"MYSTERY BAND REVIEW #4"
This was a 5-person band, booked for 2 nights in a row (Friday and Saturday). It was composed of
2 keyboard players, 2 vocalists, and a drummer. The band leader played both keyboard and 6-string electric guitar. He also sang. The 2 vocalists were young women. The drummer was strictly a drummer
(I think). He wasn't easy to see, there at the back of the stage, so I'm not at all sure whether he
did any singing or not. The other keyboard player was a man who also played bass guitar and sang.
That creates this line-up of talent:
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Male band leader playing keyboard, 6-string electric guitar, and singing.
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Male keyboard player, also doing bass guitar and singing.
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Female lead vocalist & dancer.
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Female dancer & backup vocalist.
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Male drummer.
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The leader of the band, was a man from the Phillipines. His keyboard playing was good, although
not exceptional. His rhythm guitar work was adequate; i.e., very good without being exceptional.
His lead guitar work was virtuoso, and a real pleasure to watch & listen to. His vocal
work was very good without reaching the level of exceptional.
The other (primary) keyboard player was also from the Phillipines. His keyboard work was good,
although (again) not exceptional. His bass guitar work was adequate; i.e., very good without
being exceptional. His vocal was very good; most of the time, just very good - but, singing
while playing bass, it excelled. When he sang "Mony, Mony", it was almost
indistinguishable from the original.
The female lead vocalist was a cutie from Ohio - a slender, medium height woman with long blond
hair. Her vocal work was excellent; a large range, good tonal control, and well-controlled
enunciation. Her dancing was a pleasure to watch. She had good rhythm, a high level of
precision, and an almost voyeuristic flair to her style.
The female backup vocalist was another cutie; this time, from the lower Michigan area - a slender,
medium height woman with long brunette hair. Her vocal work was good without reaching excellent; i.e.,
when she sang it fit in properly with whatever was going on, but didn't stand out to the point of
demanding one's attention. Her dancing ranged between fair and excellent. She had good rhythm, and
a fair level of precision, but I had the impression that she was slightly self-conscious while doing
it; very aware of the fact that she was being watched & judged on her performance. I rarely had
any impression that she was truly "letting loose", although every now & then, the raw
talent slipped out. An aspect worth noting, is that while only dancing (filling time while not
singing?), she frequently did motions which illustrated the words that were being sung - and, that
was fun to watch. The example of this that sticks out most clearly in my memory, is her making
rotating motions in front of her eyes with fists, as if rubbing her eyes while crying.
The drummer was very good. I'm not sure where he was from, re. location. It's hard to come up with
anything useful to say about him, because he was really well hidden there, at the back of the stage.
I didn't catch any mistakes while listening, but didn't really get drawn into acute observation,
either. If I was backed into a corner and forced to come up with some way in which he could improve,
I'd be hard pressed to come up with anything useful.
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