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It was the venue's sixth anniversary party, and they invited
many local musicians as guests (including free food and drinks),
but apparently that wasn't enough to keep the crowd from melting
away before "The Honeyrods" finally took the stage
a little after 11 p.m. on a Tuesday night. You would have expected
fellow musicians to hang around, but after listening to local
band "Pulling Bird," the exodus began.
The disappointment on lead singer Gordon Cabaniss' face
was hard to disguise as he looked out on the formerly packed
venue, but he and the
band were troupers and delivered their set as if there were thousands
watching rather than tens. It was the departed crowd's loss and
my gain as I was able to sit in comfort a mere 10 feet from the
stage, though the urge to get up and dance did strike several
times as this is definitely a "get on the floor and do bit
more" rock band.
Coming out of Nashville, there is nothing country about
this band as they played "U2/ Guns & Roses" type
music. Their self-titled debut album on Capricorn Records came
out last summer. and the second single released off the
album, "Float," is just getting into the rotation on
local rock stations. The band is made up of Michael Dale,
drums; Jeremy Brashears, bass and vocals; Matt Clemons and Chris
Hunter, guitars; and Cabaniss, lead vocals and guitar.
The band opened with "I'd Rather," Gordon playing
guitar with the rest while singing. Gordon looks like a rock
version of Mr. Spock without the
pointed ears, lean and tall. The similarity ends there as he
is highly expressive in his singing style. This is a fast tune
that opens with an
impressive guitar bridge and immediately breaks into a punk rock
presentation that says "We came to play!"
"Wishing"starts out slower, with emphasized vocals,
and reminds me
a lot of the "Red Hot Chili Peppers" in style. Gordon's
facial expressions are dramatic and give emphasis to the lyrics.
He then shed his guitar as they played "Nicoteen,"
and immediately turned in to a human pogo stick that made me
fear for the ceiling fan above the stage. This was one of the
five songs not from their current album, a revved-up cover of
a Bob Marley song written by Lee Perry.
The opening cut from their album, "Into You,"
is another song with a
great guitar opening, and could just as easily have come off
a "Guns & Roses" CD. Gordon is able to change his
act like a chameleon, one moment bouncing around the stage, the
next frozen to the mike crooning the lyrics, only his face giving
indication of the energy pouring forth. Up next was something
new and apparently unnamed - a really fast-paced, rock and roll
tune.
The live rendition of their MTV video "Lovebee"
featured Chris Hunter
opening with a good rendition of a buzzing bee on his guitar,
something
present on the CD version but lost in the background. "Child"
is another song where Cabaniss' vocals reminds me of Anthony
Keidis of the Chili Peppers, wrapping himself around the words
like they were some kind of ice cream cone.
"O.C.M.D" or Orange County Mass Destruction is
a song inspired by a
concert played in this county not famous for its liberal attitude.
Basically
it's a "let's blow this place off the face of the earth"
song, only to be
followed by a song called "You Were Calm" - quite a
juxtaposition of mindsets.
By this time the somewhat lackadaisical audience reception
was beginning to wear on the band who did a good rendition of
"On Her Majesty's
Secret Service," but the fire was beginning to go out. A
solid, but uninspired cover of "Cinnamon Girl" followed,
before the band cranked it up one last time as they played their
current single, "Float."
This song is more downbeat than most on the album, and
only the chorus, with it's pauses and guitar work rescues it.
It remains to be seen whether this was a good choice for a single
over songs like "Wishing" or "I'd
Rather." Certainly it was an appropriate choice to close
their set, with
lyrics like "you had me believing you'd still be here."
While the owner of the venue tried to encourage an encore,
it wasn't to
be, and sometimes it's the audience that doesn't deserve one
rather than the band. Gordon tried to defuse the situation by
claiming, "we had played all the songs we know" but
for a more receptive audience I think the song repertoire would
have been larger.
What we did have here is a band with the potential to become
a major
act if they can get that one song to click with the unpredictable
music buyer out there. Live, they show the ability to exceed
their studio work, something I look to see in a band. I, for
one, was not a bit disappointed by what the band brought with
them tonight. Hopefully many of you will have the opportunity
to feel the same. |
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