Performance Reviews
December 4, 2008
HOLIDAY JAMS
CMP Covers will be doing only a couple of shows during the holiday season locally. The first will be on Dec. 6th at Sully's 22735 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance, CA 90505. Cost: Free. the second will be a New Year's Eve Bash starting at 9:00 pm at Hermosa Saloon, 211 Pacific Coast Hwy., Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. Cost: Free. The New Year's Eve Bash will have other local notables from different bands sitting with the group that night. Special guests: Sal Garcia (Thank U Drive Thru) Mike Kobayashi (South Bay Allstars) and Scott Gerber (Push the Crash). CMP Covers plays music from the eighties to present with verve and panache. Expect the best on these two dates.
By B. Noel Barr, The Music Writer Dude
Random Lengths News, San Pedro
February 23, 2008
"CMP Covers, an adept good rockin' retro cover group, doing your favorites from the not too distant past. They kicked into high gear last night with an unrelenting show that had people dancing and having a good time. This from a reliable soure......I trust all in attendance needed to have a little rattle snake medicine to recover. Next dose of CMP Covers comes mid March at the Pitcher House. Rock Hard Brothers and Sisters, Rock Hard!"
Noel Barr, The Music Writer Dude
Random Lengths News, San Pedro
April 19, 2008
"After my show @ kbeach.org, I went to Hermosa Saloon and caught CMP Covers, as the name notes it is a cover band, but what a cover band, excellent. They had the crowd going, solid chops. These people will go far in clubs and hotels that want a band that can produce various styles to please their customers. If this band put forth to an original set, I know that this would be killer material, they have good ears and they freakin' rock!"
Noel Barr, The Music Writer Dude
Random Lengths News, San Pedro
May 8, 2008
CMP Covers is a six-member ensemble that came together and came up with a veritable continental cuisine of a set list that spans about a quarter century. Bandleader Carol Maciejewski, put this collaboration together through her contacts in the music world. Her full-time gig is in studio work and teaching in her own studio based in Gardena.
The combination of different styles and backgrounds of each musician makes for a refreshing collection of cross-genre tunes. And for a welcomed change, all three lead singers are neither tone deaf nor without the capacity to carry a tune. Most cover bands in town have singers more in tune with a bray than with the singers they are attempting to cover. So Carol and the clan already have one up on most of the competition in their musical style. "I wanted a project I could be proud of and have a lot of fun with. You can probably tell that we are all having a good time." she eloquently offered.
Sarah Tatting fronts the songs in the higher register. She covers the more "chick" tunes like: "Destination Unknown, Just a Girl and We Got the Beat." Carol sings the tunes with a little more oomph, like: "You Oughta Know, Counting Blue Cars, and The Pretender," in a more contemporary effort. However, Ben Castellana, southpaw Gibson slinger, rips out the old rock standards that take a little more manhood: "Highway to Hell, Enter Sandman and Plush."
Rounding out the CMP Covers project is Bob Kalmey on guitar, Adam Lasko on drums and a very groovy Randy Tanaka on five string bass. And he wields a heavy thumb as he plucks and pounds along in the sound rhythm section. All together, CMP is a competent band and solid for a cover act. CMP is four sets of fun.
Ryan Beachkofski
Easy Reader, Hermosa Beach
June 27, 2008
It has been an exciting last couple of weeks at the San Pedro Brewing Company for lovers of live club shows.
The Brewing Company welcomed out of town (Gardena) artists: CMP Covers to San Pedro on June 6. In their first show in San Pedro, the South Bay band performed a couple of sets with pronounced zeal. The energetic flow of the cover songs they performed from the 80's, 90's, and the roaring 2000's were executed with deft skill, and precision. Each song was delivered with a feeling and a place in time, done with a fresh, in the moment feel.
Noel Barr, the Music Writer Dude
Random Lengths News, San Pedro
