THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 7, 1996 TAG: 9608070566
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Music Review
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, staff writer
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 48 lines
Back in the '60s, subversion rock group Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band said, with tongue in cheek, that its music was ``as safe as milk.''
Too bad Hootie & the Blowfish can't lay claim to that phrase. It would certainly be truth in advertising. But it's an effective way to describe the group's concert Tuesday night at a sold-out amphitheater.
They all came - moms, dads, the kids, couples - to enjoy a show that was as dangerous as moo juice.
The packed house was proof positive that Hootie's music, especially the material off of ``Cracked Rear View, '' which sold 9 million copies, can still draw in the fans.
At this point in the band's career, its concerts seem to be more popular than the sales of its recent compact disc, ``Fairweather Johnson,'' a highly anticipated sophomore release that so far has only sold 1.6 million copies.
But news about record sales didn't matter to the audience as they drank in Hootie's music as if it were a giant sonic milkshake.
Why the group is so popular was evident on this pleasant summer evening. The band is a bunch of just regular joes, all buddies from the University of South Carolina. In T-shirts, jeans and baseball caps, they were dressed as if ready to go play a round of golf.
Drawing on their days of working the frat party circuit in college, the band presented its songs in a workmanlike, professional manner. Front man Darius Rucker sang in his steady, soulful baritone while the rest of the guys - guitarist Mark Bryan, bassist Dean Felber, drummer Jim ``Soni'' Sonefeld and multi-instrumentalist Peter Holsapple - offered solid instrumental backing drawing on '60 rock and soul music styles.
The set of more than 20 songs didn't challenge, didn't shock, and the passion and emotion just floated on a steady sea of mid-tempo tunes. But it did make everyone feel good, like being immersed in a nice warm milk bath.
The opening act, The Continental Drifters, featuring leader and Hootie keyboardist Holsapple, gave the Hootie-hungry crowd a sampling of its wonderful, harmony-filled, earthy rock'n'roll. ILLUSTRATION: LAWRENCE JACKSON\The Virginian-Pilot
Darius Rucker, lead singer for Hootie and the Blowfish, floated his
steady, smooth baritone over a set of mid-tempo songs with '60s rock
and soul influences Tuesday night at the Virginia Beach
Amphitheater. From kids to couples, the audience loved the solid,
but always safe, show. by CNB