The Jim Beam Band Search 2001

Northeast Regional Finals
Met Cafe, Providence RI July 20, 2001
Clearview 77, Tear, The Neural Groove, Pig Inc, and The MockingBirds

Being a famous fanzine editor has its perks. I get to go to concerts all the time and once and a while I get to hang out backstage where things are free. Last week the stars must have aligned because the fine folks at Jim Beam called up and asked me to help judge a battle of the bands. I didn¹t get paid for my judgemanship, but I did get do drink all the Jim Beam I could handle, and a sweet schwag bag full of cool Jim Beam items.

When I called the contact to take the gig she asked me if I knew anybody else who was kinda nonaffiliated to a club or radio station so I offered up Providence¹s own Poster Punk Pete Cardoso. I thought that it would be good to know at least one other person in the room, and Pete is fun to hang out with. He took the job as well and we brought our lady friends with us to make sure that we drank responsibly and had somebody to pour us back home.

Lizzy and I got there around 8 and there wasn¹t much going on. The bands were all there and some had family hanging around to support them, but not much as far as Jim Beam drinking. Pete and his girlfriend were there when we got there so we all went inside and got settled. Pete and I had our first Jim Beam drinks of the evening while going over the band bio¹s.

We had some time until things got going so we hung around meeting the other judges and the Jim Beam corporate folks. Everybody treated us really well and it took a few drinks to realize that many of the people who were smiling at me were actually in the bands that would be playing. I don¹t know how the other judges felt but it was sort of strange.

Pete and I left our ladies at the official judge¹s table for the evening and we walked around watching the bands. There were five judges in all and we had these sheets to fill out for each band. We rated them on originality, musicianship, songwriting, something like overall appeal, and most potential to succeed as a band.

Sorry I forgot them, but I was drinking and keeping my tally all night so I didn¹t have much time to take proper notes.

Anyway, Clearview 77 was up first- they were a pop punk three piece from Brooklyn. I like pop punk, but these guys had the misfortune of being the first band up. Maybe it they played later they would have gotten a better reaction. They were pretty good mind you- all the bands were, but they went first and I think that does harm you in one of these things.

Tear was up next. Of all the bands these folks had the musicianship down. They had great musical ability- good players all around. They weren¹t the most rocking band though. They were a pop rock kind of band with two back up singers, a keyboard player, and more. I gave them props for playing ability, but they didn¹t grab me.

The Neural Groove from Syracuse, NY was up next. They had brought lots of fans with them, and got a great reaction. They also had a guy filming and passed out lyric sheets. Neural Groove plays a funky rap core kind of music, and their singer wasn¹t bad. They weren¹t the best players I¹ve ever seen, but very good.

Pig Inc. was up next. By this time I think I¹d had a good fill of Jim Beam. When I had to start having Lizzy check my math on the score sheets I knew I should slow it down. I tried my best to stay away from the free Jim Beam but it had a power over me. It wasn¹t long before I was back at the bar. Pig Inc. was ok, but they weren¹t great. They did the funky kinda Chili Peppers thing, but it didn¹t take. Oh well. I did like their keyboard player¹s sense of style.

The Mockingbirds were up next. They were the hometown band, and they did a great set. I¹ve never seen them, even though they are local, so it surprised me. In the back of my head I didn¹t want them to win because they were local and it would seem like the contest was fixed, but they did win. They are a pop rock band with attitude, kinda approachable alt rock.

I didn¹t stick around too long after the contest was over. I felt weird in a room with a bunch of bands I¹d just not voted to win. What do you say? Besides I was in pretty good spirits so it seemed like going home was the prudent thing to do.

We took some photos of ourselves hugging the giant inflatable bottle of Jim Beam because it seemed funny at the time. I got to hang out in the ladies room at the Met, which was only nice because it confirmed that they had nothing better than the men do. It was fun being a judge, I¹ve got to admit that. I didn¹t like having to make the losing bands feel bad, but the free Jim Beam helped with the pain. Good luck to the Mockingbirds, better luck to the other bands.