This year, the WBCN Rock ’n’ Roll Rumble, which moved from the Paradise to the Middle East back in the ’90s, waited until the final to move from the upstairs where the preliminaries were held to the larger downstairs room. And all three of the bands chosen to compete last Friday night — the two semifinalists plus a “wild-card” — seemed liberated by the possibilities of the scaled-up stage, the larger sound-system, and a good-naturedly rowdy capacity crowd. None more so than wild-card picks the Campaign for Real Time (C4RT), a bold six-member, multi-racial explosion of fusionaries who exploded when they hit that stage with their mix of hip-pop dynamics, multi-vocalist MC rapping, hard-rock guitarisms, and pounding drums of the real and programmed sort. Yeah, C4RT are flirting with a dated formula. But they bring a quirky freshness and enthusiasm to what they themselves have referred to as a Timbaland-meets-Talking-Heads sensibility, momentarily erasing bad memories of Limp Bizkit in favor of the recent triumphs of Black Eyed Peas.
Given C4RT’s obvious marketability, the competition was more or less over before it began. Yes, the Rudds, with their lovingly retro take on ’70s rock, genuine guitar heroics, bagful of Cheap Trick hooks, and wonderfully wicked frontman (John Powhida), delivered their familiar goods in fine style. And scruffy Scamper were there to represent all the indie-rockers in the crowd, with their melodic guitar buzz, earnest vocals, and artlessly charming presence. But on this night, it came down to comparing apples and oranges to an iPod: the Rudds and Scamper don’t need to win popularity contests like this, whereas C4RT are built to please the kind of aspiring talent scouts who’d been chosen as judges. So as we all stood dutifully through a set of very Foo Fighterish alt-rock from Foo drummer Taylor Hawkins, who opted to sit behind his kit stage center as his Coattail Riders stood around him, the outcome hardly seemed to matter. There was some booing amid the applause when C4RT were crowned by 2005 Rumble also-ran Robby Roadsteamer. But mostly people just seemed worn out and ready to head home, where we’d all live to fight another day.
Related:
The Big Hurt: Hootie goes country, Roses stay in denial, Spector gets 'demonic', +/-, Afterglow, More 
- The Big Hurt: Hootie goes country, Roses stay in denial, Spector gets 'demonic'
I’m still not used to the idea that Darius Rucker (“Hootie” to you and me) is a chart-topping country superstar now.
- +/-
James Baluyut honed his indie-rock chops playing guitar in his older brother Richard’s mid-’90s band Versus, an underrated outfit whose lean, sexy jangle would’ve been well served by the blogosphere’s sponsorship.
- Afterglow
When Justin Timberlake says he’s in love with you, what is there to do but believe him? Slideshow: Justin Timberlake with special guest Pink at TD BankNorth Garden, February 6, 2007
- On the racks
Nelly Furtado, Frank Black, Pearl Jam, Fatboy Slim, and Luna.
- On the racks: October 17, 2006
Plus the Slits, Sarah McLachlan, and holiday fare.
- Mission statements
You can tell a lot by a man’s record collection, and even more by his DJ set. And if not? Well, you still got to hear the new Burma record The Obliterati at the Enormous Room.
- Northern neighbors
Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, is full of promising, undiscovered acts.
- Dreamgirls
The chorus has been singing for months now: Bill Condon’s can’t-miss adaptation of Tom Eyen & Henry Krieger’s 25-year-old Broadway musical is roaring into theaters to save a lackluster fall. Watch the trailer for Dreamgirls (QuickTime)
- Pleasures still unknown
Ian Curtis (Sam Riley) of the Manchester band Joy Division wrote songs that evoke, with incantatory inevitability, terror, delight, and ecstasy.
- Magic numbers
“I like that Stone Roses song,” one of them noted. “You know the one I mean — ‘I Wanna Be a Door.’ ”
- Living large
The Hard Rock was donating all bar proceeds to the Boston anti-violence charity Peace Games.
- Less
Topics:
Live Reviews
, Timbaland, Entertainment, Music, More
, Timbaland, Entertainment, Music, Pop and Rock Music, Limp Bizkit, Cheap Trick, Taylor Hawkins, John Powhida, The Black Eyed Peas, Robby Roadsteamer, Less
