The Dan Band – The Dan Band Live! / 2005 SideOneDummy / 14 Tracks / http://www.thedanband.com / http://www.sideonedummy.com / Reviewed 15 April 2005

Lets face it: most bands that exist primarily on covers usually suck (Me First and The Gimme Gimmes and Rockapella, I’m looking your way). However, this is primarily created by the fact that the bands are without any seriousness. While this is not to say that Dan Finnerty is a stoic, bland person (quite to the contrary), the fact that ey puts all eir heart and soul into each track delineates the act from the other hacks who sloppily bash through a set of covers. The style of the originals are largely maintained, with the rest of The Dan Band adding a few flairs and speeding up the tracks here and there. Nothing on “The Dan Band Live!” is without the energy that starts out with tracks like “I Am Woman” or “Mickey”. Even though some of the lyrical modifications on tracks like “Abba Medley” are bizarre, they do not ultimately seem contrived or without any context. The incorporation of differing styles (to reflect the wide array of styles and time that some of the tracks have), such as the synth use during the aforementioned “Abba Medley” make the disc come alive.

Let us remember that this is technically a live disc and yet The Dan Band sounds better than a majority of most studio albums cut out by “punk” bands. This is beyond the quality of even the superb recording on the Live in a Dive shows put out by Kung-Fu. Another strong suit of The Dan Band refers to the quality of choices made on the disc; none of these tracks have been done to death by bands (mostly trying to be ironic; see “Baby, Hit Me One More Time” by Travis, The Strap-Ons, and more). The only thing that really keeps the disc from propelling itself into the stratosphere is the gratuitous profanity dropped by Dan Finnerty.

There is a purpose and a place for most profanity, but it almost seems as if Dan has Tourette’s with the times and places of most of the profanity on “Live!”. What could be an all-ages punk treat is thus blemished unnecessarily by this profanity. However, the profanity thing is a problem of the most minor importance in what is really a fun snapshot of a band truly in its environment, surrounded by a fanbase that already knows the setlist and is intensely into the band.

Top Tracks: Total Eclipse of the Heart, I Am Woman

Rating: 5.9/10