DATE: Wednesday, November 19, 1997          TAG: 9711190054

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E4   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: MUSIC REVIEW

SOURCE: BY JEFF MAISEY, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   42 lines

3-BAND BILL LED BY TONIC INDUCES YAWN FROM CROWD

SNAKE OIL, anyone? A healthy-sized crowd of 1,400 was lured to the Boathouse Sunday by the popularity of one Tonic song. Curiosity was cured, but only after a long bout with severely ho-hum music.

The blase Jeremy Toback was music at its worst. Who gave this guy a record deal? Performing songs from the album ``Perfect Flux Thing,'' his slow-tempo folk-rock bored the amazingly patient crowd. For someone who fancies himself a songwriter, Toback didn't have a single tune worthy of applause. He didn't get any.

Hometown heroes the Hollowbodies didn't do much better. The former Virginia Beach-based alterna-pop trio failed to conquer the audience on what should have been a big homecoming.

Clad in matching black and white Chinese-styled laundry, guitarist/vocalist Phil Roebuck and company attempted to crank up the power pop from their major label debut ``Lame'' and the upcoming ``Viva Le Dregs.'' But after the first two catchy songs, the audience lost interest.

The performance went downhill from that point, fueled in part by shallow-sounding material lacking the punch and melody associated with such power pop bands as Teenage Fanclub. In the pop realm, the boys are easily separated from the men, based on sheer playing ability and well-crafted songs. The Hollowbodies were disappointing.

Tonic used its two best songs as bookends. The Los Angeles quartet began its short set with ``Open Your Eyes,'' a radio-friendly number with crossover appeal. The easy-to-please audience consisted of alternative and classic-rock fans alike. They gave the band a warm response.

Sporting a goatee, singing with conviction and gripping his six-string, Emerson Heart resembled a young Bruce Springsteen. The entire quartet proved to be accomplished musicians.

Unfortunately, Tonic lacked enough strong tunes to make for an exceptional concert. The compositions began to seem alike, the sound a watered-down Stone Temple Pilots.

The set-ending ``If You Could Only See'' finally gave fans their awaited moment of bliss. When the band exited the stage, few remained for an encore.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu