Awww…the mix of grimy good-looks and raw rock and roll can be summed up in two words: Dirty Sweet. If you read my review of their Casbah performance – you know I’m a huge fan. These guys are amazing musicians, inspiring performers, and a guaranteed good time. So what happened in between their last performance and the sloppy, boring routine they displayed at Elemental Experience? I’m not quite sure, but I wasn’t the least impressed.
As usual, girls crowed around the stage, inciting some dudes from the VIP section to scream “Groupies!” distorting what is generally interpreted as the emblem of a great band into a big joke. The guys began their set with low energy, and although the music was at its normal pace of quality – the band just didn’t seem into it. The vocalist, one of the crowd’s timeless favorites, barely even looked at the audience. A sizeable mob huddled around the stage – some able to sing along, others willing to dance by themselves to the bluesy rock and seventies-sounding vibrations – but Dirty Sweet didn’t seem to care. Maybe they’ve hit the big time and fans just don’t mean as much as they use to, maybe they were just plain bored, or maybe I misinterpreted the entire show. Either way, I know the damage these men are capable of, and at an amazing festival like Elemental Experience, I just don’t understand why they didn’t give it their all.
Don’t get me wrong, every song was played with the utmost aptitude and I enjoyed each one accordingly, but I didn’t go to the festival to hear a recording – I went to see it. The bass remained cool and distant in the background, the lead kept his eyes closed and just let his wild hair do the performing, while the drummer kept tempo. Plain and simple. The only personality exhibited during the whole performance came from the rhythm who smirked every once in a while, and even let a small smile curl around his lips at one point.
The music perfect and addictive, but overall Dirty Sweet left me unsatisfied and in need of another hit. I wanted the wildly interpretive gyrations of the vocalist I had seen before, the undulating crescendos from the lead, and the massive musical heartbeat to pump from the drummers stick. Instead I got a couple of guys who must have chose to skip their dosage of Prozac, said, “F*ck it”, and drearily crawled on stage.
Oh well. I wasn’t completely turned off. Great rock and roll is still great rock and roll, and Dirty Sweet remains one the most talented bands I’ve seen in forever. They just can’t forget what made them great in the first place – and that’s their live shows.
Next time boys, next time.Photo Credit: www.karhton.com