2008 Woodie Awards
Veruca Salt Play Bearable Show
'90s Pop Rock and new Indie bands have less than stellar performance.
Jeremiah Magan
Issue date: 9/27/06 Section: Entertainment
The Galaxy Theater played host to bands of prominence from the past and possibly the future. Thursday evening's line up consisted of: Veruca Salt, Agent Sparks, The Strays, Stefy and Mermer.
The night began with opening act Mermer, a four-piece band from Southern California that was playing to a crowd of around 50 people. Their songs harbor a Stone Temple Pilots-like sound with vocal harmonies and similar guitar riffs. For the bands second song, "That's life, that's love," they had Erin Barton, vocals from Coto Normal, sing back up. She stood in the back of the stage next to the drums for most of the song, only to step to the front to sing short parts of the chorus. Mermer has a CD dropping in mid fall which they recorded during the summer.
The crowd grew to roughly 100 people for the Stefy, a female-led four piece from Orange County. Stefy's only claim to fame thus far is being featured on the "John Tucker Must Die" soundtrack. They opened their set with a Panic! At the Disco-style synthesizer drowning out all other sounds in the room. Comparisons can easily be drawn between lead singer Stefy Rae's vocals and those of Hole's Courtney Love. The entire band is overshadowed by the antics of the lead singer. In between songs she would engage in flirtatious conversation with audience members and then sarcastically accuse them of inappropriate behavior. Her impressive stage presence cannot be denied and neither can her singing ability, even though the music mostly appeals to teenage females.
While similarities can be made to many prominent bands, none are more impressive than a comparison to the 1980's band The Eurythmics. The intro to "Chelsea" sounds almost exactly like The Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams." Despite the notable intros and vocals, the rest of the band fails to make an impact: the synthesizer drowned the guitar out, and the drums were average.
English band The Strays were third on the bill and it was no surprise when half of the crowd left for the night. Each of the band's songs sounded the same, like a less organized version of The Clash and most of them looked like the love child of Rod Stewart and Keith Richards. Their music was not horrible, but it was not great either. The remaining crowd was not enthusiastic about their set and spent most of their time in the seats surrounding the floor as opposed to the front of the stage. The most entertaining part of their set came about when the lead singer had a small argument over accents with an attendee.
The night began with opening act Mermer, a four-piece band from Southern California that was playing to a crowd of around 50 people. Their songs harbor a Stone Temple Pilots-like sound with vocal harmonies and similar guitar riffs. For the bands second song, "That's life, that's love," they had Erin Barton, vocals from Coto Normal, sing back up. She stood in the back of the stage next to the drums for most of the song, only to step to the front to sing short parts of the chorus. Mermer has a CD dropping in mid fall which they recorded during the summer.
The crowd grew to roughly 100 people for the Stefy, a female-led four piece from Orange County. Stefy's only claim to fame thus far is being featured on the "John Tucker Must Die" soundtrack. They opened their set with a Panic! At the Disco-style synthesizer drowning out all other sounds in the room. Comparisons can easily be drawn between lead singer Stefy Rae's vocals and those of Hole's Courtney Love. The entire band is overshadowed by the antics of the lead singer. In between songs she would engage in flirtatious conversation with audience members and then sarcastically accuse them of inappropriate behavior. Her impressive stage presence cannot be denied and neither can her singing ability, even though the music mostly appeals to teenage females.
While similarities can be made to many prominent bands, none are more impressive than a comparison to the 1980's band The Eurythmics. The intro to "Chelsea" sounds almost exactly like The Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams." Despite the notable intros and vocals, the rest of the band fails to make an impact: the synthesizer drowned the guitar out, and the drums were average.
English band The Strays were third on the bill and it was no surprise when half of the crowd left for the night. Each of the band's songs sounded the same, like a less organized version of The Clash and most of them looked like the love child of Rod Stewart and Keith Richards. Their music was not horrible, but it was not great either. The remaining crowd was not enthusiastic about their set and spent most of their time in the seats surrounding the floor as opposed to the front of the stage. The most entertaining part of their set came about when the lead singer had a small argument over accents with an attendee.
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