Mann's World

Last night we saw Corey Parker at Kings. He's added a guitar player, which added a little edge to the funkiness.

I was pleasantly surprised by The Nicky Band, which is a white-boy R&B/funk group led by Nick Whitley of The Cherry Valence. I had no idea what to expect. In fact, I somehow had the idea that The Nicky Band was lead by Nicky from Mercury Birds and Taija Ray, who is a black woman, not a white guy. Previously I'd only seen Nick Whitley sweaty and shirtless, pounding the drums and screaming like a madman with Cherry Valence. He's actually a pretty good guitar player and has a nice, soulful voice. I bought the CD, but haven't had a chance to give it a good listen.

Mr. X and I got into a discussion about bands that are better live than on record, and vice versa. I'd have to put Cherry Valence in that category. It's not that their records are bad, they just don't capture the band's live energy, which is its greatest strength. I'd love to see them put out a live record. Mr. X mentioned Chapterhouse, a shoe-gazer band that he loved on CD, but hated live. I posed this question on the Triangle Rock community on Orkut, so it'll be interesting to see some of the responses.