Bradley Wik and the Charlatans – Ash Street Saloon – Oct 25, 2009
“The Boss” is strong in this one… Throughout this band’s set I was fixated on picking out as many Bruce Springsteen mannerisms, lyrical topics, and stances as I could. From the vocal delivery, guitar on hip poses, to the songs of Brooklyn, factory layoffs, & getting out of the city…Suffice it to say, it was a lot.
Bradley Wik, the frontman, seems to almost be doing a tribute to a Springsteen performance as he goes through his show. And, while I appreciate Bruuuce, in all his glory, the amount of stuff that was coming directly out of his live playbook was a little unflattering to behold. Bradley seems like a younger guy so hopefully over time he is better able to incorporate his primary influences into a more original performance. Right now, however, it comes off like a stew where all the ingredients were just dropped in the crock pot, but they haven’t had time to simmer all day and blend their flavors together. I love the straight-forward rock take, I’d just like to see little more originality in the delivery. As Elvis Costello once said, “All musicians are thieves and magpies”…you just have to be a little sneakier about it.
The band itself is drums, bass, 2 gits and an extra helper on keys. Musically, it’s coming together. It hasn’t quite gotten to where they are aiming, but I think additional stage time will see them continuing to grow together as a unit. I’d also like to see a little more energy coming from the drums in this band. There were times when the band was blasting ahead energetically, Bradley was jumping around… but the kit was living in Valium-ville.
Overall, I think I’d like to see where these guys are in a year or two. If they could get their own fingerprints on this style it would probably be great fun to watch.
