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Live Local Music

My Hero Zero: Zero

Posted by Aaron Wynne on 12/09 at 06:24 PM

When My Hero Zero took stage last Thursday, I found myself in a concerning situation. The band opened with a cover of “This Love,” and I sighed at the probable sight of a band fallen into the fallacious trend of hip-hop covers. When the second song started, it occurred to me that this could be something even more diabolical. “Sweet Caroline” should NEVER be the second song in a set-list. Don’t get me wrong, the song emanates a great atmosphere, but it is one best reserved for the end of a night, not the beginning.

As hip-hop billboard songs came one after another, including “Party in the U.S.A.,” I wondered what I had gotten myself into. Really, the FCC should start regulating false advertising for bands that claim to play rock. I mean, when did such bands decide to throw musical dignity out the window?

I suppose you could say they attempted to balance things out when they played “Beautiful Oblivion” and “The Joker,” but the covers felt flat and retained little of the energy that made the originals so good. Furthermore, after hearing the band’s rendition of “Tik Tok” and “Just Dance,” I have to pronounce My Hero Zero as a stain on the State College music scene. Sorry guys.

The Saloon did manage to fill its dance floor that night. So as long as people continue to show support for these types of bands, bands like this will continue to take the stage. And while I hate the idea of hip-hop covers, they still have their place at popular downtown venues. But that doesn’t mean a band has to sacrifice skill and character. The band could have easily introduced a little more flare by playing something that strays from the simple chord structures that comprise most songs.

Or perhaps the band could produce something novel—maybe its own pseudo rock hip-hop song. Then the band could present the audience with something catchy while establishing credibility and standing out.

Overall the band was a poor miscalculation to witness, on my part. As long as bands like My Hero Zero continue to flood downtown, all I ask is that they do so with more skill and more variety.

My Hero Zero plays regular Thursday gigs at the Saloon, 10:30pm.

See also: My Hero Zero at Wingfest: Top 40 Haven