One Hit Wonder - Texas Style
"Dance the Night Away". Ask anyone about The Maveriks and their answer always contains that song. Unless you ask about the lead singer's star sign. But even then they might tack that song name on at the end. Well, anyway. The Maveriks' somewhat unique brand of happy-rock seems to go down well with the crowd. Well, the first song does, anyway. I must admit, when I first jammed the CD into the computer and hit play, I was dreading a "Quickly rushed-off Live Album to make a few bucks" job. But there's no sense of that here. The recording quality is very nice and the whole show is well presented. The band seem to be having a good time and the music isn't that bad.
So, what's my problem?
Well, I don't mean to be a pessimist, but this band are a one hit wonder. None of the other songs even comes close to 'Dance the Night Away', and that's a shame, because The Maveriks could be so much more. Quite a few of the later songs on the album sound somewhat samey, and after a while the croud seem to have left, and, despite their best attempts, the band just can't rekindle the energy shared by them and their audience during that first song.
The Maveriks are definitely not going to fade away like so many of these one hit wonder bands do - they've got the ability, the talent and the chance to stick around, so let's just hope they do.
'The Maveriks Live In Austin, Texas' is a good album, in the way it's done and the band's stage presence, but the second half of the album isn't worth listening to. The first few songs sound so lacking after 'Dance the Night Away'. The Maveriks can make legendary songs. Let's just wait for them to do that.