Chucky Danger Band

Showcase content (out of 5)

Level of artistry 4.8
Audience/Student appeal 5.0
Presentation value (costumes/visuals/etc.) 4.8

Educational content (out of 5.0)

4.2

Educational value

Rapport with students 4.9
Relevance to students

4.7

Audience suitability & recommendation

Primary 26%

55%

Intermediate

Middle/Junior 93%

Secondary 95%

Comments

Love the Beatles look! … Fabulous!! … Singing own compositions!
Great! … Great job, great stage show! … Love the suits and the hair!!
… Very tight and super fun to listen to … Refreshing … show!! …
great show -creative, inventive! … Great songs! … Good audience
entertainers … Need to explain more about instruments you play
… Awesome show! … Excellent stage presence … Great visual, level
of musical artistry … Excellent role models … Good inter personal
connection … Lots of energy … Entertaining, nice to see young people
… So young, confident, talented, cute, fun!!! Great music! Strictly
entertaining … A great future ahead of you … Great appearance,
amazing speakers, you rock! … Wonderful musicianship… Students
went crazy while they were performing … Original sound, love the
harmonies! … Great stories about their high school background …
Catch them before they hit the big time! Proud to be Canadian! …
Students can see themselves through the band … Great musicianship
… What a great performance … Original songs! … Book them now!

- Artscan

A little bit dangerous

Chucky Danger dominates

What a show. And that's just it, it was a show, it was theatre. The music was great but the
entertainment value was down-right priceless.

The scene is Saturday night at the Inn, where we witnessed Chucky Danger Band's first trip to Antigonish with a treat in the form of newcomer Stutter from Ontario filling Chucky's set break. Stutter was an entertaining break from the norm around X….

Then Chucky Danger Band from Prince Edward Island hits the stage. "We get a lot of comparisons to the Beatles, I guess it's the suits ... this one's called `Back in the USSR'" They are four guys (not even men, they range from 20 to 23 years old) in matching tailored tuxedos, Beatles hair and a stage presence that's impressively powerful. It's a feat when an act no older than us has a crowd eating out of their hands. Their shows are well choreographed and creatively put together, and the teamwork they display enthusiastically performing their act draws and locks eyes to the stage. Saturday night saw them trading instruments around, the bassist stealing his drummer's bongos, throwing extra drumsticks at their percussionist who started wailing with two in each hand, and an absolutely killer four man drum solo (solo?). And the bonus: they're good, too….

Kent Aiken- staff writer
THE XAVERIAN WEEKLY, St. Francis Xavier University
Feb. 16, 2006 Vol. 114, Issue 14
- THE XAVERIAN WEEKLY, St. Francis Xavier University

The Evening News (New Glasgow)
Pictou County & Beyond, Saturday, July 8, 2006, p. A6

Unplugged, still wired

An extension to years of living dangerously

Alan Elliott

Some descriptions transcend mere words. Take this comment from an elderly blues statesman - I forget who - when asked to define folk music. He said something like, "It's all folk music. I ain't never heard no hosses sing it."

One act that shattered the mould at last weekend's Stan Rogers Folk Festival was four young mop tops from Prince Edward Island, dressed in suits, dress shirts and ties and playing electric instruments. No, not that fab four, but The Chucky Danger Band is used to the comparison.

Who says you can't dress sharp, sound intelligent and still be cool?

I was, fortunately, somewhat prepared for these guys, having briefly seen them at the festival last year. Otherwise, it might have been a severe shock for the old ticker. The band also played the Jubilee in New Glasgow in 2005, for anyone lucky enough to have taken them in.

Anyway, having heard a bit of them in the meantime, including interviews on CBC-Radio, I made sure to seek them out early this year at the 10th annual Stanfest. I was plenty impressed watching them share the Fox Island stage Saturday with Pictou County's Dave Gunning, the two acts having a blast taking turns, joining each other on some of the tunes.

I also marked them on my agenda for later in the day at the Pourhouse - that would be the beer garden stage up in the Canso arena. Along with the wife and some friends, I headed there that afternoon - and wasn't surprised to see the place packed. And this was an all-ages crowd.

It would be a bit difficult to give a really good picture of these guys. But they aren't your typical pop-rock band.

The bio in the program tells how 21-year-old songwriter John MacPhee went to Cambodia a couple of years ago to help support the poor. While there, he wrote songs as an emotional release. Then back home in P.E. I. in 2004, he played the songs for his brother Rob and neighbour Colin Buchanan and they worked the musical arrangements out for an electric band. Later David MacDonald joined to play drums.

It would also be hard to describe what you see and hear on stage. But this is one of the most fun, energetic bunch of musicians I've heard - and seen - play live. They're also thoughtful, polite, super-nice guys. The brilliant pop hooks are everywhere and the lyrics run deep. People were bopping. And for some of us old guys, well, you almost needed your doctor's advice as to whether it was too much excitement.

After their set at the Pourhouse, on my way out I thought I'd stop to say hello, and 'good job.' Others had the same intention. The band members were busy talking to a lot of excited people from the crowd.

I had already bought a copy of their CD, Colour. When I got a chance, I said to one of the guys, "Gee, I'd get this autographed, but the cover is black - unless you've got white pens." Then I added, "This is really great. All the old hippies out here," and I motioned to the crowd, "think you guys are fantastic. And the young people do too."

My friend Larry, who'd been somewhere else among the crowd, approached at that point and told the same band member how he'd been sitting among a bunch of like-minded people in the audience. One fellow had said to a group of his buddies as the band played, "You guys remember this moment" - the implication being that The Chucky Danger Band is going to go places. Larry went on to say that everyone was talking about how this was the freshest sound, with some of the most intelligent lyrics, they'd hear in decades.

That's about as well as I can describe it, other than to tell music fans to watch for when they might be playing locally again. I did note they'll be in Antigonish on July 26. They're easily worth the trip.

It was an epiphany to me. Now I don't have to get totally retro anymore to listen to exciting music. There's renewed opportunity for us old codgers to live just a little dangerously.

Alan Elliott is an editor and columnist with The News.

Category: Society and Trends
Uniform subject(s): Music
Length: Medium, 575 words

© 2006 The Evening News (New Glasgow). All rights reserved.

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- The Evening News (New Glasgow)