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By rascal
McFly guitarist Danny Jones
Now this looks like a good fit.
A credible, successful, talented London pop-punk band formed in 2004 and already on its sixth album, McFly’s reputation is “not just a boy band” but one with “serious musical skills” and “genuine likability” that has also proved themselves to be endlessly charitable: They have recorded songs for Comic Relief, Sport Relief, and a double A-side release in aid of Children in Need.
They consistently get better reviews from concert-goers and listeners than from critics, who tend to temper their enthusiasm because the band produces “innocuous pop songs that mums are just as likely to love as their teen daughters.”
Sound familiar?!
Europe will do wonders for David. Let’s pray he’s allowed to discover some of it.
By rascal
This was a lot of work but it was worth it. It’s really quite something to review an archive of the best of David 2008 — the sheer amount of material, the body of work from this year is quite astonishing. And what a pleasure it is to visit all the best of it — from the most heart-tugging performance moments to the most hilarious interview remarks to the smokiest photos.
Great thanks to Gail from Fans of David, Amy of Snarky Archies, and Ronald of IDF (and notingDavid) for their participation on the nominating committee.
Go vote!!
The 2008 Archie Awards
By rascal
David and Gavin Degraw in Atlanta. Photo thanks to SnarkyArchies.
I’m totally diggin’ that David got perform and hang out with Gavin Degraw. I predicted David would blog about him, and he did. These guys have a lot in common, even though their styles veer off in different directions. Gavin is more Memphis with a folk/indie-rock feel, while David inclines toward Detroit soul, but they are both firmly blues based. What I think they have most in common is an authenticity that audiences connect with in a more visceral way than some of the slicker, more manufactured pop performers. Who else on the Jingle thingy rosters could wow an audience with self accompaniment alone?
Randomality: The president of my agency mentions in a meeting yesterday that his wife and daughter attended the Jingle Ball at MSG. “Oh, what did they think?” I asked, with as much nonchalance as I could muster while perching on the edge of my seat. “They said the best ones were Katy Perry, Ne-Yo, and… who was that other one…?”
By now I’m holding my breath.
“Oh, yeah: David Archuleta.”
Yes, folks, the world is beginning to catch up.
By rascal
The David Archuleta fan community is undoubtedly the most devoted, diverse, creative, thoughtful, and enthusiastic fan community on the planet, all inspired by one remarkable young man whose talent and dedication is matched only by the light of his spirit.
2008 is our inaugural year, and what a year it was. In the interest of reflection and celebration, all the Archie fan communities are invited to participate. Nominate your favorites in each of 15 categories by leaving a comment.
Click here to go the 2008 Archie Awards web site.
By rascal
Lookin’ smart at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza last night. Click for Archie XL.
By rascal
[MEDIA=8]A Little Too Not Over You – AOL Sessions
These AOL Sessions are a strange hybrid. They contain all the trappings of a live performance but without an audience, and the control of a studio set-up but without the finesse. I’m not convinced that this is a worthy trade-off. The interests of those performers for whom only a massive amount of audio manufacturing will do (Beyonce) are nicely supported in this format, whereas those performers whose artistry is fueled by the kinesis of playing to living hearts and minds (John Legend, Pink, David) are invariably compromised. We wind up getting something slightly more spontaneous than a recording session, but not as viscerally electric as a real live performance. I feel like I’m watching tour practice. Maybe they should be called AOL Rehearsals.
By allowing him to build the songs on his own, the setting does offer a greater glimpse of the true scope of David’s vocal prowess, and provides evidence of capabilities that were often truncated, compromised, or unrecognized in the studio production rush. But even though they are eminently preferable to the overblown studio treatments, the more holistic band-backed versions do tend to point up the rather insipid nature of most of the writing. David soars but the material sinks, which results in a fairly low altitude overall. In what is quickly becoming an obvious trend, the numbers on which David had a hand in writing are here again the most successful.
I feel like I am still watching potential more than execution with David. And some of it, quite frankly, is his own fault, however exacerbated by limiting circumstances like accelerated studio schedules or live performances that live people can only see recordings of. The truth is that there is a lid on this kid that we’ve only seen blown off in rare instances: finale night, Utah concerts, Tulsa. The lid has yet to be even cracked in the studio.
In the performing arts, there is a delicate dance between control and abandon. Because music has so far been the only dimension in David’s young life where he has allowed himself any abandon at all, most of his performances are both utterly thrilling and ultimately frustrating, as they remain at some level subject to the limitations he imposes on himself in other areas. Far be it from me to imply that David should relinquish his treasured incorruptibility, but a life led with the lid on isn’t likely to be abandoned in its entirety on the stage, in the studio, or anywhere in-between.
By rascal
Looks like you’re going to have to broaden your definition of the word, “hunk,” David, to include the luminous beam of a young singer in the midst of realizing his dreams.
Click the image for an XL view.
By rascal
David Archuleta at the 2008 American Music Awards
Backstage
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No matter how high his star rises, I get the feeling that David Archuleta will always be as graciously focused on what other are doing, on what others represent, than what his own particular role may be. I can even foresee a time, decades from now, when David himself is one of the luminaries, one of the legends at an event like the American Music Awards, when an interview such as this portrays David speaking with hearfelt enthusiasm about the the young newcomers who represent the future.
Our expectations of David have evolved so much in such a short time that it is no longer a surprise to see him being both affable and articulate. But it’s still a delight to feel his own enthusiasm for being part of something represents so much of his aspirations, and perhaps more so to see him just beginning to believe that he belongs there.
On the Red Carpet
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“I’m not this hunk or anything.”
