Nigel's With Attitude - Making Plans...

By Cyndi Ford

Nigel's With Attitude

Eddie's Attic September 12, 2010

Members:

Tim Smith - (Sheryl Crow, Jellyfish, The Producers, Thing One Thing Two)

Peter Stroud - (Sheryl Crow, Don Henley, Shawn Mullins, Pete Droge, Sara McLachlan)

Nick Niespodziani, Mark Cobb, Mark Bencuya - ( all members of Y-O-U, 10 Highs Thursday Night Traffic Nightmares, Yacht Rock Review)

Kevin Spencer - (Rent, Daniel Lanois, Mudgirl)

What does a professional musician do for fun? Well in this case, six of the finest musicians in Atlanta form a "super group" for the sole purpose of having fun. Nigel's With Attitude thankfully has a great attitude; and shares their fun with the rest of us. When these guys get together a couple of times a year to do their XTC tribute shows, it is one of those must see events. "Why XTC?" I asked Peter Stroud. "Because it is Tim's favorite band." as he laughs and smiles. These guys do enjoy playing these shows, and they do have fun. And I have never laughed so hard at the funny banter between band-mates.

Eddie's Attic, located in Decatur, Georgia; is in my opinion a musicians centered venue. Before the band starts everyone is asked to be quiet, turn cell phones off, and everyone is seated. The patrons are asked to be mindful of their voices and keep conversations to a minimum. The staff ensure their performers get the respect they deserve.

The show began with Nick Niespodziani, Tim Smith and Rob Aldridge (of the Umajets) doing acoustic versions of a few of their originals. With names like 'Sky Writing', and 'Kaleidoscope', one can only imagine how beautiful they sounded.

Because it is the remarkable harmony that these guys have that truly stands out. Tim's original "Fun in the Sun" had a laid back beat, which he jokingly said, " was written when he was spending too much time touring with Sheryl Crow." Peter Stroud and Tim Smith both play with Grammy winner Sheryl Crow , and have done so for the past 14 years or so.

After a short break the time to play tribute to XTC arrived. They played all the classics, "Farmboy's Wages, Senses Working Overtime, Brainiacs Daughter " (which featured Nick on the recorder, yup the kind from 5th grade). " Wrapped in Grey," which is a very complex song that highlighted the talent that these guys possess. " Seasons Cycle'' was perfect to showcase their ability to harmonize with perfection. Because these guys were spot on, no mistakes, obviously extremely professional musicians.

Their choice of equipment was very impressive. Peter Stroud played a sharp looking 12 string Rickenbacker, and a Fender Telecaster with a bigsby vibrato, and a white Elliot Peter Stroud signature model that is based on a Fender Jazzmaster. Peter also designed the amp that he played through, a Little Elvis 65 amp. Peter is also the co-founding partner of 65 amps, a manufacturer of hand made guitar amplifiers. And there were enough pedals on the floor to open a music store. These guys were ready to entertain.

They closed the set with "Generals and Majors" and "Mayor of Simpleton," two of my favorite XTC songs. This was quite the set, 15 songs, very impressive. And when you added the opening originals it made for quite a show. However, this was only made better by them doing a second almost identical set. Talk about a dream come true, to finally get that second dose of a good show. The guys really had fun with this set, and the crowd did as well. We all rocked this music venue, and had a rip roaring good time. Conversation may have been kept to a minimum, but the hoots and applause was not.

They had the crowd roaring with laughter, as if a comedian was on stage. It was very apparent that these guys do this for the pure joy of having a good time with their friends; glad I was was of those friends.

Thanks guys.

http://www.65amps.com/tupelo.html http://nation.pleaserock.com/profile/NigelsWithAttitude

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nick@pleaserock.com

Cyndi