Next stop, THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL!

It was wonderful.

Like most new things, stuff everybody suddenly becomes enamored of, Fitz & The Tantrums are hiding in plain sight. You’re gonna love ’em, you just don’t know about ’em yet.

Sure, the music is retro. But it’s not a rip-off, not a compendium of samples, but brand new. It’s like somebody from the sixties suddenly popped his head through the turf decades later to enchant and elate us. It’s akin to the ska revival in the UK in the late seventies and early eighties. It’s about feeling good and not caring a whit about those not clued in.

People were packed in like sardines. And despite the media hyping us on Rebecca Black, people who’ve barely reached puberty, most of the audience was way past twenty one. These are not scenesters, but music lovers. They know the power of sound, they know that when done right not only is the music enough, it eclipses a night at the movies, at the sports arena, it titillates and sets your mind free in a way no other stimulus can.

Great music has repeatability. Hear it once or twice and you get it and can’t stop playing it. That’s what Fitz’s music is like.

So I knew every lick.

True fans don’t go for the hit, they know every cut, they want more, they need to go to the gig and bask in their fandom, marinate in the sound that’s accompanied them at home, in the car, exercising…we can take our favorite tunes everywhere, and we do!

And this is a band like no other. There’s no guitar. And no tapes. And no production wizardry, no backdrops, no dancing other than that inspired by the music itself. Choreography is for ballet, performer movement at the show should be about inspiration, the tunes sparking you to gyrate to blow off the energy.

And now I’m sitting here wondering what else I can say. The new tunes were as good as the old ones. Fitz had the audience in his hands, he got them to squat down to the floor and rise with the music, emote and sing along. But really, you had to be there.

If you can put it on a DVD it’s missing something. Because a great live show is about sweat and movement and emotion. It’s not about sitting on the couch, but nodding your head, twisting your torso, feeling fully alive.

They’ve sold 75,000 albums. Jeff Castelaz calls it his "block and tackle" approach. Focusing on a locale and leaving no stone unturned, until that territory is conquered and the company moves on to another.

And Jeff truly impressed me. Not only with his passion, but his knowledge that it’s a brand new world. Dangerbird’s got a piece of all streams of revenue, otherwise a label can no longer make it. But he and Fitz are in it together, they’re partners, not adversaries. And there’s more ways to earn a buck than sales. Licensing is Dangerbird’s forte, they even perform this role for major label acts. And they know that although radio and press still count in the new world it’s about going direct to fans, which is extremely difficult with a brand new act but is doable with new technologies and pays dividends in loyalty. This gig at the Music Box was SOLD OUT!

It’s all about getting lucky. Fitz & The Tantrums are gonna do something that’s gonna blow them up. They’re gonna try to do everything, they’ve done late night TV, they’re angling for morning shows, but I think it’s gonna be the festival show, or the appearance that’s an afterthought that goes viral.

This band is that good.

They’re charismatic, they’re not playing by the rules, the sax player brought out his sister and they played FLUTES! There were more horns and a string section for this gig, all in support of the music.

Somewhere along the line music became about the show. And show was defined as something dazzling, something that speaks to your eyes as opposed to your ears. But a great show has got little to do with what you see and is focused primarily on what you hear. You feel it, you can’t believe you’re there, it’s not passive, but active.

I don’t think radio will play Fitz & The Tantrums. Not because they’re not good enough, but there’s no place on the dial for them. They’re not rapping over beats, they’re not banging their heads, they’re not wimpily singing their tales of woe while strumming acoustic guitars.

In the old days, this lack of radio would kill an act. Now it just makes you work harder, and when you finally break you’ve truly made it, for not only today, but tomorrow.

Get clued in. You want to be able to tell your buddies you were there first. Before the whole country went Fitz & The Tantrums crazy.

"Breakin’ The Chains Of Love"

Live From Daryl’s House

From: Jeff McDonald
Subject: Thanks: Fitz & The Tantrums

Hey Bob,

Just wanted to send a thank you message. I just got back from the Opera House in Toronto where I saw Fitz & The Tantrums. I checked them out after reading your letter about them a while ago. Absolutely fantastic band, and the show was better than I could have hoped for. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a show that didn’t have a guitar or wasn’t electronic (with the exception of piano recitals involving myself, my brother and sister as a kid). Somehow, that didn’t matter at all. If you hadn’t pointed that out in your letter, I’m not sure I would have noticed. It was just a great gig, and that’s all that matters. To top it off, I got them to sign my CD after the show. I haven’t stayed behind at a gig to do that in years. I feel a bit old to be doing that, but not this time.

Jeff

From: Gary Beatty
Subject: Fitz and the Tantrums – Boston…

Hi Bob –

So… I was fortunate enough to be amongst the crowd at last night’s sold-out FATT show at the Paradise in Boston. I don’t know if the term "sold out" is technically correct given the gig was a freebie courtesy of WFNX and Amstel Light but the place was at capacity with just about as many people unable to get in as there were packing the place to the rafters.

