BWW Rreview: D. Scott Eads and His Combo SHAKE THE HOUSE

Singer D. Scott Eads returned to Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal for the third time Sunday September 29. and his latest show Shake the House proved indeed that the third time's the charm. It pulled together rock 'n roll chart toppers of the 50s and 60s covering Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison all the way up to Elvis and the Beatles. This is obviously Eads' kind of show The material suits his voice and musical style to perfection.

He really got into the music, moving his body in rhythm and stretching his vocal instrument to the max with power and passion. Owning the show, he captured our total involvement in the process.

Those of us who grew up during those years remember how the music was our lifeblood. We thrived on listening to it, even though we had to escape to our bedroom to a turntable or radio to avoid the groans and misery of our parents. "Turn that God awful noise off!" mom and dad howled as I sat entranced by the Beatles. Little did our parents know that these Brit boys were transforming the whole music scene with their originality just as rap, hip-hop is doing at the present time.

What's a rock concert without a band, right? Eads' hour long set flew by, backed by splendid musicians musical director David Arana at the piano, Steve Gregory on guitar, Jerry Watts on bass, and Dave Johnstone on drums. This fab quartet truly did 'shake the house".

With a genuine connection to the material, Eads displayed lots of humor as he set the songs in motion. Highlights were: "Great Balls of Fire", Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover", "The Wanderer", Del Shannon's "Runaway" and "Louie, Louie" that was originally blacklisted because of its supposed profanity. Here's where the humor came in. Eads spoke of how a radio disc jockey called it the worst song in rock history and as a result, it became a huge hit. Profanity? No one could understand the lyrics, so how could anyone call the song obscene?

Two really lovely moments came into the show with "Can't Help Falling In Love", based on an original French ballad and then "Unchained Melody" that was previously around for a long, long time but didn't become famous until it was featured as the romantic ballad in the 1990 megahit film "Ghost".

The Beatles' medley "When I'm Sixty-Four", "We Can Work It Out" and "Hello, Goodbye" really got the audience movin' and groovin' in their seats, and the show ended much too quickly. We could have sat and listened for at least another half hour.

As we salute the American Songbook, I believe that rock and roll deserves a place of honor as well. Bravo to D. Scott Eads for presenting this show and making it of equal importance to his tribute to Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Rosemary Clooney. We love them all and younger generations - yes, they were in attendance too - need to learn to respect names like Harry Belafonte, Chuck Berry and The Righteous Brothers.

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