Recommended Artists—Just Off Turner
Just Off Turner: October 23, 2007
The Adventure
Once again I was over in the Detroit area to visit with friends. After arriving and munching on some seriously good sandwiches (thanks B!) we caucus (ok, it wasn’t that formal) to decide which of many possible musical adventures would take place during the evening. B mentioned that a band we'd heard on one of my last road trips here (Renovaudio) was performing in the area. These guys are a great band and I'll be covering them in a future review. New York, New York (in Michigan no less) turned out to be our destination
Our music adventures are a version of Kid Rock's "antiquing" adventures, but without the antiques. Same philosophy though--try to find that wonderful treasure in the most unlikely of places.
The Venue
We headed north a bit in search of New York, New York, a music venue that's disguised as a shopping center. Well, actually it seemed that in the not-so-distant past it was a shopping center, which would partially explain the reason why we drove past it several times before finding it. The other reason would be the curious fact that there were no signs indicating “New York, New York.” A suggestion to the owners: call your namesake in Las Vegas and convince them to lend you one of their signs--even the ones that don't blink would be helpful. That or post GPS coordinates. Fortunately, there's a very large “water feature” at the end of the road, so if you suddenly get a free car wash, you've gone too far.
This venue turned out to be relatively large complex containing a bowling ally, bar, movie theater, and a dinner theater that had been converted into a quasi-music venue. I'm used to Double Door in Chicago which has both a charming location, good sound and just about no seats. New York, New York on the other hand, had a really strange location, ok sound, and nice chairs, tables, a bar, pool tables, and a dance floor adjacent to the stage with its own lighting system that intermittently blinked in time with absolutely nothing that was being played out of the stacked sound system. Whew! Ok, we liked the place in a strange, parallel dimension sort of way.
Speaking of sound, I'm not asking for a flown JBL VerTec system, but the high frequencies of the installed system were so directional in the venue, that moving anywhere off-axis of the floor-stacked three-way system caused the sound to turn into a booming bass audition. Perhaps a system upgrade is in order here?
But I'm here for the music. The best musicians do well with just about any sound system.
The Band
What a night it was! Three out of the four bands turned out to have unique sounds, good song writing and good performances. What's the likelihood of that happening?!
The headlining band was Just Off Turner out of Los Angles, California by way of Arkansas, Michigan and Florida. This version of Just Off Turner is the “reloaded” version. Founding members Eric Gustafson (drums and backing vocals) and Bryan Mounce (lead vocals and guitars) have teamed up with Stephen Andrews (bass and backing vocals) and Phil Metzler (keyboards and backing vocals) to reconstruct their sound after two earlier members left the band.
You can tell that these guys have been on the road for a while--they have an incredibly tight sound to their live show that can only be achieved through the performance of many shows on the road and while personally helping to support the McDonalds and Intercontinental Hotels Group (Holiday Inn) corporations. Plus both Mounce and Metzler's bone dry sense of humor comes through loud and clear between songs.
And then they performed their song "The Long Walk Back." This hook laden song is very well crafted with a good verse, interesting bridge and strong chorus. Mounce's unique vocals come through well live. Metzler's keyboards are tasty. Andrews and Gustafson are a solid rhythm section who understand the philosophy of "less is more." That great quality comes through even better live. My hair was standing up when they played "The Long Walk Back" and when I closed my eyes I could easily imagine Just Off Turner playing at a stadium for 20,000 of their closest friends. Actually, I was somewhat surprised when I opened my eyes and found that I wasn't listening to them at the Aragon Ballroom or even at Allstate Arena.
My advice: See Just Off Turner live now and you too can discover the treasure.
www.myspace.com/justoffturner Click HERE for Just Off Turner’s Myspace.
www.JustOffTurner.com Click HERE for Just Off Turner’s official website
-Mike Vet, The Music Vet.
www.MusicVet.net
