It wasn't exactly the environment you'd expect to see the blues in, it wasn't dark, it wasn't particularly smoky and it wasn't a laid-back crowd. Then again, Cadillac Moon is far from your basic blues band and Key West is anything but your prototypical club, so it made plenty of sense. For CadillacMoon, it was the first night that they were playing the songs from their new release with the CD actually out and available for purchase and by set's end, the band that won the l995 Long Island Music Festival left but one question...how much better could this already brilliant band get? Vocalist Al Santoriello, guitarist Mike Nugent, keyboardist Rich Campbell, bassist Dave Noyes and new drummer, Cliff Hackford,are celebrating the release of their second CD, "In The Kitchen", these days.
The people who go to see them are obviously celebrating life as evidenced by the sea of joyous dancers that filled the dance floor in front of them. You want to know how good this group is? Some of the dancers, just down the stairs from the Escape's show above, were stomping up a storm...AND THEY WERE DEAF! Communicating through sign language, they picked up the good time vibes and their instincts had them shuffling from the pulsating rhythms in a matter of moments. You start to feel, in short order, that these five blues men could probably get corpses to toe tap, too.
Mixing the material from their first disc with their new entries, all of Cadillac Moon's material sounded equally vital and powerful. Newer songs like "Piece Of Mind", "You're Not Man Enough To Take My Woman," "In The Kitchen", and "Show Me Your Tattoo," spotlighted that this band continues to evolve in the songwriting department. The music reflects neatly carved solo trade-offs and gritty vocals and the lyrics point up a superbly sly tongue-in-cheek manner, particularly on another new track, "What's Right With This Picture?" Older Moon Tunes, such as "File Gumbo" and "Avalanche", were also played with the kind of soul, burning passion and such a complete sense of purpose that it would be impossible for the newcomer to spot what the more recent songs are. It's very natural for a band to play new songs with more excitement or greater affection, but these guys play everything like their lives depend on it.
Where you truly begin to realize that Cadillac Moon is truly uncommon, lies beyond the songs themselves. But rather in every man's superior ability in their job. Santoriello has the perfect voice for their music, a clean, crisp and powerful set of pipes that can soar or add the necessary grit to every song. Nugent is a monster running his fret board, both in his technical mastery and his rare sense of taste and big statements through compact soloing. Campbell is another killer player, equally adept at honky-tonkin' as he is at adding just the right seasonings to slower songs and jaw-dropping riffing on his leads. Noyes, as steady a four-string clock as you'll ever find, tosses in so many subtle little runs that you almost don't catch it, yet, there he is, quietly adding bricks to this remarkable wall of sound while Hackford (the perfect replacement part) anchors it all with steady timing and creative ideas. As a unit, they compliment each other as few bands ever have, harmonize like nobody's business and pour up a set that goes down smooth and then drills you like a fine glass of whiskey. Quite simply, if Cadillac Moon can get any better than they were this show, the possibilities are just plain scary.
What else is scary is that no major label has been bright enough to grab these guys...oh, I'm sorry ,I forgot I was in the 90's for a minute and that this is the "Emperor's New Clothes" Days, we're being force-fed crummy little garage bands that wouldn't know key if they needed to get into an apartment to get laid. Cadillac Moon is NOT a trendy little alternative band and the quality and dignity of their music and playing skills will always make their road harder to travel where labels are concerned. Greatness, however has always been a longer road and Cadillac Moon is in for the long haul.
Cadillac Moon has just been enlisted for a new Al Pacino film and hopefully that will be a small part of bringing them to national attention. For anyone who's seen them around the area's clubs, telling you that they are one of the best bands the Island has ever produced is hardly news, it's just a reminder that we've got a local treasure that's still out there to enjoy. Do yourself a favor and go celebrate life with them.
John Blenn, Music and Entertainment Editor
