Clash of the Titans!

Coming events!

While vacationing in Maine last week I attended a Tuesday night Clash of the Titans show that a Portland man about town named and musician Spencer Albee and DJ Mark Curdo promote every Tuesday night at a club called Empire Dine and Dance. Each week, two sets of local musicians cover about a half dozen songs by artists who are paired against each other for either their once-contemporary “rivalry” or influence. The artists play one song at a time, exiting the stage after each song. The show I attended with my friend, former bandmate, and occasional Townsman Dave Ragsdale and his two excellent nephews, Max and Roy, pitted Sam Cooke against Otis Redding. As I learned, the format makes for a long night out, but in the comfortable confines of the Empire, surrounded by a packed house of enthusiastic, unassuming Portland rock fans, it also makes for a refreshingly F-U-N night on the town unlike what I’m used to experiencing in my increasingly rare nights out at Philly clubs.

Dig…

Earlier in the week, Dave got me really excited for the night out. Like many of us, he lives for the mach schau offered by a night of concept-driven rock ‘n roll. Dave moved from Philly to Maine some time ago, and by the looks of his scene-making that night, he’s become a bit of a man about town himself. He plays in a number of bands up there, and one of them served as Buddy Holly and the Crickets (vs Roy Orbison) at just such an event. On the drive up he told me he regretted missing Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie vs Thin White Duke-era Bowie. Dave loves Bowie! During the hour-long drive south the Portland, the four of us thought up other possible match-ups, like Syd Barrett-led Pink Floyd vs Roger Waters-led Pink Floyd and The Ramones vs The Clash, the latter a battle that Dave and I, respectively, saw ourselves leading.

Along with speculating on future clashes, the competitive framing of these shows also lends themselves to some great rock-sports crossover, the kind of stuff that drives some of you Townspeople joyous and some of you disgusted! For instance, some of the “pregame” Keys to Victory in that evening’s clash included the following:

• Could the state of Maine locate two black men to portray Sam Cooke and Otis Redding?
• Could “Sam” properly select a set of typically smoother, more “old-fashioned” songs that could stir the souls of his rock-fed audience?
• Would the band backing “Otis” know to play his songs at double their normal tempo, which was key to the appeal of the real live Otis?
• Would the clash be decided by a “Shake”-off, a battle over the Sam Cooke song that Otis would make his own?

It turned out that race was not a factor. The singers were portrayed by a white, Jewish father and son, Phil and Lyle Divinsky. Phil, the father, looked like a hipper version of Billy Joel, which initially caused a little discomfort among some of the crowd’s relative hipsters, but the guy delivered the goods with gusto. Lyle, the son, was a slender guy with a well-trimmed beard and a ponytail. He was really smooth in his portrayal of Sam Cooke. Something told me he wasn’t faking it. Both father and son performed as if there was no better place to be that night than on stage, performing as their respective artists. They shared a backing band, which was all-around pretty tight. My one beef with the backing band was that the drummer couldn’t commit to the ball’s-out tempos required by live Otis Redding covers, but the singer was definitely letting ’em hang low.

Sam came out of the gates with some of his most rocking hits, which we thought was a risky move, considering he lacked the firey catalog of rockers that Otis had in spades, if you’ll excuse the expression. Otis played it pretty much as expected. alternating stomping numbers like “Can’t Turn You Loose” with his more introspective hits, like “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.” As Sam moved into his “dinner club” material, his smoothness and engaging ways with the audience actually worked wonders on an audience I had grossly underestimated! Portland rock fans in their late-20s and 30s were dancing, or at least swaying and swinging in place, along as Sam would have wanted them to do. The tide was turning in Sam’s favor. Otis finally pulled out his version of “Respect,” which I thought would have sealed the deal, but the tentative drummer and a huge gaffe by the entire backing band put Sam in position to steal a victory, or at least for a “Shake”-off!

Sam took advantage of this opportunity, referencing “You Send Me” before going for broke on “Bring it On Home to Me.” Men and women grabbed each other and spun around, doing what looked like honest-to-goodness dance steps! My friend Dave had told me over the years about Portland’s vital swing dance scene, so maybe these folks, like Dave, had been cutting a rug in that scene, but the dance floor in no way looked like the dance floor my wife had witnessed at a recent party, when the DJ tried spinning some R.E.M. records! Donning his virtual gaudy sportscaster’s blazer, Max called for a comeback victory by Sam. Otis took the stage for possibly the final time, trailing in points, to belt out “Try a Little Tenderness.” The horn section punched out every line with just the right power. Perfectly positioned beads of sweat ran down Otis’s face. He left the stage as the band vamped only to come back and continue his exhortations. Perhaps a “Shake”-off would have to settle it.

As it was, the judges decided that the real winner was the wife/mother of this dynamic duo. The “Shake”-off was a victory lap. They brought the woman behind these fine men on stage, everyone hugged and kissed, and the crowd got it. Man, it was a cool way to end a fantastic night!