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Review Mon Jul 09 2007
Tom Waits Does "Betty Davis Eyes"? Relax, It's Just B1g T1me
Last night, while having some casual drinks at Simon's Tavern, I stumbled upon something a little bit marvelous. It's B1g T1me, a cover band beyond all cover bands. See, they're not about sounding just like your favorite band from the '80s, they're about sounding like Tom Waits covering your favorite band from the '80s — and believe me it's a shot of sweet brown wonderful. I heard rousing, gravelly, Waitsian renditions of Sir Mix-a-lot's "Baby Got Back", Tom Petty's "Don't Come Around Here No More" and Journey's "Wheel in the Sky" (and of course, the band's namesake "Big Time" by Peter Gabriel) beat on garbage cans, rocked on accordion and vibes, earnestly delivered and gleefully received by the bar-goers. It's quite something to hear the one-hit-wonders of your youth transformed into dark, tortured, angry fist-shaking melodies. In fact, there's something quite pleasing about it all — as if the true angst of your hormone-soaked and pop infused teen years is finally realized in B1g T1me's performance.
They're always looking for new song suggestions, so let them hear from you at their MySpace page, or at their next show at Quenchers on July 18th (there's no cover).