Live review: The Fading Captains & the Placemats
July 18th, 2008 by Chad Radford in Music news
Is it unfair to subject a cover band to the same kind of criticism that a real band would receive? Probably. Cover bands aren’t really putting any artistic girth on the line, so why should I point my poison pen at them for jamming on some of their favorite tunes just for the fun of it.
It’s a strange dilemma, and one that the Fading Captains, a Guided By Voices cover band from Atlanta, and the Placemats, a Replacements cover band from Columbia, SC outlined with their show at The Earl on Thursday, July 17th.
Up first, the Placemats have a rather disturbing presence. If you turn your back to the stage it sounds like the Replacements… Dead on. It’s phenomenal. But if you turn around and look at them, it’s like being a parallel universe where a bunch of frat guys are phoning in your favorite Replacements songs, like “Alex Chilton” and “Waitress in the Sky.”
It was just to weird to watch them, and as much of a proponent of anti-fashion becoming fashion as I tend to be, this is one instance where I have to say that sometimes, image does matter.
If you’re going to be in a Ramones cover band, you should dress like the Ramones. If you’re going to be in a Beatles cover band, you need the wigs. And if you’re going to be in a Replacements cover band, you need to get drunk and swagger around with much more stumbling energy than these guys portrayed.
What’s more, Paul Westerberg at least held onto a guitar on stage. This guy just held onto his drink and kept begging the pretty girls in the crowd to bring him more, and he didn’t even do that as well as Westerberg used to.
The Fading Captains were a little more convincing, mostly because in the right light the group’s frontman, former Rock*A*Teens bassist Brandon Smith kind of looks like Robert Pollard. Before the show at least two members of the group told me that it was probably going to be bad. They didn’t really know the songs, but they were going to try it anyway.
Yeah right…
These guys played a collection of GBV tunes, mostly from Alien Lanes and Bee Thousand so well that there’s no way they didn’t spend days in their room, geeking out over learning songs, like “Salty Salute,” “Tractor Rape Chain” and “Motor Away.”
The rest of the group was made up of The Earl’s booking agent Patrick Hill (guitar), Greg Stevens (drums), Brandon Arnold (bass) and Michael Oakley (guitar); the later two also play together in the Silent Kids.
Guided By Voices’ music has always championed as aesthetically sloppy and drunken pop songs that pretended to be playing out in an arena rock setting. These guys did a good job of keeping it together, though much like Guided By Voices albums, they went on for a little long.
The Gimmick wore a bit thin after about 6 or 7 songs. And if you’re not having fun watching a Guided By Voices cover band, why are you there?
(Photos by Chad Radford)
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