Performance Review Emmet Allen

Music allows for a much deeper level of communication than many other art forms simply because it incorporates such complexity that the specification of expression (often times emotional expression) can be nuances and accentuated more than merely written verse. Last Thursday, I attended a show played by Lexington band Alcatraz Shakedown, led by frontman Eric Bolander (Vocals, Guitar). The venue was the Manchester Music Hall, and the crowd had drawn a number of Lexington's elite, including the infamous "LogDog" of Henry Clay High School.
The band played a timeless blues-rock style that appeals to a wide audience--nearly anyone who listens to music. However, it was not the band's choice of genre that made them such a success on that cold December night. Bolander uses his songs as an outlet for highly descriptive, sometime repetitive analyses of what the audience can only assume were real events. The lyrical formulation of the songs alone was enough to draw listeners in. For example, the opening line of the song "One Shot, One Chaser" drew us in from the start, beginning the tale that constituted the bulk of the piece with a vivid description of the chronologically primary factual observation "saw her walk through the door in the bar with the dress down to the floor."
Now, if the band's intention were merely to craft passable poetry with enough artistic mechanization to withstand scrutiny, they would have achieved their goal. However, as a rock band, they were able to do much more in order to engage their audience as best they could.
First, the mere tonality and volume of Bolander's voice gave an impressive level of emotional connection and presentness to all who were in attendance. Secondly, the rhythm of the set was adjusted in order to best convey the message of each song (or song section) as it came along.
Much like the Shakespearean use of rhyme and meter to control the reader's speed and understanding of emphasis, Alcatraz Shakedown switched during sections of extreme commotion and activity to cut time, essentially allowing the drummer to take control of the music and the retain the melody and rhyme scheme while still increasing the "feel" of the song and thus creating a more stressed, anxious sound.
It was the combination of all of these outstanding literary choices that led to the success of the Manchester Hall gig. Alcatraz Shakedown earns a resounding 5/5.