The Transients: Love Them So Much We Keep Coming Back

Let me preface this review with saying that I am not, nor have a ever been a fan of cover bands. I always held the negative mindset that cover bands were a group of “wannabes” who couldn’t hack it playing “real” music. Then I got an e-mail from a loyal gossiper who insisted that we just HAD to check out this local band, “They sing covers, but B I swear you will love them” the gossiper insisted. I grumbled and brought the idea to my staff who jumped on the chance for a local field trip to Tomfooleries in Kansas City. So the three of us piled in the Gossip Mobile and headed to Tomfooleries to meet the band.

We met The Transients before their setup to get to know them a little better. The first thing my staff noticed was, “Wow, they’re super cute”. Yes I love my staff. They are a very observant bunch of girls, sigh. The first thing I noticed was they were funny, really funny. They were joking from the second they walked up to our table. Honestly, I laughed through most of the nearly hour long interview. It was refreshing to meet a group of guys who genuinely like working and being around each other. No big egos here in this group, thank goodness.

Being in a band to The Transients means having relationships with a couple other guys and that is something that can be hard for girls to understand. Brandon is married and has possibly the cutest little boy I have ever seen. Check out this kids photos, honestly they don’t do him justice. Brandon’s wife, Jessica, understands that his love for music has been in him since he was a child. Jessica knew Brandon's love for music when they met, but it can be hard balancing a full time job, family life, and playing music. Brandon admits that the work that goes into a band isn’t always something girls want to hear.

Patrick is also in a relationship with a girl he met at one of The Transients shows. They are a little over a year in and things are going well for the new couple. Patrick says his girlfriend is very supportive, even with the occasional fan wanting some extra attention from the band. Matt however is the most vocal about where ladies stand in his life.

 Matt says, “ I’m in a band, I own a recording studio, I play all the time if and when or there is time for 'quality time' that’s great. But when you start griping about it I probably wont call anymore. Music is my first love, so far I am more in love with music then any girl I have ever met.”

 The stage show has a lot of different elements that we hadn’t seen in any previous bands' show. The first thing we noticed during setup, which was a tube that was taped to Patrick’s mic and ran down the mic stand to a little box on the floor with push levers on it. We learned that this was called a 'talk box', and it allows Patrick to produce different sounds.

Patrick puts the tube into his mouth and then hums, sings, etc. Pushing the box on the floor while making noise into the tube causes the magic that makes the robotic sound. Pretty high tech, so give me some credit, I did my best trying to explain it. Poor Matt I am sure cringes to hear me try to explain the talk box, because the poor guy took half an hour trying to explain it to me. I am sure that the explanation sounds strange, but listen to it in one of the songs, and it is amazing. In fact I heard some girls at the show borderline freak out because they thought it was so hot, can’t say I’m with them their, but we’ll go with it none the less.

The band also has a pretty extensive computer system they use during their shows, amazing the things a little Mac computer can do. With this unique little Mac they can run with backing tracks, which are prerecorded, and cued to specific songs. This allows for them to walk into a venue as a three man band, but sound much larger. The prerecording is all done by members of the band in studio and is then synced together for the finished product you hear at the show. It’s not uncommon for Matt to be fiddling with this dial or that lever while playing the bass. And we say men can’t multitask.

I also quickly realized that these guys aren’t just a cover band, they write their own stuff too. The musical writing process starts out with Patrick working the lyrics and guitar parts out. Then during practices Brandon adds the rhythm and Matt works out some of the other instrumental parts. As the practices continues the songs grow and mold, sometimes ending up going in a different route then anticipated. They say the goal is to have everyone do something fun during each song so no one is stuck in the background twiddling their thumbs. The three are like a well oiled machine all knowing their parts and with no one getting to big for their britches.

Brandon says, “No one thinks to much of themselves. Take Matt, he’s conservative in the pocket. You would never find him standing on top of a barstool playing the bass behind his head while getting a lap dance”. Oh shoot the Gossip Girl B staff was in hopes we’d be able to that capture on film.

The show blew me away and the crowd was into it from the first note. In fact the staff and I liked it so much we came back for their next show. You haven’t seen a bar crowd go crazy until you’ve heard Patrick belt out Garth Brooks “Friends In Low Places”. Think I’m kidding? People were coming out of the woodwork to cram onto the dance floor. You’ll hear a little bit of everything at the shows, anything from Oasis to Johnny Cash. No matter what type of music you listen to, at a Transients show you will leave pleased.

As the night wrapped up, a night full of music bouncing around in my head, I found myself reflecting. Maybe I had been wrong about putting “cover bands” in a little box labeled, “Aint Ever Gonna Happen!”. The Transients though labeled a “cover band” are so much more then that. The are an amazing group of artists who love what they do from the depths of their souls. A little cheese ball sounding, I know, but that’s the best way I can describe it. They are a group of guys who get to do what they love for a living, we should all be so lucky.

So if your travels bring you through good ole KC check out the Transients MySpace page (www.myspace.com/thetransientskc) and see where they are playing. If they are at Tomfooleries you are bound to have great time with a great group of people. The Transients have a vast following of loyal fans. Some of those fans will get up and dance, others lean against the wall and nod their head along with the music, while others belt out every word to their favorite songs. No matter which type of fan you are, there is a place for you in the Transients world. All you really need to decide is, what type of fan are you?

 ( Take a second to check out the photo wall and video wall of our weekend with The Transients. There are a lot of great clips for you to enjoy, that feature the amazing talents thd guys have)

Caption For Bartender Clip, Featuring Vince Sola

The clip above  is The Transients featuring Vince Sola covering Bartender.  

Caption For "Talk Box" Clip

Remember the "talk box" I went over in the article. Here's what it sounds like when Partick uses it. How cool is this?! And yes he's make the sounds with his mouth.

Caption For Brandon's Drum Solo

The clip above is of one of Brandon's fantastic  drum solos.

Caption For Clip Of Damian

Above is a clip of Brandon's Son, Damian, rocking it out just like his Dad. Talk about talent!!