The Next Great American Band: Queen Week

Ahh, a reality music show doing Queen! This brings back great American Idol memories of Kelly Pickler and Constantine Maroulis doing "Bohemian Rhapsody". The final four got to perform one Queen tune and one original.


Performances

The Clark Brothers - "These are the Days of Our Lives" / "Homestead"

The boys took Dicko's advice and added a guitarist and drummer for a fuller sound. I didn't recognize the Queen song, but I liked it. The overall sound reminded me more of Poi Dog Pondering than bluegrass. Their original was catchy but not particularly special, and once again I felt like the singer, Ashley, was trying too hard to be intense on a song that didn't call for it. Still, this band is clearly the front runner.

Light of Doom - "We Will Rock You" / "A Matter of Time"

The kids tried to speed up the Queen tune and it turned out sounding a bit muddled and rushed. Eric seemed to have trouble keeping up with the vocals, and the judges panned them. The original was good and heavy, but the judges felt it lacked a hook and thought perhaps it was too reminiscent of influences. I would say it did sound a lot like Iron Maiden - not that that's a bad thing.

Six Wire - "Fat Botomed Girls" / "Go On"

This was a good song choice for the competition's remaining bar band, and they gave a solid if not particularly original performance of it. These guys do have some sex appeal, and they worked it on this tune. Their original tune had a nice hook and was likable even on a first listen. I have to admit this band is growing on me.

Denver and the Mile High Orchestra - "Sleepin' on the Sidewalk" / "Big White House"

I was hoping to see Denver emerge in a white cat suit, but no, just the usual boring blazer and jeans look. A cat suit would have made this a little less boring. They picked a Queen song I didn't know and made it sound like a mid-80s Billy Joel song. Their original wasn't any better, but I feel this band is teflon and talking trash about them won't make any difference. Whoever is home watching this on Friday nights and voting - old ladies and kids - is way into this band. Those of us watching it later on Tivo are powerless to stop them.


Kicked Off

Dot Dot Dot

I'll miss these fashion victims and the new wave spin they'd put on songs, as well as the muscled guitar work by Rose and schizoid performances of frenetic front man Adam. I think they could have a future, and a couple of their originals were radio-ready.


Prediction

I have a feeling Light of Doom will be leaving next week, due to bad reviews from the judges and representing a less popular genre than the other remaining bands. Of course, I'd much rather see Denver go, but I know better than to predict it.