Talk about a band that "gets it"… these guys do. It’s been a while since I’ve seen an act put as much effort into and get as much enjoyment out of putting on a show. Despite the fact those in the crowd didn’t have to pay for their pleasure, FATT put on a show that was worth $50+ a head and I found myself leaving the place with a sense of genuine appreciation for what they did. The band was tight, they sounded great (though I might have ever so slightly jacked up Fitz’s mic), they looked fantastic and for 90+ minutes, they engaged and energized the crowd, they danced, they clapped and they poured as much love back onto the crowd as they were getting from the floor with a collection of quality material. Just an all-round great performance. And I can’t tell you how many times they thanked (not in that obligatory way you so often hear) the people for coming out to see them.

And to be completely honest, I’m in no way a diehard fan of these guys. I don’t yet own their album (though based on last night I WILL be purchasing it on principle as my own little way of showing my appreciation for what they did). I didn’t know a lot of their material prior to last night and in truth, I’m not convinced they’ll be an act that will be around for years to come. But based on what I saw last night, they probably deserve to be… if they can maintain that passion. For now though, they’re something a little but different from the norm, they’re entertaining as all hell and above all, they seem to want nothing more than to entertain. A breath of fresh air in a musical world polluted with so much drivel.

They’re due to return to Boston in the fall and I’ll be busting my ass to make sure I’m there and I’m sure I won’t be the only one. It goes back to your point, if you give it away at the start, you’ll earn it back 10 fold later.

Here’s a link to a review I found online:

http://theaudioperv.com/2011/06/29/fitz-and-the-tantrums-628-wfnx-paradise-rock-club-boston-review/

Hope all’s well with you sir. Keep on keepin’ on.

Gaz

So I’m sitting in a studio in Glendale and the engineer/producer/owner tells me the only good thing he’s heard in years is Carney.

Huh?

But the lead singer was too good-looking, he gave up and went to Broadway, he’s the lead in "Spider-Man".

Huh?

I feel like James is speaking a foreign language, then he goes over to his Mac Pro and dials up a track and WHEW!

Remember sitting in your basement, in your bedroom with the lights off, driving the speakers to distortion, listening to music that energized you and soothed your soul at the same time?

GET READY!

Now let’s start at the beginning, let’s go back to that studio in Glendale, stocked with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. It’s like being a kid in a candy store. The kids may be listening on earbuds, but the creators are still freaks for sound. And what’s coming out of the speakers is positively MIND-BLOWING!

Could it be the digital to analog converter, a Lavry?

That helps.

But the key element is the speakers, Dynaudio BM15A’s.

If a salesman had been there with a Square, I would have whipped out my credit card. It was a positively religious experience. It was the lower mid-range, not quite the gut-kicking bass. It was like a warm ooze was embracing me, not a digital field, but something positively organic, that felt so good.

James told me everybody had been using Genelecs. But that Clearmountain had turned him on to these.

And I start calculating. How large is this room, will the speakers fill up my living room space without clipping…they’re self-powered and a red light comes on when you reach the limit.

I’m financially challenged, but I was calculating… I’ve got the Mac Pro, $600 for the Lavry and $3,000 for a pair of BM15A’s… Actually, the speakers are a bit cheaper and the D to A converter a bit more expensive, but remember when we were on a quest, to get closer to the sound, when we wanted to walk right into the speakers and become one with the music? That’s what it was like, listening on these BM15A’s was like being injected with aural heroin.

And the track…

I just shut all the windows in my house, I’m afraid my neighbors are going to call the police. Because I need to hear this track loud. I’ve got the feeling if I just turn it up enough I’ll be in the room with the band.

Actually, you can see this same act performing one of those lame Bono/Edge "Spider-Man" tracks on YouTube. You’re a victim of your material, and this is shite. U2 is not about songs but sound. And Carney is about the material.

Listen to the entire album, an EP of 8 songs, what we used to call an album. Every cut is different, you hear elements of Queen, you want to hear more, where this band is going to.

But the absolute killer is "Testify".

It’s like listening to "Kashmir". Crossed with "The End". A mysterious trip into the heart of darkness.

And if that appeals to you, and you know who you are, go here and check it out:

Carney – Testify

Carney’s been hiding in plain sight. That’s the modern era. Records are land mines, you’ve just got to wait for people to step on them. Just because you don’t have traction don’t think you’re doing it wrong, it just takes a while for everybody to catch up.

But if you’re great, they will.

"Testify" is great.

Goes with late night headbanging, sunroof open cruising, tattooed sex, it’s the aural grease you need to get through.

I just wish you could hear it on the Dynaudios.

BM15A
Powerful near to mid-field monitor

I got it.

Howard was at his worst. He was demonstrating the nerdy geekiness he references constantly but rarely evidences. Howard can be confident around porn stars, but get him in front of a real woman and he gets nervous and uptight, asks stupid questions, is so sycophantic as to make one puke.

