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Video clip of my band...


Ross Brown

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I hesitate to post this. A local guy trying to get better at video techniques asked if he could shoot us at a gig a couple of weeks back. This is one of the takes. Footage is grainy and the sound is bad (bass sounds like bongos). It was early in the first set so folks did not have enough to drink to fill up dance floor yet. I like it because it reminds me of old/vintage clips from bands early in their careers. This is the first time I have seen us play... Select 480p for the resolution if you can (lower right hand side of screen)

 

Just sharing...

Close Call Band - One Way Out

 

It is hard to see but all but the singer has dress shirts and pants. He is moving a little since he knew he was being recorded...

"When I take a stroll down Jackass Lane it is usually to see someone that is already there" Mrs. Brown
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I thought you guys sounded really good--very tight and your vocalist is strong, but I agree his look could be upgraded. My personal opinion is that drum solos shouldn't last more than two or three measures, but that's just me. I was waiting for a little bass and drum duet coming out of the drum solo--maybe next time.

 

Great job!

"Everyone wants to change the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves." Leo Tolstoy
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I am not a fan of drums solos or bass solos longer than a couple of measures too. He does a longer solo during Funk 49. He does a nice job usually and he has a fan base that likes it and thinks he is drumming God. We give em what they want.
"When I take a stroll down Jackass Lane it is usually to see someone that is already there" Mrs. Brown
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The nice thing about the version by the Allman Brothers is the counterpoint between the guitar and bass.

They do not play the same line.

 

Thank the girls for me next time you see them.

 

Yeah, I'm glad somebody else mentioned the bass line first. Ross, go back to the ABB recording and isolate Berry Oakley's bass line if you can. What he's playing is basically a I-V groove with a chromatic walkup from the flat VII. Also, the ABB's drummer doesn't echo the stuttering rhythm of the guitar figure, but plays a pretty straightforward 2-4 thing.

 

I would never say that you have to copy the original recording slavishly. The way youse guys play it sounds fine; obviously the girls like it well enough. Only if you wanted to replicate what the Allmans do, I'm offering suggestions.

 

I don't like drum or bass solos, and agree if you're going to have them they ought to be short.

 

I like the vid, reminds me of footage of the Beatles at the Cavern Club.

 

 

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Hey Ross.

 

Brave of you to offer up your performance for the masses. It appeared that the audience/patrons within the camera shots were enjoying the gig. Good job.

 

Honestly, I think y'all could be tighter. There were times when it sounded to me like you, the drummer, and the guitarist were not in sync. The guitarist doesn't quite play the lick crisply enough or quickly enough, and gets a little behind. I think you got a little ahead of the beat. It also seems like you've all sped up a bit at the end (maybe coming out of the drum solo?).

 

It's nice that you've got the women dancing, but I've gotta say, it's good that they're not drummers as they seem to be less interested in the beat than their moves. Oh, wait, I've played with drummers like that... ;-}

 

Regardless, seems like it's a good time for those folks in York!

 

Peace.

--SW

 

 

spreadluv

 

Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars.

Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk.

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IMO, the band is musically good. You guys play confidently, and the singer has a pretty cool voice. It's easy to nitpick little arrangement things (like the sort of oddly stilted way the guitarist plays the main riff), but whatever... It's not like you're shooting for a note-for-note accuracy or absolute perfection here, and nine out of 10 audience members will just be happy that you're playing a song they mostly recognize. If you guys were playing at a bar where I was hanging out, I'd have been singing along and not worrying about the details. That's the goal, right?

 

But... dude. That singer needs help with his visual presentation and overall attitude. Big time. The child molester mustache. The t-shirt tucked into his baggy jeans. The glasses. He's dressed like he doesn't give a crap. He looks like Walmart vomited its men's clearance rack on him. I understand that he may not have a ton of bucks for wardrobe, but damn... make an effort, man.

 

And then there's the half-assed way he meanders away from center stage during the solo. Lame. Why not rock out and listen? Or dance with the ladies? Or.. you know... frickin' ANYTHING other than trying to hide back in the corner.

 

If I could hear this dude sing without seeing him, it'd be cool, but woo.. he's not interesting to watch onstage at all. He looks almost like he doesn't want to be there or doesn't really care about performing at all.

 

I'm sure he might argue that he's a simple, relatively plain dude who doesn't need to get all dressed up and act crazy onstage to get off on the music, but....

 

Well, consider Lynyrd Skynyrd's frontman, Johnny Van Zandt for a second...

 

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2006/news/060529/johnny_van_zant.jpg

 

Now, Van Zant is not a teenager, he's not buff and he doesn't put on a crazy, wild show when he sings. He's not exactly dressed like Beau Brummel, either... but if you check out any of Skynyrd's more recent live videos on Youtube, the dude is dressed for the gig (possibly wearing clothes from Walmart, but with a solid, country-rock aesthetic in place)... and he's relaxed, engaged and, most of all, he looks like he's having a good time. And he doesn't have a molester 'stache, either. Sometimes he has a beard, and sometimes he's clean-shaven, but he never looks like he might try to lure kids into his windowless van with Hershey bars.

