One of the three keyboard players in Friends opening act Splash on Saturday night, begins the set at Bowery Ballroom, putting glittery spangles on the foreheads of audience members. Sweet, but only to a degree.
Splash are a young local dance band with two falsetto singers, the lead one who seems to have been nursed at the teat of Michael Jackson, and they are pleasant company and well, very friendly. But they have a few things to learn. Primarily, a dance band is all about forward momentum, and secondly, that they need to spend as much time working on their tunes as they do on their beats.
For some reason they stop after every single and speak to the audience about nothing very much. A Brooklyn band , this is their first show in Manhattan, they are looking for a sofa to crash and and will teach Yoga in payment, Friends are friendly and they can't thank them enough and on and on. It's a pity, because if they took care of business, Splash have a potentially excellent sound and they are comfortable on stage.
Plus, the world can always use a band who can out gay the Scissor Sisters, with a sound that is part Sister Sisters, one part Edward Sharpe and one part every beat driven band in the country.
But it is hard to get into it when they keep interrupting themselves. For the last song of the tour, the tall mullet haired lead singer brings out Samantha for their best song, "Thank You". The words are plastered on the bands tee shirts in block black letters a la Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and Splash, who are really charming men, end with a blast of energy.
Splash need time to improve the act. Better songs, steal a coupla melodies if they have to, cut the chat by half, work the tempo, remember they're a dance band and wanna make lots of money. But the glitter, the fun, the sparkles on strangers head? The beats? They all stay.
Grade: B