Sidewalk Rock Critic

This is one man's opinion. This is one man's opinion who was denied entry to much of DeVotchKa's show at The Independent last month, and all of The Zombies show last night at 12 Galaxies. This is one man's opinion who listened to most of both shows from outside the front door of the respective venues. This is one man's opinion coming from someone who threw such a hissy fit while being barred from the sold-out DeVotchKa show that he lost his balance and fell in the gutter while trying to spike a messenger bag on the sidewalk.

So add as many grains of salt as you need to digest my assertion that if there is one band who sounds superb from the sidewalk outside of a venue, it is DeVotchKa. So great, they might make you throw a hissy fit and fall in a gutter. Their haunting klesmer-tinged folk balladry translates well through the tunnel of a venue entryway, almost as if it was the distant background music you hear in your head when reading a Russian novel, or say the subtlely used score to a thoughtful, moving and funny film starring Steve Carell.

The Zombies, on the other hand, were visible from outside the front door of 12 Galaxies, and if you were just passing by, might be mistaken for a better-than-average bar band. That is, if not for the two gigantic tour buses parked outside the modestly sized venue. Though the sound out on the sidewalk was admittedly worse than it was at The Independent, it was still clear that The Zombies lack the punch that they have on the old albums or even that of the Argent material.

Could the impact have been diffused somewhere between the bar and the doorman's cash drawer? Does the moan of a violin travel better than the bleat of a keyboard? Did Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone look more like rockers and less like the house band from an airport Holiday Inn if you were standing in the actual venue? I can never be sure. These are the grand questions of a sidewalk rock critic.