New Nashville stars fail to dazzle
NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Only in today’s “American Idol”-ized world of popular music could a show like Six Chix — which debuted Sunday at the Niagara Fallsview Casino’s Avalon Ballroom and is running until July 30 — be a surefire crowd-pleaser.
A contemporary country music revue showcasing six of the Nashville machine’s upand-coming singer-songwriters, its main attraction wasn’t celebrity. It was the chance to see unknown performers “follow their dreams,” and to judge them as they do so.
Six Chix was packaged and presented as a cross between a group of “American Idol” contestants and a boy band. Angie, Megan, Deanna, Lindsey, Mikelle and Leah — their last names were apparently unimportant — each handled a cover song on their own to kick off the show.
Backed by an eight-piece band, a handful of these performances were quite good, especially Lindsey’s take on Warren Zevon’s “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” and Megan’s rendition of Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About.”
And for the most part, the singers had decent chops. Mikelle, whom the emcee pushed as the next big thing far more than anyone else, was the only dud. While she hit every note just fine, the Nashville native also fancied herself a soul singer, continually trying to drum up that back-of-the-throat Aretha Franklin inflection, and sounding a little silly instead.
After the round of covers, the Six Chix proceeded to show off their songwriting abilities, resulting in more of a mixed bag, in terms of both quality and genre. The audience got attempts at Gretchen Wilsonesque Southern rock from Lind sey and Deanna, a fun, sophisticated funk-rock tune from Leah, a forgettable R&B ballad from Mikelle and a monstrous wheel of contemporary country cheese from Angie.
The best song of the night came from a seventh woman — one of the backup singers, who stepped to the front of the stage to perform one of her compositions. A charming acoustic folk song about the joys and pitfalls of being hopelessly in love, it had more personality, honesty and universal appeal than anything else on the set list.
Six Chix certainly had its moments, and it wasn’t hard to imagine a couple of these artists actually making it — my votes would be for Lindsey and Leah, the most polished and versatile performers of the sextet. But like “American Idol,” it was more fun to judge who’s better and predict which dreams will be mercilessly crushed than to just listen to the music.
What if people never dreamed? They’d never know hope, but they’d also never be disappointed.
Concert Review
Six Chix
Through July 30 in Avalon Theatre of Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort.
