Northmont, "Gone"

Almost anyone who’s ever had a band has played “If only”. And we’re not talking power ballad here. We’re talking rumination.

If only they had played our stuff. If only we had landed that singer. Guitarist. Drummer. If only we had come along a few years earlier. If only we had landed that big gig.

But few bands have lived out their “if only” moment more publicly than Northmont.

The Next Great American band was a one not so hit wonder (I think it finished last in its time slot) that aired in the fall of 2007. Think American Idol for bands. 

The concept was inherently flawed. Bands – much more so than vocalists – have a distinct sound. And that sound isn’t necessarily going to translate to strong performances of other people’s stuff. Nirvana probably would’ve made a crap Billy Joel cover band.

Image: Vectorfunk, Flickr (CC by 2.0)

For the live audition round, it appeared that you got one song in front of the judges. So on to the outdoor Las Vegas stage -- representing the dying genre of earnest Rock/Pop strolls Dayton, Ohio’s Northmont. 

Back story -- this is their last shot before moving on to adultdom. Both the lead singer and lead guitarist have young daughters, the latter back in New Zealand.

They hit the stage and play a cover, as do many of the others. A production decision made by the good folks at Fox, I assume. God forbid we select America’s next great brand based on original material.

At least Northmont warms my obscurist heart by playing a non-hit Matchbox 20 tune (“Long Day”). And they absolutely tear it up. Well, not exactly. It’s an impassioned but messy attempt. Lead singer has definitely got the pipes but distractingly starts to scale the stage scaffolding after like 45 seconds.

Judge Johnny “Goo Goo Dolls Reznik” starts with a promising “wow” but then labels the performance as “desperate”. Then moves on to say the size of their talent doesn’t match the size of their performance. Ouch. 

Sheila E of Prince drumming fame says they have potential. The core guys are in their mid-30s. Double ouch. 

The lead singer scores compliments while the band gets trashed. Triple ouch. 

But music biz judge Dicko (real name) gives them a second chance -- saying they’ve got a day to get it right and try again. Intraband squabbling predictably ensues.

At the end of the show Northmont makes their triumphant return to the stage and – gasp – performs an original ballad. The tune is good. The performance is both dialed and reeled in. Redemption. Hard work rewarded. Life’s passion validated. On to the finals, baby, and up to 12 weeks of national TV exposure plus a shot at that elusive recording contract!

Um, no. In one of the most sadistic bits of reality TV production I’ve ever seen, Northmont goes down in flames.

Reznik casts the final blow, suggesting perhaps they need a heavier sound.  The irony threatens to crush everyone within a twenty-mile radius. The Goo Goo Dolls toiled in glorious punkish (see 1990's Hold Me Up) and then later power popish (see 1993's Superstar Car Wash) anonymity for a decade until the success of the acoustic “Name” and then “Iris” sent them scurrying from the garage faster than a bunch of rodents from a sonic bomb.

The sequence ends with Northmont's lead guitarist going off to call his family and tell them how’s he failed again while the lead singer stares emptily into the desert. All the while judge Reznik and his Gooey band mates' “Better Days” plays beneath. Holy crap. The music business is a bitch.

Perhaps out of some weird sense of producer guilt, the lead singer and the guitarist show up in the finale as part of a super band medley that otherwise consists of folks who made it deep into the final weeks of the show.

Out of musical/morbid curiosity, at some point I went looking for Northmont on the Internet and got hooked on this post’s tune: Gone. Five years later I'm still hooked.

Ironically, the opening notes sound a lot like the Goo GooDolls “Naked”.  Then I discover Northmont had covered the Goo Goo’s “Name” at some point.

I’m betting the late blooming, fellow rust belting Goo Goos were a big inspiration to Northmont.  So to have Johnny Reznik essentially put the nails in the 'ole musical career coffin? Damn. This musical bitch only gets crueler.

M-

PS: The winners of the Next Great American (Cover) Band were Carrie Underwood’s fiddler and his two country-pop playing brothers -- the Clark Brothers.  They recorded one album (as Sons of Sylvia) that hits #33 on the US album charts. Not bad.

And then? Dropped by the record label. Gone.