Stellar playing by Shawn and Todd. The drummer played with them with Jason and always seemed bored to me. In this clip, he still seems a bit bored and his solo a bit uninspired.
When I met Todd in person, he looked like if you put a Roman soldier outfit on him, he would really look the part...he has those dark, deep set eyes.
Todd says Byron is one of the best drummers he's played with.
@hvy the keyboard player is just one of shawn's friends who was sitting in, he's not part of the band. ---------- "I am a great believer in understanding, not copying."
Last Edited by on Nov 21, 2010 7:38 PM
Common guys, will anyone say it? This is just average and boring. Like you sitting on some corporate function or in some pub on Wednesday night. Shawn doesn't have a personality to be a front man in my opinion and to be honest (here go roten tomatos and eggs) the skill level is questionable. Common admit it there are so many great guitr player half his age who will blow him of the stage in 5 secs. He realy fu&*%d up by leaving Jason. This is so dull and that supposed to be funk?
I can't see the vid right now (I'm at work), but I saw JR & NB twice and Shawn'playing blew my mind. IMO he's a great guitarist. A frontman ? I don't know...
Yeah, I have mixed feelings about this. I felt like posting what Leonid said the other day, but I held back.
I really believe Todd and Shawn and Byron are good players. I've seen JRNB twice and the shows were always fantastic. This particular video seems lackluster without Jason fronting it... especially since they are playing "The Eternal" of Rocket Number 9.
Side note - Couldn't remember the song name, so I went on Amazon to listen to the track clips... all songs are Rocket Number 9 are labeled as "Explicit"???
In the end, musical talent is often NOT one of the major factors in someone's success as a musician. Image, business sense, social capital, money, and marketing play a much larger role in being successful or not.
Regarding JR and NB, Jason had a lot of those pieces in place PLUS he is great at harmonica. Shawn's band has enough musical talent to compete with full time acts. The other pieces need to fall into place for it to take off.
In this particular clip, the band is interountry. There is no X factor present. Granted, these guys would musically destroy many a band, but to see a guitar driven band playing in the corner of a bar isn't all that unusual. The average person wouldn't "hear" the difference between them and any other guitar band playing obscure tunes.
It is a crappy business to be involved in, but if he gets the other pieces straight, there is more than enough ability in the band to be successful. The band should put energy into writing accessible music and creating an image and fanbase that will come out to see them play.
I would also consider keeping a keyboard player full time and making everyone else in the band do some singing as well.
One huge mistake made by nearly all original or instrument driven bands is NOT copying what successful coverbands are doing beyond song selection. It isn't just song selection, but the whole business/performance piece that is totally missed by people just worrying about being great at an instrument.
I am saying literally rip off everything but the actual songs played from successful coverbands as they often put on by far the best shows for people to watch and have the best business models. ---------- Mike VHT Special 6 Amp for Harp Blog
I may drown in my own schizophrenia here, but I've never been a great fan of Jason's music while I'm a great fan of his playing. That kind of Jason band playing Jason music without him is about that, well done but so so. I'm just waiting for jason next step, already knowing for sure that it will be exciting, musically.
that's not Jason's music. Todd wrote that song and has every right to play it however, whenever and with whomever.
You guys also need to keep in mind that shawn hasn't fronted a band before. He's learning on the fly and I know with his talent level that he will succeed.
---------- "I am a great believer in understanding, not copying."
@HarpNinja - I think you more eloquently stated what I was going for.
Really, I'm not perturbed that they continue to play without J, but I am upset that they aren't at least a little more exciting to watch. Again, I'm making judgements an an all instrumental piece with no other material to compare it to and I don't like doing that.
When it comes down to it, somebody needs be the frontman and I'm just not seeing it here yet.
It's just one song-I was there for the whole night-believe me,they had the place rockin'! I have always liked Shawn's playing-I think it's a great band-they have gigs booked-that's a hell of a lot more than Jason's doing right now. Thomas Fiacco III
I think they must have let Jason's band for good reason, hearing every story out there right now. But, Leonid, of all of the known guitarists, I think maybe one could outplay him and that would be Joe Bonamassa. Ford probably could, but you're making him sound mediocre when I guarantee you 90% of guitarists couldn't play this good. And, Todd is one of the best bassists I have ever heard. It might not entertain you, but seriously you're almost like denying their skills.
@Buddha, I know Jason didn't compose the piece, I was not speaking copyright. Whoever composes it and whatever you do with it, "your music" is the music you play. Otherwise, there's no much need to be musician.
Shawn already has a CD under his name (at least one that I know), and definitely has nothing to be ashamed of, quite contrary. But, and that's only my little person's opinion not a judgment, it falls in the same category.
One more thing to ponder is how much live music is contextual. I guess the band really did rock the place, right show for the right public at the right moment. Listening on youtube is a quite different context.
Not my kind of music, but I don't understand all the criticism of Shawn not having "front man" ability. What's he supposed to be doing on THIS song, playing with his teeth and behind his head Hendrix like? Light his guitar on fire at the end?
I thought his playing and stage presence very much fit this number. I also don't think this piece of music necessarily requires a "front man".
I will say however, whoever was running the lighting should be immediately sacked.
Last Edited by on Nov 22, 2010 9:15 AM
@Zack I don't know man. From what I have seen it doesn't look very impressive. Check out Kenny Wayne Shepherd or Jonny Lang or even better John Lisi, Jason wanted to play with him in August. It is world appart.
Looking at the quality of this group through the lense of a musician is pretty meaningless. How would the average person perceive the band?
@tmf714....
How big a room was it? What is the average band night there like? How many people were there? How many of those people were musicians? Any college girls there? What'd they think?
This would qualify as a "medium" size venue. They pulled just as many people as an "average" band night. In my estimation,there were 150 people there. That would include a handfull of musicians. There is ALWAYS college girls there-they were digging the music for sure. Thomas Fiacco III
I see Shawn as more of a Eric Johnson type of guitar player....great chops but soft spoken and not going to be doing the Steve Vai, Stevie Ray type of guitar front man stuff. He is totally a better guitar player than Jonny Lang who is really an incredible singer who also plays respectible but not stellar guitar.
Sometimes I figure I don't have a clue what other people are talking about. Nice groove and technique. I thought it was great and I really don’t impress easy.
