ohiodawg13 wrote:One thing I noticed over the years is some kind of unwritten law amongst music critics that you can't write an artist up without some slight. I guess it's just not cool to flat out praise somebodies talents. I'm not saying every single one of them are guilty, but it's a common denominator I see in articles about live performances or studio efforts.
I agree. There's a fair amount of praise in the review, but it also reads like the reviewer came into the show with a couple of preconceptions (possibly formed by "research" on the interwebs, where there is a fair amount of Joe-bashing to be found...you can even find some posts HERE where folks have voiced similar sentiments); this is a difficult thing for an experienced reviewer to avoid, much less someone so young as Ms. Novak...
The point about "band camaraderie" is just silly; I've seen plenty of it in the three shows I've been fortunate enough to attend. I guess for some folks, "camaraderie" is that time-wasting horsing around so many musicians engage in between numbers, much of it stale and rehearsed. If you don't see/hear that this band gets along just fine, and that each performer's contributions are essential to the sound, you're just not paying attention...
I would say the same thing about the supposed "emotional disconnect" between Joe and his audience. Maybe she was just sitting next to the wrong people. Next time, she should sit next to me and watch what happens when Joe plays "Midnight Blues" or "Mountain Time." "Emotional disconnect" my a$$...
She strikes me as the kind of person whose definition of "blues" is severely limited, which is a shame. It is possible to play the blues without sounding like Blind Willie Johnson doing "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground," eh? And it IS rather comical to hear such a young person say that Joe doesn't appear to have paid his "dues." She clearly doesn't know anything about Joe's backstory, or she would never have said something so preposterous...
All in all, it isn't a terrible review, but it is certainly an example of what the social scientists call confirmation bias...she went into the show with some pre-formed opinions and, wonder of wonders, saw and heard nothing that would convince her those opinions were mistaken...
Terrance Shuman
Kansas City, MO