December 8, 2007
SFist Reviews... Plain (and Slightly Boring) White T's
“It’s been a hell of a year,” Tom Higgenson of Plain White T's told Entertainment Weekly. “But I’m really looking forward to the next one, too.” Plain White T's have received a Grammy nomination for "Best Song of the Year" for the over-played, hugely popular song, "Hey There, Delilah." Higgenson should be worried about writing his next big hit before we start saying, Plain White Who? The second single of their latest album, "Our Time Now" isn't cutting it.
They released their fourth full-length album this summer as they set off for their small headlining tour. They finally found major success when Higgenson sang a very simple plea to Delilah in his acoustic guitar love song, "Hey There, Delilah." It's catchy and simple but mostly repetitive. It's sold over 2.35 million digital downloads and is one of the biggest songs of the year world-wide. With all this hype, it seems that we favored Plain White T's without ever actually listening to rest of the album. We assumed that it would be just as good. It's not. Hence the reason why they didn't get an "Album of the Year" nomination, too. They should feel a little better about themselves looking at who did get nominated: Rihanna and Foo Fighers?! Who votes for this shit?
To read about the concert, take the jump...
Plain White T's opened for the emo-giant, Fall Out Boy last week and boy were we underwhelmed and a bit overwhelmed. Underwhelmed by the talent and actual performance and overwhelmed by the insanely juvenile crowd. Either the San Jose Events Center has the worst sound possible or Plain White T's has employed the worst sound engineer - probably a combination of both.
Considering they were opening with two other bands, Cute is What We Aim For and Gym Class Heroes, their set was short and sweet with about six or seven songs. With the lack of listenable acoustics, all we heard was the drum-set played by De'Mar Hamilton. Oh, and on occasion we heard shouting by the lead singer shouter, Higgenson. It really wasn't until he brought out his acoustic guitar, got rid of his band and serenaded the audience with the ever-popular hit, "Hey There, Delilah," that we actually heard some talent. Higgenson could actually sing! The song was overpowered though by 13 year-old girls in Fall Out Boy t-shirts screaming the lyrics. (Ick!)
Overall, we think that they should stick to sappy love ballads, after all it's what everyone liked - even the Grammy nominators. If not, they'll end up in the one-hit wonder pile, something that any musician (especially Grammy-nominated) does not want to be in.
Photo taken by author
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I wouldn't spend any energy worrying about Grammy nominations or winners. The Grammys have had no relevance to what's actually happening in music since maybe the early 70's, if even then. They're a complete joke. Do you really think the Dixie Chicks had the best album and song of the year last year?
That being said, I can see why that Plain White Ts song was a big hit. Like you said, catchy and repetitive. That's what the kids like.
I have to laugh at the idea of going to a Fall Out Boy concert and complaining about teenagers.
Angrybat: It would seem that it's not only the kids who like it.
To be honest, I really liked the Plain White T's when they weren't as famous ... if they're famous now, anyway... for one song. They played at The Fillmore back in '04, and I thought they were pretty awesome and nice because they were walking around signing stuff and talking to people (BIG deal for me back then. BIG.). I'd probably be more excited for them if "Hey There Delilah" wasn't an old song of theirs. Back then they were a supporting act (for Simple Plan), and for some reason, they still are.
And I hate, hate, haaaaaaaaaaaate when a song gets to that point where it's apparent the crowd knows the lyrics and think singing aloud makes it better. It doesn't! This is never a good thing. It's still a good song, but I like to take it in small doses.
PLAIN WHITE