Cowboy Mouth, The Name of the Band is Cowboy Mouth (Valley DVD)

 

Sometimes you’ve just got to be there. The Name of the Band is Cowboy Mouth is a DVD of the band at the Roxy in Los Angeles, and it documents the love affair Cowboy Mouth has with its fans. When Fred says scream, they scream. When he says, “Gimme rhythm,” they give him rhythm. When he shouts, “Are you with me?!” they are. Onstage, he exudes the joy of living and the audience gets it, framed in songs that simple and effectively catchy.

 

But watching a DVD isn’t the same as being there, and over time, the relentless calls for energy, rhythm, screaming and so on become repetitive in a way they don’t if you’re there, drinking and caught up in the show. The distance makes the songs seem as if they exist solely as vehicles for audience interaction, and have no independent purpose. Beyond that, the joy of living personified isn’t necessarily a pretty picture. You have to admire Fred LeBlanc’s energy and enthusiasm, but that doesn’t mean the vision of him sweating and mugging in a blur of motion is one you can easily watch up close for an hour and a half.

 

The Cowboy Mouth DVD brings to mind Earl Turner, who used to play the theater at Harrah’s. Turner is an entertainer and proud of it, and everything in his show is dedicated to the purpose of entertaining. He is a good singer, but he isn’t showing off his pipes or interpreting songs in a deep, felt way; he is doing what he has to in order to entertain the crowd for an hour or so. Cowboy Mouth seems very similar, and LeBlanc is as scientific as Turner about the business of moving a crowd. I wonder if that’s what we really want—the band as thrill ride—but then I think about Kiss and all the pop singers with a dance troupe onstage—the band as Cats—and groups with elaborate light shows—the band as Laser Floyd—and wonder if it’s just me.