New Wave Hits Jackson– finally
Richard Hart -- (2/12/81)
The Capitol Reporter (Jackson, Mississippi)
______________________________________________________________
I have seen the future of rock and roll in Jackson…and it’s what’s been happening in the rest of the civilized world for the past five years.
The Cold, the hottest thing to come out of New Orleans since Popeye’s chicken crust, nearly fried the flash out of the neon at the Lamar Monday night with a loud, sharp rock and roll show which ought to convince Jacksonians that live music is more than just cloned versions of the Doobie Brothers.
For a town that has had only a couple of rock and roll bands making the circuit with any kind of personality—the Occasions and the Oral Socks—The Cold showed what a band with talent and smarts can do with someone else’s material, but more importantly, how vital it is that a band develop a sound and style of its own.
From the first chord of a cool, tough, upbeat version of Pet Clark’s jukebox standard “Downtown”, and Barbara Menendez’s wild vocals and humanoid gyrations, the nearly 300 people with the savvy to straggle out on a Monday night were treated to a show and experience the likes of which this city hasn’t seen in years, perhaps not since the old days of the Allman Brothers or The Who.
For pure danceable fun, The Cold was a sharp burst of fresh air. Menendez plays the role
of the lost innocent, belting out a strong rock and blues voice that combines at once the coarseness of Janis Joplin and the control of Chrissie Hynde. (The Pretenders’ vocalist seems a strong influence on Menendez.)
And the rest of the band – guitarists Kevin Radecker and Bert Smith, bassist Vance DeGeneres, and drummer Chris Luckette – plays with equal ease and assurance.
If this seems an uncontrolled, uncritical rave, it is. I am desperate to see these guys again. Jackson is a music-starved town, and the club proprietors and musicians ought to take note at what a
reception and turnout The Cold got on very little notice.
If The Cold doesn’t come back, and local bands don’t develop, then we’ll all be just back where we started, and who wants that?
Richard Hart -- (2/12/81)
The Capitol Reporter (Jackson, Mississippi)
______________________________________________________________
I have seen the future of rock and roll in Jackson…and it’s what’s been happening in the rest of the civilized world for the past five years.
The Cold, the hottest thing to come out of New Orleans since Popeye’s chicken crust, nearly fried the flash out of the neon at the Lamar Monday night with a loud, sharp rock and roll show which ought to convince Jacksonians that live music is more than just cloned versions of the Doobie Brothers.
For a town that has had only a couple of rock and roll bands making the circuit with any kind of personality—the Occasions and the Oral Socks—The Cold showed what a band with talent and smarts can do with someone else’s material, but more importantly, how vital it is that a band develop a sound and style of its own.
From the first chord of a cool, tough, upbeat version of Pet Clark’s jukebox standard “Downtown”, and Barbara Menendez’s wild vocals and humanoid gyrations, the nearly 300 people with the savvy to straggle out on a Monday night were treated to a show and experience the likes of which this city hasn’t seen in years, perhaps not since the old days of the Allman Brothers or The Who.
For pure danceable fun, The Cold was a sharp burst of fresh air. Menendez plays the role
of the lost innocent, belting out a strong rock and blues voice that combines at once the coarseness of Janis Joplin and the control of Chrissie Hynde. (The Pretenders’ vocalist seems a strong influence on Menendez.)
And the rest of the band – guitarists Kevin Radecker and Bert Smith, bassist Vance DeGeneres, and drummer Chris Luckette – plays with equal ease and assurance.
If this seems an uncontrolled, uncritical rave, it is. I am desperate to see these guys again. Jackson is a music-starved town, and the club proprietors and musicians ought to take note at what a
reception and turnout The Cold got on very little notice.
If The Cold doesn’t come back, and local bands don’t develop, then we’ll all be just back where we started, and who wants that?
