I got an e-mail from a friend about going to see Derek Webb at the Viper Room. I’m always up to taking suggestions from my friends so I said I’d go. I didn’t know who Derek Webb was, but I did know the other guy that was on the set with him, Kevin Max.
Both are actually well known Christian artists. I obviously had heard of Derek Webb, because he used to be in a band called Caedmon’s Call. Kevin Max used to be in a band called DC Talk.
Since they’re professional artists, I’ll be a bit more critical of them versus my usual positive tone on local bands. I was a bit under-whelmed. Sorry. The back end of Derek Webb’s set was rather good. Kevin Max just didn’t bring it. I think he even knew it as he apologized towards the end of the set saying how his vocals just weren’t warmed up. I also felt that for artists that have been around for so long they should have had more stage presence.
From the face of things, Derek Webb seems like a great person. There was an uncomfortable incident during his set. The curtains closed when he wasn’t even finished with his set. He responded, “I thought we had 45 minutes. I was told we had 45 minutes, but that’s cool. We’d love to have an extra 10 minutes, but we’ll end our set now.” They gave him an additional ten minutes. I think the situation was that they were giving him from 7 p.m. till 7:45 p.m. He didn’t start his set till around 7:15 p.m. so I think that was the disconnect. I thought the way he handled it with his humble response was awesome.
As for Kevin Max, he had a bit of a sarcastic humor going on there. He made fun of the DUI roadblocks mentioning that wasn’t it amusing that many of the police officers were Irish – he then thought about it and said, “Well, maybe not here in Los Angeles.” He also thanked Derek Webb, “The only Christian who can use the word F!*k.”
Sorry, no photos from the night. The Viper Room has a camera policy and I wasn't able to get a photo pass.
4 comments:
I've seen KMax before as a solo artist... yeah, underwhelming. I dig his recorded stuff, but he seemed a bit too pompous and over the top rock-star when I saw him.
Looking fwd to Derek & J.Knapp in Portland Oregon in a month.
~Dan
Thanks for the comment.
Your KMax comment is rather accurate.
J.Knapp played down here in Los Angeles a few months back. I totally missed it. I've always enjoyed her music.
Oh, and bummer about no photos. I do have a photo pass for the Portland gig... so check my blog in late April (probably uploaded by the 28th).
~Dan
they are both geniuses. I would watch them eat chips if that was the only choice.
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