Deep Banana Blackout

April 6, 2001

The Magic Bag

Ferndale, MI

Deep Banana Blackout is funk/jamband from the East Coast that seems poised to break into the next level of popularity. Their April 6th show at the Magic Bag in Ferndale displayed many of the qualities that have brought them from relative obscurity to a popular national touring act so quickly. Unfortunately, the show also highlighted some of their weaknesses.

I arrived soon after the doors were open and the opening band whose name I can’t remember was just starting to set up. So after a long wait, the opening band took the stage. Unfortunately, they were fairly forgettable roots rock that failed to hold very many people’s attention for long, including me. After a very long setbreak DBB took the stage. They are a large band featuring guitar, bass, keyboards, trumpet, trombone, a lead singer and two drummers.

I was primarily interested in seeing their guitarist who goes by the name of Fuzz. I have really been enjoying his jazzy, self-released solo album, On the Corner with Fuzz for the last year or so. During the evening I was periodically impressed with his playing with DBB, but he didn’t step up as much as I would have liked, opting to play a more rhythmic support role.

Vocalist Hope Clayburn was probably my favorite member of the band on this night. She is a really soulful singer and also plays great sax and flute on some tunes. She has only been playing with the band since last fall when longtime vocalist, Jen Durkin moved on to other projects.

The biggest problem during the evening was probably the songwriting. Don’t get me wrong, DBB has some great songs, but all too often they seemed repetitive and their lyrics were mostly forgettable. This is a common problem with the so-called Jambands scene. This band obviously has chops and can play some mean funk, but the songs sometimes were nothing to write home about. Because of this, DBB’s cover of Stevie Wonder’s "Boogie on Reggae Woman" was a definite highlight.

Overall the show as a mixed bag. I was somewhat letdown because of the late start time, the bass player being low in the mix and the sometimes weak material. On the other hand, DBB is a really fun band to listen to and watch. They are obviously talented and I think they will only get better with time.