Rumble final

Wild-card strike
By MATT ASHARE  |  April 27, 2006

This year, the WBCN Rock ’n’ Roll Rumble, which moved from the Paradise to the Middle East back in the ’90s, waited until the final to move from the upstairs where the preliminaries were held to the larger downstairs room. And all three of the bands chosen to compete last Friday night — the two semifinalists plus a “wild-card” — seemed liberated by the possibilities of the scaled-up stage, the larger sound-system, and a good-naturedly rowdy capacity crowd. None more so than wild-card picks the Campaign for Real Time (C4RT), a bold six-member, multi-racial explosion of fusionaries who exploded when they hit that stage with their mix of hip-pop dynamics, multi-vocalist MC rapping, hard-rock guitarisms, and pounding drums of the real and programmed sort. Yeah, C4RT are flirting with a dated formula. But they bring a quirky freshness and enthusiasm to what they themselves have referred to as a Timbaland-meets-Talking-Heads sensibility, momentarily erasing bad memories of Limp Bizkit in favor of the recent triumphs of Black Eyed Peas.

Given C4RT’s obvious marketability, the competition was more or less over before it began. Yes, the Rudds, with their lovingly retro take on ’70s rock, genuine guitar heroics, bagful of Cheap Trick hooks, and wonderfully wicked frontman (John Powhida), delivered their familiar goods in fine style. And scruffy Scamper were there to represent all the indie-rockers in the crowd, with their melodic guitar buzz, earnest vocals, and artlessly charming presence. But on this night, it came down to comparing apples and oranges to an iPod: the Rudds and Scamper don’t need to win popularity contests like this, whereas C4RT are built to please the kind of aspiring talent scouts who’d been chosen as judges. So as we all stood dutifully through a set of very Foo Fighterish alt-rock from Foo drummer Taylor Hawkins, who opted to sit behind his kit stage center as his Coattail Riders stood around him, the outcome hardly seemed to matter. There was some booing amid the applause when C4RT were crowned by 2005 Rumble also-ran Robby Roadsteamer. But mostly people just seemed worn out and ready to head home, where we’d all live to fight another day.
Related: The Big Hurt: Hootie goes country, Roses stay in denial, Spector gets 'demonic', +/-, Afterglow, More more >
  Topics: Live Reviews , Timbaland, Entertainment, Music,  More more >
| More


Most Popular
ARTICLES BY MATT ASHARE
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   SEND IN THE CLOWNS  |  July 02, 2009
    The New York Post got to resurrect its priceless "Wacko Jacko" headline. Barbara Walters scored Super Bowl-level ratings without having to lift a pretty little finger. And Michael Jackson, well, no matter how you slice it, he got screwed royally.
  •   ARRESTING DEVELOPMENTS  |  September 16, 2008
    Lack of talent, charisma, and/or personality can prevent a good band from achieving greatness — but too much of a good thing can also be a problem.
  •   ROCK THERAPIES  |  July 22, 2008
    A little over four years ago, the Boston music scene lost one of its cuter couples when singer-songwriter Blake Hazard and guitarist/producer John Dragonetti left town for LA.
  •   FORTUNATE ONE  |  July 07, 2008
    It was no surprise to find Chris Brokaw in Hawaii last week, just two Saturdays before he’s due back in Cambridge to pull a double shift upstairs at the Middle East.
  •   BOSTON MUSIC NEWS: JULY 11, 2008  |  July 08, 2008
    The New Year, a band the Kadanes started with Chris Brokaw on drums a decade ago, are still a going concern.

 See all articles by: MATT ASHARE