One of the big questions I have right now is, "Did enough people vote enough times for Denver & the Mile High Orchestra?" I'm leaving for LA tomorrow and am going to find out. It's been quite a ride so far, and I still have hope.
I was never under the delusion that contest/reality television is about finding the most talented individuals or members of anything. It's about ratings. My concern about The Next Great American Band is that, because the ratings have been so bad, they are willing to do whatever it takes to increase them (short of spending money promoting the show).
My unease stems from recent rumors I've heard about song selection and whether the bands on the show are going to be able to play originals. Denver's strength is in their originals. They have a huge catalog to draw from, and can address the "core proposition" that Dicko keeps referring to. Other bands do not have that depth, especially the "gimmicky" ones that seem to keep making it each week.
Well, we'll see. I voted, even though it was a holiday week. Did you? If so, thanks. If not, please vote as much as possible this week for the most talented band. I've never met anyone who is completely happy with the music industry, let alone the entertainment industry. We always gripe and complain about what they are offering us. So, it's time to step up. And, with whatever impact it has, send a message.
See you from LA.
chs
10 comments:
chs,
Thank you for your blog. I live in a remote part of Eastern Oregon where we had Denver come and play just 8 days before his first appearance on Fox. His concert was simply amazing. Ina small town of 1,200 people we had a sold out concert with over 500 in attendance.
Did I vote last Friday? A friend and I watched the latest show and afterwards we together voted over 1,000 times.
I hope Denver wins and that he gets to play an original song.
Sincerely,
John
We voted! Are you saying that the continuation of covers will hurt DMHO's chances to pull away from the other bands? Song selection? I'm interested to know what your inside info is about! Let's hope you have many more trips out to the show (though all the travel must get exhausting, I would think!).
I am not sure that DMHO's chances get hurt if they do covers, other than that groups like LOD or the Dots may not be able to craft a song with enough depth and melody to really shine. So in that case you may be right. But I've enjoyed the new, more pop oriented sound from DMHO on the covers they've done.
Hey, why do you have to approve comments to your blog?? Afraid of our insights, hmmmm?
I agree with you about Light of Doom. I hate them (not in a malicious way) and feel their presence makes the whole things a bit of a joke. The judges ARE too soft on them, and (repeating you again) they SHOULD be judged as the other bands are. I can't wait until they're the last band called.
Thanks for checking in! Just out of curiosity, how did you come across my blog?
btw, I've seen The MHO more times than I can remember - and everytime they blow me away!
clint
I moderate my comments, because, well, I can. I guess I'm a control freak. Yeah, yeah, that's it! :-)
I haven't rejected one yet...
The comment from John in Oregon is telling. I wonder how many DMHO fans are voting that you are not even aware of? He's been touring for 9 years and must have a huge following.
A few thoughts from a TV only viewer:
I can't help but think the producers must be worried about getting a band who wins who is not recordable and there is one of the four that isn't. I didn't feel like DDD was someone who would come across on CD very well, although I'm certain their concerts must be entertaining to say the least.
Clarks are okay, but their vocals really don't come across great on TV. Some of this is that the show has consistently had a bad sound engineer who is over doing the vocals in comparison to the rest of the band. Still, like you, I see a huge future for them
Sixwire probably has the best shot at making a 'hit' record in terms of number of people purchasing it. Their sound comes across well even with the bad sound guys at FOX (although even this week, the sound guy let the vocals for Sixwire get fuzzed up).
LOD had a particularly bad week and their cover was just flat all over the place. My wife and I were looking at each other during it trying to find the exact tempo they were attempting to use and the bgv came across on TV as being really quite disturbingly bad. This band will one day be good, but right now, I can think of noone outside of the theater that would purchase a CD of their music. I am truly impressed with their abilities as individual musicians, but it is very obvious that they do not yet have an ear to listen to each other and gel.
DMHO - I still love these guys and hope they make it to the top three. It is a refreshing sound and to be honest, if you listen to Denver's voice week in and week out, it is a lot silkier than the others. I can imagine him sounding particularly good in front of background vocals. I do wish their bari-sax player were there, however.
Just some more thoughts.
stanatedj,
In all fairness to the mix engineers, here's how, to the best of my knowledge, it works:
There are two mixes, live (for the studio audience) and one multitrack take that, while available to be re-mixed, really isn't. It's mixed for TV during the live show. I'm assuming it's a time issue, since the video guys have to get the edits done, and the mixes are pretty good, not great at times, but pretty good. I must say that DMHO's mixes usually sound really good. (The worst mix I heard was of Franklin Bridge before they got kicked off). Having mix experience, and having taken collegiete mixing and production classes, I have quite a bit of sympathy, and typically cut them a lot of slack.
It never ceases to amaze me at how much a mix can hide, or really make mistakes stand out.
Oh, and one last note, the show is filmed at CBS studios. The same studio where (among others) Dancing with the Stars and The Price is Right are filmed.
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