Music Banter - The J. Roddy Walston and the Business thread

Here is a review from about nine years ago of a J Roddy concert.

J Roddy Walston And The Business
June 23, 2015
Akron, Musica ($20 DOS)

About 18 months ago I was flipping through our cable provider’s tier of music channels and stumbled across a song by J Roddy Walston And The Business. I liked the song “Heavy Bells” enough that I decided to pick up the disc “Essential Tremors”. I liked the disc enough that seeing these guys live seemed like a real good way to spend a Tuesday night.

Musica is a small venue with no seating; just a stage, bar and standing people....lots of standing people. Capacity is listed at 450 but I’m not so sure a fire marshal would agree. Regardless, I will say it is a lot more fun being in a place where there is no wiggle room than a half empty room.

We were early to arrive because we didn’t buy tickets in advance, tough to commit to a Tuesday show. There were only two people ahead of us as they opened the doors so we got to see the grand lady in all her emptiness. It was Mrs. Buckeye’s first visit to Musica so I gave her the grand tour, “There’s the stage, there’s the bar” and as we walked through a doorway, “Here is the patio...and there’s J Roddy”. After exchanging pleasantries, J Roddy complimented us on our weather (though I had little to do with it) and that was pretty much the extent of our brush with fame on a Tuesday night.

Opening (on time) was local Roger Hoover and the Hurt. Nice set of dust bowl blues trumped up by his four piece band. Very enjoyable and I wouldn’t walk the other way if I saw him playing again.

J Roddy And The Business have been described as, “What would happen if Queen and Black Oak Arkansas birthed four boys in the backwoods and let them listen to nothing but Cheap Trick and showtunes”. That is a pretty accurate description of their recorded material and their live show has been described as, “Very energetic, makes James Brown look lazy”.

The band took the stage and J Roddy asked, “Are we not men”? A reference to Akron natives Devo. The next 80 minutes or so was a testament to what rock n roll can and should be. This would make Little Richard proud.

Where to start...J Roddy jumping back and forth between pounding on his piano and grabbing center stage with impassioned singing and gesturing with a total commitment to his trade. Lots of stomping and swaying with long hair being tossed side to side, back up vocals screamed in tune, crowd knowing every word and actually taking over the vocal duties on a couple quiet songs. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen anything quite this interactive before. It was primal.

We’ve all seen Wembley singing along with “Radio Ga Ga” in a cutesy choreographed play-a-long with me. What I saw last night was not cut of the same cloth. It wasn’t a group hug with smiles, it was a life death struggle and life won. This is what rock n roll is supposed to be. The outcome is decided nightly.

To put it in perspective, let’s use the goose bump scale. If you like something you keep listening, if you really like something then you smile, if something stirs your soul then you get goosebumps. I’m lucky if I get goosebumps from music three times a year. I had goosebumps three times last night and one was during a song I was hearing for the first time. You do the math.

Currently listening to their disc for the umpteenth time again today. The bar has been set very high for my upcoming summer concerts (Elvis Costello, Steely Dan, Todd Rundgren, Ian Hunter, J Geils, Reverend Horton Heat).

Catch them if you can.