93.3 KTCL packs Casselman's for Hometown for the Holiday's

93.3 KTCL packs Casselman's for Hometown for the Holiday's

By Tom Walsh

is very easy to listen to. The song 'Weekends' is one such song that pairs them together perfectly. The perfect summer day set to music would be the best way to describe this song. The way the song is performed brings to mind sun shining in a clear blue sky, palm trees gently swaying in the breeze and the feeling that something good is coming your way. In fact, most of their songs were in general feel-good songs with upbeat rhythms and positive messages. While the hip-hop, R&B pool is crowded to overflowing with like sounding artists the future of R&B and hip-hop rests on the shoulders of bands like Air Dubai who aren’t afraid to take these genres in a fresh new direction.

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In the past year or so Casselman’s has really grown into itself going from just another new venue to one of the major players in the Denver live music circuit. Perhaps that’s why KTCL decided to hold Hometown For The Holidays there this year. With the new stage set up, the much improved sound system, and the sheer cavernous size of the venue it was the perfect pick to hold the throng of fans coming out to see the three bands that won KTCL’s Hometown For The Holidays.

At the beginning of the night Casselman’s was packed….as the night carried on an unbelievable amount of people kept arriving. Everybody was having a good time, drinking, chatting, smoking, and generally just partying it up. The bar area was crowded to overflowing as was the smoking patio, but as My Body Sings Electric took the stage the people gravitated towards the stage side of Casselman’s. My Body Sings Electric doled out a really decent performance. They are a talented band and did a bang up job of keeping the crowd interested and lively.

My Body Sings Electric has a new single called ‘Step Into The Light' that was receiving airplay on KTCL before the Hometown For The Holidays show. This was the song that people were listening to when they voted My Body Sings Electric for Hometown For The Holidays. This song was smartly written, very easy to listen to and had some great guitar work and it transferred well into their live show. These guys are very talented as are all the bands that performed that night. Although I wouldn’t necessarily call them original they showcased their live talents as a very radio friendly pop rock band. Now that bands have a hard time selling their recorded material, most have learned to rely on their live show…and the better you sound live the better off you are in the end.

In between sets the crowd sauntered off to get more drinks at the bar, smoke on the patio or just to chat with their friends. Once again, as the next band took the stage people started filing in to see what was being thrown at them next. What Was being thrown at them was definitely more guitar driven than first band but just as poppy.

The Heyday is familiar. At first I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but after listening to them again I now know why they sound familiar. Guitar driven though they may be, The Heyday is what Bon Jovi would have been had Jon Bon Jovi decided to go pop/country/rock instead of straight up rock. I’m not talking twang, bluegrass or down home country, I’m talking cross genre country. In the past decade or so the lines between pop rock and pop country have been blurred so much sometimes it’s hard to separate the different genres and The Heyday managed blur them even more. The music is radio friendly pop rock raised at the rodeo, apple pie, innocence, girlfriends, love and goodbyes but with a general sense that everything is A-OK. No matter how it gets polished or how guitar driven it gets the country sound is still unmistakably there. As prevalent as country is in their music I’m not convinced the band is trying to hide the country sound as much as they are embracing it. To be honest, I could see these guys going a long way because the chops are there for a rock show, or a country

show, and to be honest with you, there’s no shortage of fans for either genre. I’m impressed that they got as far as they did in the Home Town for the Holidays contest and had there been more country fans in the audience the Heyday may have definitely taken the contest home.

Keith Urban take note: the next time you’re in Denver and you want a local opening band that will appeal to most of your audience this would be the band for you.

In between the sets I noticed that other bands were in attendance that did not make the top three for Hometown for the Holidays. Vices I Admire were in attendance, as was Lola Black looking every bit the rock star as they pulled up in a stretch Hummer limousine with flashing colored lights going on inside. Either one of these two bands would have also done well and brought a completely different flavor to the show and it's admirable that they attended to show their support.

Like the two bands before them Air Dubai brought the crowd back to the stage but in more numbers than either of the two previous bands brought. From the moment Air Dubai launched into their hip-hop fueled set it was clear who would be the winner this night. Air Dubai hit the stage with more energy than either of the other two bands that night but with seven people on stage, it was almost possible not to have the energy. Originally billed as a hip-hop act Air Dubai now has a more organic sound, allowing them to branch off into other musical genres. While their sound does transcend multiple genres, their stage show definitely gives off more of a hip-hop, R&B feel although the music, at times, seems to have an underlying jazz feel to it. It takes a talented group of individuals to turn something that would undoubtedly be hip-hop into something so much more organic, allowing them to break away from the stereo typical hip-hop sound.

The rapping of Julian Thomas and the vocals of Jon Shockness go very well together as both have a smooth flowing style that

At the end of the night the bands were voted on by applause as to who was the winner of the Hometown for the Holidays show. Although the general consensus was that Air Dubai was the winner, it was a surprisingly close finish between Air Dubai and My Body Sings Electric as the applause was almost indistinguishable between the two. Did the right band win? Probably, but I would hate to be a lone judge, judging these three bands, because I probably couldn’t have done it.

Interstate live congratulates all eleven bands that made it into KTCL’s “top 10” in 2010. All of you help to make the live music scene in Denver what it is.

My Body Sings Electric on stage. Photo by Paul Edmisson

The Heyday on stage. Photo by Paul Edmisson

Air Dubai on stage. Photo by Paul Edmisson