MUSIC REVIEW: The Hoodies

By Frank De Blase on August 22, 2007

Too Tall and the Howlin' Mercy Blues Band host a righteous open blues jam at The Dinosaur every Tuesday night. Assorted knuckleheads (myself included) of assorted talent line up to sign up to get up with the band. TT and the boys burn red hot 'n' blue and graciously make room for others to do the same with them.

But last week's affair had the extra-young trio Mint Jam get up and get down all by themselves. I figured guitar player Gabe Condon would whip out some Freddy King or something, but no, he dove face first into Robin Trower's "Day Of The Eagle." If you're not familiar with this tune, it's a guitar hero epic that just makes you wanna pick up an air guitar...or punch the dude next to you.

They deliver. And I ain't just talkin' about pizza, or Chinese food, or weed. Wanna see a young Rochester band like The Hoodies or The Demos or Another One Down? Well, slappy, all you gotta do now is send up a flag, get on the horn, or click a mouse and they'll deliver tickets to their shows to your door, hot, fresh, and in under 30 minutes. And though this may sound a little like the old Hollywood hair band pay-for-play, the bands actually get a cut from the sales, get to play to bigger crowds, and really cultivate their fan base.

Throughout our interview for this week's music feature, The Demos' cell phones were on fire with ticket orders for their Thursday night show at Water Street Music Hall - close to 200 tickets sold by show time. By the looks of it, the system works.

Besides The Demos, The Hoodies (featured in this month's Alternative Press) played jumpy, sharp, and poppy. The music was melodic, but with an emphasis on the rhythmic drive that the instruments wrapped around, only to uncoil into the crowd and get under its skin.