Tuesday, April 28, 1998
Danger: unamusing, untalented band straight ahead
MUSIC: Lack of charisma dooms mediocre act, but Naked manages to
excite
By Michelle Zubiate
Daily Bruin Contributor
Let’s take a moment to reflect on the ingenious lyrics the bands
on KROQ-FM (106.7) have to offer their listeners these days: "You
told them all I was crazy/ And so they had to commit me/ They cut
of my legs/ Now I’m an amputee, god damn you!"
You have just experienced the depth of Harvey Danger, in both
music and performance, at the Troubadour last Saturday night. Seems
pretty shallow? Understatement.
Like most post-grunge Seattle bands, they’re better off sticking
to their one hit to pay the bills.
Harvey Danger entered the set with all the favorable conditions
in place. The audience milled around the intimate setting already
hyped from the performances of the two opening bands, Naked and
Speaker while Harvey Danger’s newest KROQ hit "Flagpole Sitta,"
remained fresh in everyone’s mind. Twenty-somethings and members of
the older crowd were ready and waiting to be entertained with true
energy, but unfortunately, disappointment prevailed.
The band’s lead singer Sean Nelson exuded the stage presence and
image of a cross between Morrisey and Buddy Holly. Curly hair and
thick glasses gave him a quirkishly amusing persona that, at first,
had real appeal but later became lifeless when his performance
didn’t fit the bill.
Tambourine in hand, Nelson tried wooing the audience with an
unoriginal act of boyish charm. He molested the keyboard at every
chance possible and swung the microphone around like a suave
Sinatra wannabe. Unfortunately for him, few fell under his spell.
Cheap tricks could not fool the audience into believing he had more
talent. Since the lead singer’s act was reduced to ADD pacing and
incessant bunny hops around the stage, the audience was left to
turn towards the music for sole entertainment.
But aside from "Flagpole Sitta," Harvey Danger has little else
in hopes of another good single. Off of their album, "Where Have
All the Merrymakers Gone?",only one or two songs deviate from the
same generic punk beat. "Private Helicopter" came off better live
than on the CD because of snazzier guitar hooks and a tad more
personality behind the vocals. The crowd, however, seemed bored
throughout the entire set. Only moments with decent drum patterns
in songs like "Jack the Lion" impelled slight head bops and some
toe-tapping.
The band owes a large part of their failure to inexperience.
Their album needs much work in terms of serious songwriting, and
their act on stage needed a little more direction than jumping
around, banging on drums and smashing chords to the ceiling like
pseudo-rock ‘n’ roll stars.
The opening band, Naked, delivered a set full of tremendous
effort. So far, their single "Mann’s Chinese" remains well hidden
from radio airtime despite its serious rhythm and compelling
drives. The band itself gave the Troubadour its only dose of
charisma.
Their live performance portrayed a darker, trippier side of the
band than the anthematic melodies the album suggests. But despite
the discrepancy, lead singer Jonathan Sheldon poured angsty emotion
into every lyric of hard-edge songs such as "What About You?" The
passionately gentle "Raining on the Sky" soothed the crowd’s
emotions while giving them a first taste of Naked’s newest
single.
If not for the evident talent of opening band Naked, the
Troubadour experience on April 25th would have remained a lifeless
and uninspiring memory of a small band still practicing in their
mom’s garage.
Slash
Harvey Danger may be headed for the one-hit wonder
graveyard.