Above: Clayton Stroope of Thriving Ivory. Photo by Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star
Top 40 radio offers a bracing hodgepodge of one-hit-wonders and timeless legends. The format often favors flavor-of-the-month flash over artists with lasting substance. Approximately 400 fans of Mix 93.3 paid the fan-friendly price of $15 to hear three promising pop hopefuls Friday at the Midland by AMC.
The slick headliner has recorded a genuine hit. A second band seems poised for stardom. Yet it was the relatively unheralded third act, the Chicago band Company of Thieves, that made the most lasting impression.
The rock band's 30-minute set revealed a winning combination of left-of-center craftsmanship and pop smarts. The happy yelping and melodic howling of waifish vocalist Genevieve Schatz won over the early arrivals.
She does a first-rate Bjork impersonation targeted at listeners who've never heard of the Icelandic singer. A pleasing cover of the Smashing Pumpkins' "1979" similarly failed to elicit familiar nods from the youthful audience. Better still, their original material is just as winning as the taut songs that propelled the Strokes to stardom. Everything old is new again in pop. And Company of Thieves are excellent recyclers.
The second band, Barcelona, like Coldplay. A lot. The Seattle trio's earnest, melodramatic rock was likable but wholly derivative. Only "Stars," a charming song featured on the soundtrack to the new Disney film "Race To Witch Mountain," stood out. The biggest impression Barcelona made Friday had nothing to do with music. As with their tour mates, the men of Barcelona spent much of the evening mingling with fans.
Unlike Barcelona and Company of Thieves, Thriving Ivory have already scored their first major success. "Angels On the Moon" is a deserving hit that evokes Train and Matchbox Twenty. "Overrated," a similarly effective ballad, showcased the distinctive voice of front man Clayton Stroope.
Much of the calculating California band's material, however, sounded bombastic and hollow. Although Thriving Ivory's songs reached for the stars, most of them feebly ricocheted off the Midland's lofty ceiling. The band closed with "Let It Be."
The odds that Thriving Ivory, Barcelona or Company of Thieves will have careers remotely resembling that of the Beatles are remote. Yet it didn't matter much at the Midland. Pop is of the moment. And Friday provided plenty of good ones.
| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star
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