Class, the bell has rung. Please take your seats.

The title of this course is "Introductory Live Popular Polyrhythmic Music Performance Styles," otherwise known as "Rock Show 101." I hope you're in the right room

Everyone present? Let's begin.

Our first study is the young alternative band known as Jars of Clay. If you'll recall from your pre-class reading, this quartet, composed of Dan Haseltine (vocals), Stephen Mason (guitar/vocals), Matt Odmark (guitar/vocals), and Charlie Lowell (keyboard/vocals), expands to six members for its live performance, taking on a rhythm section featuring Aaron Sands on bass and Scott Savage on drums and percussion.

If you've read up on the history of the band, you'll note that in the past the group was often criticized for its live shows. Not enough volume, too many acoustic guitars, vocal problems, stage presence… that sort of thing.

Let's look now at how the band has grown and progressed, using a recent performance in Chicago to touch upon its use of the "Nine Rock Show Essentials" in an effort to illustrate its maturity:

1. Correctly reference the city you're playing in… often. Here, lead vocalist Haseltine spurred the crowd to long and sustained cheering every time he mentioned the phrase "Chicago, Illinois." However, Mr. Mason gets points deducted from mentioning the name of departed Bears coach Mike Ditka during band introductions. Lesson learned: If you're going to mention a local figure, make sure he or she is not living in New Orleans at the time.
2. Plug your current record. Again, Mr. Haseltine makes a strong showing here, mentioning Jars of Clay's new album Much Afraid while introducing the first cut on it, "Overjoyed."
3. Covers, covers, covers. Okay, so the band only used one cover, but it was a doozy, an uptempo homage to the late John Denver with "Take Me Home, Country Roads."
4. Give 'em something they can't get anywhere else. The caffeinated novelty song "Good Coffee, Strong Coffee" became a crowd favorite, complete with Mr. Odmark's live rendition of a cappuccino maker.
5. Make 'em wait for it. In probably the most emotionally charged point of the evening, the band made the screaming throng wait a good 15 seconds in the middle of its vibrant hit "Flood" before kicking off the familiar final chorus.
6. Segues. The band's new/old song "Fade to Grey" and it's cold ending slid effortlessly into the aforementioned "Flood." This band could write and perform songs together for the next 20 years and not find a better transition than these two songs.
7. Props. One the plus side, the use of bubbles streaming down from atop the suspended speakers during the set's first song "Weighed Down" was a nice touch. On the minus side, the same bubbles during the first encore "Liquid," a rather graphic representative of Christ's crucifixion, were a distraction.
8. Have a good opening band. Labelmates Plumb, who find themselves in a similar situation as Jars did two years ago (that of still learning how to be a band) rocked with an intensity the audience probably was not expecting. Vocalist Tiffany Arbuckle showed flashes of brilliance leading the band through its paces, but was also sometimes in the way of the instrumental hijinks of guitarist Thad Busby and bassist J.J. Placencio. Lesson learned: Know where your bandmates are on stage at all times.
9. Wrapping it up. Nothing beats the time-honored classic "Thank you and good night." And when you fold in Essential No. 1, you have the crowd eating from your hands. Jars did both. Concerning individual performances. Mr. Haseltine has made tremendous strides as a frontman. Where in the past he often melded in with the other personalities on stage, now he's firmly in charge, both vocally and presence-wise.

The addition of more electric guitar (courtesy of Mr. Mason) and more keyboards (courtesy of Mr. Lowell) gives Jars of Clay the sonic punch it had lacked in previous outings, and the acoustics of this particular sold-out 4,000-seat room showcased that newfound approach.

Overall, Jars of Clay's live show has come light-years from the some times tentative acoustic quartet that was playing coffeehouses a mere three years ago. This crowd obviously noticed the changes, with more than one overhead conversation forming along the lines of "I can't believe this is the same band I saw open for Michael W. Smith."

That's all for today. Next time, we'll look at the topic "Back-up Dancers: Bane or Boon?"

Class dismissed.*

*Weighed Down
*Crazy Times
*Like a Child
*Boy on a String
*Overjoyed
*Much Afraid
*Five Candles (You Were There)
*Love Song for a Savior
*Take Me Home, Country Roads
*Good Coffee, Strong Coffee
*Worlds Apart
*Truce
*Tea and Sympathy
*Fade to Grey
*Flood
*Liquid (encore)
*4:7 (encore)

*Article transcribed from CCM Magazine, February 1998, page 42.