The star here was Lady Gaga.

She did all the top notch shows hyping her album which entered at the top of the chart and promptly sank. The hype is over. She can finally make good on her promise to do Stern’s program.

And I’d love to tell you the chitchat was brilliant. That Gaga is charming and wise beyond her years, but the interview segments superseded the usual hype by those who are selling advertising and don’t really care about content, but they were not riveting, it was for fans and looky-loos.

And then Gaga started to sing.

It’d stop you in your tracks if you were moving.

Me? I was parked at the 76 Station. I couldn’t get out of the car. I was hooked.

That’s the power of radio.

You can go on YouTube and see some clips, but you will not get the same effect. Because music is something you hear, not something you see.

Lady Gaga sits down at the Steinway and starts to sing and the New York accent falls away and you’re immediately closed. This woman has talent.

And it’s not only the voice, the changes work and the words too.

What’s up with all the outfits and all the posing and all the dance music dreck on the recordings?

She doesn’t need anything else. The music is enough. And it’s staggering when that’s the one thing most people can’t do, sing and write.

I know, I know, those are two things, but they went hand in hand way back when. We listened to the artists because they were THEIR songs, they came from THEIR heart, they were THEIR story.

And listening here, you definitely believe that despite all the glamour and attention, Lady Gaga was never one of the cool kids.

She said she was a fan of the Grateful Dead. Huh? Aren’t you supposed to immediately lose your cred if you admit this, unless you still go to Phish shows and play Hacky Sack?

You see her mother cut her long flowing hair that was getting tangled at the ends, starting to resemble dreads. At night. When Gaga was asleep.

That’s true alienation. When you’re not even accepted in your own home.

And it’s no secret that Gaga is speaking to the alienated and disenfranchised, but when you hear her story, when she’s relaxed, when she’s not posing, you realize it’s not an act, that’s who she is. And that’s what draws fans to her. Because how many of us are really members of the cool club after all?

So it’s more than the music. And it wasn’t created in a board room, there’s no focus group involved. It’s just her, directly from her heart to yours.

And there was one great moment when she’s talking about her manager Troy, how he fights for her to be her, doesn’t interfere with her creative process, and Howard asks Troy to step up to the mic and explain how he found her, how he was confounded by Gaga’s talent, and Troy refused! Reminded me of being at the IEBA conference a couple of years back and they’re giving lifetime achievement awards to Alice Cooper and his manager Shep Gordon and Shep steps up to the mic and says he knows where his place is, who’s the star, and immediately steps back and says "COOP!"

What a dramatic change from the corporate b.s. Where suits at record companies tell the acts what to be. They specialize in saying no as opposed to yes. The label is the plantation and the artists are the slaves. They fought for their freedom decades ago, but so much money got involved that the owners took back the power, they couldn’t take the risk.

But we’re all about the risk. We want to see our artists on the high wire, doing death-defying acts.

Metaphorically, of course.

If only Lady Gaga would give up the shenanigans, the meat dress and the shoes and the outfits and the posing, because in her case they’re unnecessary, the music is enough.

But you can tell she doesn’t believe this. Like her buddy Elton John, all the trappings are there to cover up a deep insecurity, a belief that maybe she’s just not good enough. Not attractive like a movie star, not as talented as who is on the radio.

But when you hear Gaga sing on Howard’s show you know why she’s the biggest star in the world.

Can she stay there?

It’s extremely difficult in today’s niche oriented hellzapoppin’ world. But the way you do it is to ignore the naysayers, discard the advice and follow your own path.

But I’m gonna give some advice anyway.

Stefani! Just lock yourself up in your room and write those songs and record ’em alone at the piano without the trappings and you’ll become the legend people believe you are but have not yet become.

Gaga was that good on Stern. It wasn’t quite like seeing the Beatles on "Ed Sullivan", but we’ve been fed b.s. for so long that she beamed like a ray of light right through the dashboard.

And my favorite part was her speaking about recording with Mutt Lange, who said he had his friend Brian add some guitar parts to the track. Mutt didn’t say which Brian, it turned out to be May, of Queen, from which Gaga took her name.

When Gaga found out, she swooned inside.

She’s a fan. She’s not speaking down to us, she’s one of us.

And that’s why they love her.

And why you’ll love her too when you hear this show.

Yes, Howard was imperfect, but no one can get the real story but him. If for no other reason than he gives talent enough time to stretch out and relax.

And Howard’s act is based on the same thing as Gaga’s. Being a geeky outsider needing to prove to the rest of the world his worth.

And you don’t get there by declaring yourself a winner, you do it through hard work.

Really, I’m listening to Gaga talk and it’s interesting but I’m not that impressed, she doesn’t deserve the accolades. Then she starts to sing and she’s undeniable.

That’s the power of music. The trappings are irrelevant, it’s only about the song and the performance.

Listening gave me hope.

And that’s hard to find in the entertainment landscape today.