Irving Plaza

July 15, 1999
New York City, NY
Cheryl A. Hoahing
Music.com

The party began the moment the Marvelous 3 hit the stage on July 15 at New York City’s Irving Plaza. "Get your hands in the air," yelled singer/guitarist Butch Walker as a rap number blasted out of the speakers. When the audience finished screaming, the band played their first tune, "You’re So Yesterday."

The pop/rock band from Atlanta mainly played songs from their major label debut (Elektra’s Hey! Album) like: "Freak Of The Week," "Vampires In Love," "Write It On Your Hand," "Over Your Head," "Mrs. Jackson," "Indie Queen" and "Every Monday."

Walker—one of the best frontmen out there today—made the concert fun for everyone. He ran and jumped all around the entire stage like a kid in need of Ritalin, and didn’t let that energy die down once during the 70-minute performance. Very charismatic and extremely likable, Walker was quite in touch with the fans and spent a lot of time talking to the audience (something that many frontmen neglect to do nowadays). And who could not love a guy wearing an old Prince T-shirt who tells his mother that he loves her in front of hundreds of people?

In addition to Walker’s unique personality, he displayed dynamic vocals and fine fret-work. Rounding out the Marvelous 3 are two other great musicians: Jayce Fincher (on bass and backing vocals) and Slug (on drums). For an encore the band chose Naked Eyes’ "Always Something There To Remind Me." What seemed like an odd choice at first, turned into a great closer—complete with a sing-along—for a great night... Make that a marvelous night!