Concert Critique

I chose to do my Concert Critique on a local classic rock band, VIVA. The

live concert took place on Friday, June 24, 2005 at 8:30 p.m. at Bayside Market Place.

The concert was held outdoors on a stage overlooking the water. The audience was

seated on concrete benches facing the stage and there were some patrons who were seated

on plastic chairs that they had pulled away from the nearby bar. The lighting was not

very extravagant, not many bells and whistles, just enough lighting to light the stage and

the band members. The acoustics were fairly good considering it was outdoors. VIVA

is one of the very few local groups that can play music from the 50's, 60's, 70's & 80's,

including the Disco Era, up to hits from the recent decade.

VIVA consists of four members: a bassist/lead singer, a keyboardist/back-up

singer, a guitarist/back-up singer and a drummer. The drummer also sings back-up, but

on several songs, The Eagles Hotel California for example, he is the lead singer. The

band members were dressed in very casual attire, they were all in jeans and causal shirts

except for the drummer which was in shorts and a tee shirt. The band members ages

seemed to range from the their early 40’s to the their late 50’s. The ages of the audience

mostly mirrored those of the band members although there were some patrons who were

of a younger age like myself. They were playing to a pretty packed house, there were

even several people standing because there were no more seats available.

They opened their first set with their rendition of the 1960’s Beatles classic, Saw

Her Standing There. They followed that with the hit from Los Bravos, Black is Black.

They continued on their 1960’s tour with a song form The Grass Roots, Temptation Eyes.

They followed their 1960’s medley with some 1950’s Doo Wop in the hit from Dion,

Run Around Sue. These first few songs were played very well and the acoustics were

excellent. They even got a few patrons of their chairs and dancing in front of the stage.

They completed their first set with songs from The Temptations’ My Girl, Ritchie

Valens’Come On Let’s Go, Jerry Lee Lewis’ Great Balls Of Fire, and Brown Eyed Girl

from Van Morrison.

After a fifteen minute break the band begun their second set, which included hits

from The Eagles, Santana, Lynard Skynard, and KC And The Sunshine Band. It was a

smooth transition to go from classic rock hits from the 1950’s and 60’s to the more heavy

and guitar dominated 1970’s. I personally have always been a fan of the music of the late

1960’s and the 1970’s, I believe it laid the groundwork for much of the contemporary

rock bands and music which I enjoy today. As I previously stated the drummer was the

lead singer on the band’s rendition of Hotel California by The Eagles. The drummer was

also the lead singer for their cover of Lynard Skyard’s Sweet Home Alabama. They

followed that up with Santana’s Black Magic Woman, which I might add the guitarist

did a marvelous job with this particular piece. They also threw in a Disco Medley from

KC And The Sunshine Band with their hits Shake Your Booty and Boogie Shoes. They

followed