Big Tent Revival

Item: Open All Nite
Author: Robert Berman

Open All Nite

(1996)

Reviewed by Robert Berman

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Label ForeFront RecordsThe LighthouseDecember 1996

acoustic rock pop rock roots rock

The tent is up again. On their second album, Open All Nite, Big Tent Revival builds on the acoustic rock style of their debut release, fitting the label more honestly and aptly than any band you'd care to mention. The upbeat songs retain a distinctly Mellencampy aroma without being campy themselves.

The album opener, "Mend Me," starts things out electrically, with songwriter/vocalist Steve Wiggins mixing just the right elements of plaintiveness and grit in his vocals. "Here with Me" was previously released on Wiggins' independent album as "Run To Me;" it's reworked here in a welcome arrangement, though without the tasty piano or guitar solo which were so endearing in the original version. "Personal Judgment Day" follows in the 12-bar blues steps of "Message from the King" on the previous BTR album, but beyond that, the Memphis sound is more submerged on this album than before.

Steve Wiggins knows that a good song lyric is a specific song lyric, and the best songs on this album are those which tell us about what Wiggins is going through. He sets an example for other artists to follow on songs like "Famine or Feast," which should hit an immediate chord with anyone who's ever been in a financial squeeze, and on "Mend Me," a reminder of the shortcomings of Christian celebrities such as himself. "My Guitar," the hidden final track, is a clever peek at the songwriting process which recalls Steven Curtis Chapman's early song "In This Little Room." Some of these lyrics are so good that the less specific songs like "The Best Thing" and "Long Time Coming" are much less compelling in comparison.

This is a solid album all around. Its main shortcoming is that, while pretty much every song is worthwhile, there's not really one like "Two Sets of Jones" which cries out to be played again and again and again. Wiggins has a gift for storytelling, and the rest of Big Tent Revival ably transforms his visions into music. When they focus on that, they're more than competent; they're compelling. Here's to more of it.