 

Sorry, I know that stuff all sounds harsh, but he's the singer--he should be aware that more eyes will be on him than anyone else when the band is onstage. People relate to singers (or, at least, they try to) because the instrument they use is part of their bodies, and everyone has a body and a voice. People don't want to look at a stage and see someone who looks timid, bored, unhappy or uninvolved--especially not the vocalist.

 

 

 

\m/

Erik

"To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

--Sun Tzu

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I'll will revisit the music... Actually kinda looking forward to doing that now that I have comments on it.

 

The singer is the topic of another thread and I have been working way too hard at getting him to buy into a better presence... The childmolester mustache is gone. He bought some better clothes but I expect that it will be like pulling teeth getting him to wear them consistently. The rest of the band looks better and better each gig... We had a photo shoot last night and they all dressed exactly right... was good. I got two calls from the singer before the shoot though wondering if we were really going to dress up, etc... I don't understand the problem.

 

I mentioned before that he is a statue when singing. For the gig I posted the clip of, he was actually moving more since he was being recorded. I sometimes do wonder if he gives a crap too. I am not sure he knows how to front a band. He is just a singer... and acts like it.

 

I have played with better guitarists but overall this guy does a good job. We get along well and I am sure he has probably played with better bass players so who am I ??? Sometimes he really lights up the place with his playing.

 

The band has some soul searching to do if we want to play better gigs. Will be interesting. I really appreciate all the comments, good and bad. They really help.

"When I take a stroll down Jackass Lane it is usually to see someone that is already there" Mrs. Brown
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Hey Ross.

 

Brave of you to offer up your performance for the masses. It appeared that the audience/patrons within the camera shots were enjoying the gig. Good job.

 

Honestly, I think y'all could be tighter. There were times when it sounded to me like you, the drummer, and the guitarist were not in sync. The guitarist doesn't quite play the lick crisply enough or quickly enough, and gets a little behind. I think you got a little ahead of the beat. It also seems like you've all sped up a bit at the end (maybe coming out of the drum solo?).

 

It's nice that you've got the women dancing, but I've gotta say, it's good that they're not drummers as they seem to be less interested in the beat than their moves. Oh, wait, I've played with drummers like that... ;-}

 

Regardless, seems like it's a good time for those folks in York!

 

Peace.

--SW

 

 

Thanks. We do many songs that are very tight. We do some that can go either way and we do a couple that are not tight enough. This is the first clip that I had to share. He recorded others but I have not seen them yet...

 

I'll take any dancers that are having fun.... :thu:

"When I take a stroll down Jackass Lane it is usually to see someone that is already there" Mrs. Brown
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To BJ's point, nobody says the singer has to look and move like David Hasselhoff.

 

Check this guy out:

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2007/news/070319/john_popper180.jpg

 

That's John Popper from Blues Traveler -- not much to look at, and trust you'd NEVER want to see him dance. But when I saw him play a show, he made the stage burn -- he was a showman and had stage presence.

"Tours widely in the southwestern tip of Kentucky"
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Watched the video and I agree, it really has a retro feel to it. I like the shots of you next to the dancing girls :grin: Can't really hear the bass too well on my pc but your band sounds really tight and I would definitely come see you guys if you were playing in my town.

 

As for your singer ... I think he should dress differently and move less than he does now. It just does not look right, he is trying and it shows. Show him some John Lawton videos. John is a great singer but he does not move around a lot. Yet he owns the stage and people know. Your singer does not. He owns the tile he stands on, if at all :(

 

Here's a clip from John performing with Uriah Heep in the late '70s.

 

Uriah Heep - One More Night

"I'm a work in progress." Micky Barnes

 

The Ross Brown Shirt World Tour

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It could be worse..you could be rocking out to "Crazy Train" and your guitar player is the statue and the back up vocalist has her hands in her pockets for most of the song!!

 

 

That lead singer chick kind of scares me ... :grin:

 

It's a metal song -- the lead singer is SUPPOSED to scare you.

"Tours widely in the southwestern tip of Kentucky"
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It could be worse..you could be rocking out to "Crazy Train" and your guitar player is the statue and the back up vocalist has her hands in her pockets for most of the song!!

 

 

That lead singer chick kind of scares me ... :grin:

 

It's a metal song -- the lead singer is SUPPOSED to scare you.

 

It worked. She scared me! :o

Lydian mode? The only mode I know has the words "pie ala" in front of it.

http://www.myspace.com/theeldoradosband

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He is a good singer, that is why I keep working on the other elements of his stage presence... Nice guy too...

Probably easier to teach him how to move around than it would be to teach him how to sing. ;)

Queen of the Quarter Note

"Think like a drummer, not like a singer, and play much less." -- Michele C.

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I read an interview with Joe Strummer of the Clash--this was back in the 80s--and the writer asked Joe very seriously "what is it you're trying to say when you are up on the stage?" Strummer replied: "LOOK AT ME!"
"Everyone wants to change the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves." Leo Tolstoy
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