May 15, 1998
If you want to see a concert or performance, you can go just about
anywhere in Central Florida. If you want to hear and totally appreciate
a performance, take in an act at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney.
The theatrical expression, "If you're going to suck, suck big!" should be
pasted over the stage at this venue. The HOB affords no acoustical
excuses or band-aids for a live performance. And fortunately for last
Monday night's crowd, it delivered on all levels. Semisonic, a
Minneapolis-based trio, was in Lake Buena Vista to promote their second
effort, Feeling Strangely Fine, to a rather small but definitely
appreciative audience.
To an even smaller crowd, Athenaeum, opened the show with a slick,
45-minute show that, despite the more-empty-than-full house, had enough
energy and just enough material to appetize the palette for the main
event. A four-piece band out of Greensboro, NC, Athenaeum, were the
perfect lead-in with an almost-rock, almost-pop, almost-alternative
blend of songs off their new CD Radiance (Atlantic Records). Lead
singer/guitarist Mark Kano's vocal work on the tune "What I Didn't Know"
was easily the high-light of the opening act.
By the time Semisonic took the stage, the crowd had filled out a bit
more, although it was still small enough crowd to allow you move around
a bit and catch the band at different angles. Feeling Strangely Fine
(MCA Records) is the follow-up to the band's first CD, entitled Great
Divide. While that first CD was well received within the industry and
mags, most of the group's following remained in their home region of the
country, the Midwest.
However, with the new CD, the group seems to have taken on a clearer
identity, with lead vocalist/guitar/writer Dan Wilson's smooth voice and
pointed lyrics leading the way. While the crowd favorite certainly
appeared to be the band's first true hit, "Closing Time", the
show-stealer for me was the upbeat and funky "Never You Mind", which had
a sweet, moving, almost Supertramp-ish, rolling piano riff throughout.
A surprise cover of a Prince (or the Artist Formerly ...) also
threatened to steal the night. I didn't identify the tune, but then I'm
not a HUGE Prince fan. The threesome definitely knows how to rock
despite the easier-flavor that seems to dominate the second CD.
Drummer Jacob Slichter worked throughout the show providing a busy kind
of funk underneath the rest of the sounds. John Munson does the job on
the bass, but it is clearly Wilson's performance and lyrics that gives
these guys their spirit. He lost me a couple of times with references
to a Star Trek episode, but, much like with the Prince tune, it didn't
seem to matter as the group seemed to pick up energy and the show went
on. After hearing them play live earlier in the day on WJRR (101.1 FM),
I was not all that impressed with Wilson. But he was definitely on at
the House on Monday, and I've been compelled to listen to the CD
several times since.
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