Whoever said that your average, run-of-the-mill, American male with a musical instrument attached to his hip like a security blanket can't rock n' roll from dusk 'til dawn was sorely mistaken.Midnight Spin makes playing straight-ahead rock with an individual twist look easy and fun -- not to mention it's pleasing to the ear.
If energy were the name of the club playing game, Midnight Spin's got the Olympic Gold more than once over. Their Velvet Lounge show was packed. Sure -- most D.C. natives know that The Velvet Lounge tends to pack the place to capacity on weekends due to location and reputation, but the Friday Midnight Spin was in the house the line to get into the place was near a 15- to 20-minute wait at its longest.
Who wants to stand in a line that long at a small neighborhood bar known for live local music? Midnight Spin's fans.
The band might hail from New York but their roots run deep with D.C.-metro area blood.
Lead singer Mike Corbett and drummer Dan Scull have known each other since they were kids. The two Maryland natives have been rockin' away since their younger years when they were just a couple of wide-eyed lil' guys looking to play the same instruments as the timeless musicians who came before them on the American Billboard charts.
Once they obtained their college degrees, a change was in order. The pair decided to drop everything and head to New York to start a new band. One fresh and raring to go in the great fight for rockstardom.
Along the way, they picked up bassist Ben Waters (Dan's friend from college) and pianist Jeremy Cohen, who started standing in on a few shows (quickly becoming integral to the band's sound).
Instrument-wise, the band was complete. The standard rock band instrumentation of guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard to round out any background noise is all any band needs to create a sound all their own. Midnight Spin wanted more than the standard. They wanted to create a line-up and sound that will grab the attention American ears as far as the eye can see. So they turned to Craig's List."Jim's the wild card," Corbett said. Guitar player Jim Terranova responded to an ad taken out by Midnight Spin on Craig's List.
"It was one of those weird things," Terranova said. "It just ended up working out. It was as if we had all been friends for years once we started playing together."
Here's a secret (shh ... don't tell the band ...): You can't tell that you haven't known each other for years. Your show is that seamless.From covers to originals, Midnight Spin can play it all and make any song sound like they wrote it in a garage 10 years ago with the hopes of making it big.
Midnight Spin's return to D.C. for their first club show is due to what Corbett calls an "unofficial demand" to come home and play for family and close friends from over the years.
I'd have to say that their homecoming was well received for a few reasons:
- The place was packed when they started
- The line (at its longest) was 20-minutes deep
- The floor, holding up hundreds of dancing fans, shook all-night long
- Fans shouted "ENCORE!" long enough to get the sound guys to agree
- The room cleared out when their set was over, leaving very few folks to watch the two bands going on after them
[Photo Credit: Top of page Guitar Play Jim Terranova, Drummer Dan Scull, and Lead Singer/Guitar Player Mike Corbett. Mid-Page: Keyboard Player Jeremy Cohen and Guitar Player Jim Terranova. Bottom left: Guitar Player Jim Terranova and Lead Singer/Guitar Player Mike Corbett. By Rachel Levitin, 2009.]
[Video Credit: Lead Singer/Guitar Player Mike Corbett, Guitar Player Jim Terranova, Bass Player Ben Waters, Keyboard Player Jeremy Cohen, Drummer Dan Scull. By Rachel Levitin, 2009.]
1 comment:
Couldn't agree more! The show they put on was absolutely fantastic. The place was packed - line out the door for the entire performance - and when they finished, the place was a ghost town. Talk about a tough act to follow. Let's hope they're able to book larger venues like the Rock & Roll Hotel.
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