did a remarkable job of avoiding the cliché and keeping the crunch feeling fresh while Wes wailed on leads and did his best James Hetfield impression. The band’s covers were admirable, especially those performed with their “designated” singer, and their originals showcased a penchant for writing the next great Godsmack riff.
Musically, both bands captured the spirits of their genres and drove their points home - hard. I think the award in performance goes to Drivn, but they’ve also been together longer, and time plays a big part in smoothing any group’s edges. In contrast however, 90% of Drivn’s show was their singer, whereas Cobalt Media spread the show around in a “sum of their parts” kind of way. Drivn’s comfort in their style creates the awe-inspiring illusion that these five gentlemen simply ooze this sort of talent everyday. Still relatively new, Cobalt Media continue searching for their comfort zone, but their contribution is definitely unique and should shine as they settle in to one another.
Of course, if you happened to be at this particular show, you’re familiar with the excitement surrounding the end of the night. Seems it was a room full of “local celebrities” that evening, with members of some of the area’s best bands in the crowd. There’s a rule about musicians that they can’t resist a stage, and by the end of the night, members of Drivn, Cobalt Media, and TK421 were together onstage playing Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. As I saw cameras exploding at the “once-in-a-lifetime” photo opportunities, I took it all in. If that many musicians can be together in one room, for one night, and have that much fun, is peace on Earth such a radical concept? If the stage is really big enough to hold all of them, then perhaps sharing this world isn’t that hard. If two bassists can share one instrument, can not mankind find unity? Maybe it was just magic in the moment. Maybe it was a Christmas miracle.
Or maybe it was the beer. Who knows?
Happy Holidays from the Phantom, and keep your eyes peeled. New Year’s Eve is only days away, and I’ll be passed out in a corner booth near you. Until next we meet…
- The Phantom
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