I have been hearing nothing but great things about Deacon Blues for the past several years ... but Sunday Night (May 26th) was the first chance I had to see them ... and I was really looking forward to the experience.
"America's Premier Steely Dan Tribute Band" ... "boasting up to a dozen players and singers on stage to ensure the sound is accurately and faithfully reproduced" ... "better than the real thing" ... and so on. As such, after all these accolades, we were expecting a lot.
And when the twelve members took the VERY cramped and crowded stage at The City Winery Sunday Night, we prepared ourselves to be blown away. Sadly, by the time it was all over, we were rather underwhelmed.
It's not that they weren't good ... as musicians, they were able to reproduce some of the most intricate and complicated music every created within the confines of classic rock. Steely Dan's inventive and original blend of rock, soul and jazz established them in a class by themselves ... and hits like "Do It Again" (#6, 1972), "Reeling In The Years"#6, 1973), "Show Biz Kids" (#30, 1973), "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" (#3, 1974), "Black Friday" (#31, 1975), "Peg" (#8, 1977), "Deacon Blues" (#17, 1978), "FM" (#22, 1978), "Josie" (#21, 1978), "Hey Nineteen" (#10, 1980) and "Time Out Of Mind" (#22, 1981) stood out from everything else being played on the radio at the time due to their distinctly unique sound.
No, in this area, they accomplished exactly what they set out to do.
It's just that their presentation was hampered by the worst of all possible elements ...
Their band leader (and Deacon Blues founder) Steve Kikoen, appears to be one of those obsessive, compulsive, controlling perfectionists whose antics on stage take all of the enjoyment out of watching the group perform. Kikoen seemed FAR more concerned all night with what HE was hearing in the monitors than what the audience was experiencing in their seats ... which was the usual great City Winery sound we've all come to expect at this fine venue. (Don't get me wrong ... good sound in the monitors is a key essential to every performance ... but once they've been set, they don't need to be tweaked and manipulated again and again and again all night long ... move on!!!)
This annoying obsession, coupled with his unending need to narrate nearly every song along the way, made for an excruciating listener experience. In fact, he became such a distraction that we lost interest in what the rest of the band was doing ... which is a real shame, as this was a fine group of players paying tribute to an artist that clearly means a great deal to them.
When the guy calling all the shots becomes the band's weakest link, it presents a virtually impossible situation ... there's not much the other players can really do to improve the overall experience as their hands are tied based on creating the performance being dictated to them.
In all fairness, they don't really sound like Steely Dan vocally ... neither Kikoen or keyboardist Tom Linsk "imitate" the vocal styling of Donald Fagan ... and once again this proved to be a bit of a distraction as most of Steven's vocals were just beyond the range of his comfort zone ... he had to stretch to hit nearly every note (and fell short numerous times), causing more awkwardness in their presentation.
I will say that he is a pretty fine guitarist, however ... if anything, it was the simple stuff that tripped him up ... he handled the complicated material with ease. (Makes me wonder how much better the band might sound if Steve just concentrated on his guitar licks and they added a second male lead vocalist who could also augment the three female background singers on all of the other material ... do they really need THREE female background vocalists or might the addition of a strong male lead make all the difference necessary to put these guys back on track?)
There is no doubt in my mind that Kikoen has great love and affection for this material ... and he seems to have befriended numerous Grammy-winning musicians along the way to help him realize his dream on stage each night ... even earning the praise of Donald Fagan himself, a true feather in his cap. And the local press has been VERY kind in their accounts of a typical Deacon Blues performance ... so maybe he was just having an off night vocally ... but seriously, dude, you've got to tone down the control thing a little bit ... it greatly diminishes your original vision and sucks a lot of the enjoyment out of the whole live experience. Don't distract the audience to the point that they can no longer enjoy and appreciate everything else that is going on around them.
You've put together an INCREDIBLY strong band to represent this material ... play these tunes with confidence ... and try to enjoy the show a little bit more instead of nit-picking every single detail and nuance ... trust me ... you'll have a MUCH better time ... and so will your audience.
This same line-up of musicians also partake in six other "cover / tribute" bands, including the material of The Talking Heads and, recently, The Pretenders ... but Deacon Blues is their bread and butter ... and THIS is the act that folks want to come out and see. Embrace that love and enjoy the ride. Seriously, you'll be a much happier person once you do! (And you'll win me over for a favorable review, too!)
kk
Kent Kotal
Forgotten Hits
Watch for Deacon Blues performances throughout the summer ... they will return to The Arcada Theatre on ... of all dates ... BLACK FRIDAY (the day after Thanksgiving) ... check them out if you get a chance.
And Steve, this psycho-analysis session comes at absolutely no charge ... consider it a healthy dose of constructive criticism offered with only the very best of intentions. That being said, knock my socks off the next time we see you! (kk)
