There’s street smart, book smart and the stranger-than-fiction case of the Rock Bottom Remainders, the notorious all-author band.
The Remainders, who played the Nokia Theatre in Times Square Friday, cleared the quality bar set by humorist, author and band guitarist Dave Barry, who, at a pre-show reception, said, “We’re not as bad as you’d think.”
They aren’t. In fact, during the 100-minute performance, Barry wasn’t Slash, but he was slick in his guitar work. The rest of the ragtag lit rockers in the lineup also fell into the not-so-rarefied air between pretty good and not so bad.
The band, which brags that “We’ve sold more books than The Doors, The Beatles and Rolling Stones together,” also features best-selling authors Amy Tan on vocals, Mitch Albom on keyboards, Scott Turow on vocals, Greg Iles on lead guitar, James McBride on saxophone, Ridley Pearson on bass, and Roy Blount Jr. — on nothing, since the essayist and humor writer seems to have no apparent musical talent. That’s OK: Blount makes up for his deficiencies with lots of funny hats, a dance step that seems to require seizure medication and a load of enthusiasm.
There is some star potential in this outfit. Amy Tan has the rock-chick thing down totally. In her little black dress, fishnet stockings and leather patrolman’s cap, she played the dominatrix perfectly for her solo “These Boots Are Made for Walking.” Now Tan isn’t the best singer, but she was very believable playing percussion with a cat-o’-nine-tails on the derrieres of her bandmates.
The other surprising talent in the band was courtroom fiction writer Scott Turow. He’s short, unassuming, and has a very studious appearance, but when you put a mike in his hand, the guy explodes. He can’t sing worth a damn, but his passion and performance abandon made his cover of Del Shannon’s “Runaway” the night’s hit.
Turow captured the band’s most endearing quality, which is their individual willingness to step outside the comfort zone of the word to make music, have some fun and earn a little money to benefit national as well as local educational organizations such as World Vision, America’s Promise Alliance, and NYC’s 92nd Street Y. In addition, the Pearson Foundation is donating books to the New York Public Schools.