Dr. Groove, a popular eight-member (plus sound man) band, played Friday at The Cockpit Lounge. Surprisingly, they feature a lot of guitar. Even with the poor acoustics of a Cockpit Lounge in sore need of a house PA, they put on a good show.
According to their web site, "Dr. Groove is a classic rock/R&B band that has been playing the El Paso and surrounding area since 1991." So, you would expect them to be a professional band. They don't disappoint there.
Having said that, though, the first thing I noticed about Dr. Groove was a terrible dull sound from the vocals. Louie, who is usually playing trumpet flugelhorn, came by during the set - he was doing some temporary sound man duties. When I made this observation to him, he pointed out that the sound was "bright as hell" on the other side of the wall that partially juts out (the band is actually in a different room from the audience, which, in The Cockpit, is in two other rooms). I got up and checked this out, and, of course, it was true, but I could still hear the dullness of the vocals. It bears repeating, though, that the acoustics of the place really require a house PA, because the sound echoes off many surfaces before it arrives, garbled, at the ears of the typical listener. The last time I saw a show there, they had some kind of house PA. Boy, they really need to fix it, or buy a new one. I'm sure I would have enjoyed the show more if the band hadn't been hampered by the acoustics.
The songs played Friday include Chicago's "Only the beginning," Grand Funk's "Some kind of wonderful," and The Ides of March's "Vehicle." You know, "I'm the friendly stranger in the black sedan, won't you hop inside my car..." That one. They also played Sam and Dave's "Soul man" and Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Pride & Joy." I would rather see bands with brass sections play covers of songs that didn't originally include them. The SRV song is such a song; I don't know why, but Alibi, another local band with a prominent horn section, also plays that. When you see the bands for the different TV late shows, they are always playing stuff that I've never heard played with trumpets, trombones, and saxes before, and I think that professional musicians should be able to do that. 'Nuff said.
One thing that I give Dr. Groove credit for is that they are willing to live and die by their individual musical ability. The individuals aren't strait-jacketed, and it takes confidence to do this. Specifically, they let everybody solo, and, if the particular musician is so inclined, he can "take a ride" for as long as he wants. On the negative side, when one member is doing that, the rest of the band usually just marks time. I have to say, however, that I haven't seen much locally, from any band, in the way of a counter-example to this. If a musician, in any band, wants to actually jam with a soloing band member, it is usually the drummer, and I haven't seen very much of that. The different Dr. Groove solos were pretty good, but nothing knocked my socks off. I might have felt differently with better sound, though.
I would have to hear such a large band several times to say very much about the individual musicians, but I will pick on a few:
Ruben, the lead singer, has a very good, twangy voice.
Sean, the drummer, is way too passive. He does light things up once in a while, but not nearly enough.
Manny, Manny, Manny. I was surprised to see how much guitar is played in this band. Or maybe it was Manny's birthday. Even though Dr. Groove features a four-man brass section, this is a wise move from the band. Featuring a horn player, or even a keyboard player, unless he's really terrific, is a hard sale to make. Unless maybe you're in a jazz band, in a jazz club. If you have the world's best tambourine player, you aren't going to keep the crowd coming back if the rest of the band takes a back seat to him. What was the name of that guy that snaps his fingers? Exactly. He plays a fifteen-minute show opening for, I think, Jan and Dean.
But back to Manny. What I like about him is that he is a complete guitar player. Not one-dimensional at all. On the other hand, while his solos are all good, nothing really kicked my ass. I have been thinking about this quite a bit, and I think that just mastering the vibrato would make the difference. I really need to see him again, because it is hard to remember. As with the rest of the band, better sound would help him, too.
Dr. Groove is a very good band of serious musicians. I really need to hear them in a different venue, though.
I have never had free food in a bar that I like as much as the free chili that The Cockpit has on weekends. But they still need to fix their PA.
- Charles Hurley
