REVIEWS:After one year, 50K miles in a moldy 15 passenger van, numerous fights, drunk nights, bad and good sound, capacity crowds and not so capacity crowds, and with 225 shows played cross country under their belt, the Statesboro Revue is hungry for 2008. Having recorded their debut album at none other than Willie Nelson's Pedernales Studios back in 2007 with the help of Jacob Sciba(Govt Mule, Taj Mahal, Willie, etc), Stewart and the guys are eager to get their new material heard and their incredible live show seen as well. I have never met a more enthusiastic, hard-working, energetic, and honest? band in my entire life. I watch the guys after one of the capacity crowd shows at Steamboat Springs' Tugboat Music Venue. Naturally feeling euphoric from having 300+ men and women throw themselves into the frenzy that is a Statesboro Revue show, the guys cant break the smiles that light up their faces. On stage they are loose yet controlled, aware of each other's every move as well as those of their crowd. Stewart Mann(vocals/guitar) has the soul and passion of Chris Robinson(Black Crowes), the stage antics of a slightly reserved Mick Jagger, and a voice all his own that is capable of handling anything from any genre.
Beau Wadley(drums) mightily plays the drums as if he's a hurricane, with raw power and brute force. James Croucher(lead guitar) moves his way through each song as if carefully crafting a sculpture, taking into account every detail of every song. Brad Schroeder(Bass) plays as if he feels each and every note of every song, slightly moving his head and shuffling his feet with eyes closed most of the time. They are joined by Ryan Dunning(guitar) on this occasion, clearly a disciple of the blues genre. He is both technical and intuitive, and shares leads with James as if they've been playing together for years. This particular night is magical, and everyone in the place feels it.The Tugboat atmosphere is amazingly electric yet intimate, with every person in the audience feeling as though Stewart is addressing every song to them. They roll through original after original, all full of so much soul and passion, both lyrically and musically. With lyrics that are both insightful and well spoken, and music that is grooving and both rock and blues-oriented, the crowd cant help but move throughout the entire night. They trade off uptempo rockers with more mid to slow groovers all night, and I'm in awe. They cap the night off with the Three Dog Night song "Never Been to Spain" and in my personal opinion do a better job than the original. Stewart spends the tail end of it up on a speaker cabinet calling out to a faithful and wild audience. He doesnt jump, although I expected it, and dances his way around the women that have found their way onto the stage by the end of the song. After a heartfelt thanks, the guys jump off stage and spend the rest of the evening as mere patrons in a ski-town bar. I talk with Stewart for a while and then blissfully leave the Tugboat as I ask myself why more people around the world dont know about Stewart Mann and the Statesboro Revue. What a night!
Eric Danson
Steamboat DailyJoin the mailing list
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