Comprising drums, bass, guitar and vocals, Vintage Trouble style themselves as a modern soul band, but musically they lack the hallmarks that make that genre special – most importantly the passion, feeling and groove. These are elements that can’t be captured on a sheet of music, but are there in between the ink lines.
Despite hailing from Hollywood, the group have a strong Southern bar band tilt to their sound, mixing a solid back beat with chunky rock riffs and sustain-filled blues solos. Vocalist Ty Taylor was the focal point, remaining animated and inciting crowd participation and interaction. The former Rock Star: INXS contestant’s vocal references seemed to be Wilson Pickett and James Brown, often mimicking the latter’s dance moves by reducing them to a simple spin and mic stand grab, much to the crowd’s delight.
In fact, from the moves to the grooves, the tones to the moans, the pork pie hats and the songs themselves, everything about tonight’s show smacked of cliché. Total Strangers borrowed heavily from Pickett’s Land of a 1000 Dances, right down to the ‘na nana na na’ vocal breakdown section. However, they redeemed themselves somewhat on the ballads, Another Man’s Words and Nobody Told Me. This pair of slower songs allowed Taylor to sing in a higher register and softer tone, which seemed to suit him a little better. At the strongest points in the set they brought to mind Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears or even George Thorogood, but lacking the grit and the grease of those acts.
During a quiet section Taylor took on the role of Southern preacher, asking the crowd to say a prayer for depression sufferers, complete with questions like, “Can I get an amen?”, which the band would punctuate with single hits. Unintentional levity was added to this message by guitarist Nalle Colt, who, as if overcome by emotion, removed his hat and looked toward the ceiling.
I don’t want to rag on Vintage Trouble any more, because the people that came to see them play were obviously enjoying it. They knew the words and responded enthusiastically to all of the crowd surfing, hand clapping and arm waving requests; they got low during the breakdown and jumped up on command for the outro of the last song. This wasn’t a bad performance, just a bit safe and unoriginal.
BY ALEX WATTS
LOVED: The new Star Wars movie.
HATED: The NWA movie.
DRANK: Water.
