Long May They Reign
By Dave Thackara

I spent my weekend with frogs and toads.

My brother gave me the first season of The Muppet Show on DVD, and even though I had a lot of things that I needed to do, I blew them all off and watched at least a half-dozen episodes Saturday afternoon. I didn't plan this, but a few hours later, I found myself in downtown Scranton listening to a band that held my attention better than Kermit the Frog ever could -- The Reigning Toads.

Amphibian references aside, I knew that it would be well worth my time to be at the Judge 'n' Jury Saturday night even before I walked through the door. Standing in line for the ATM next door, I got a little taste of what The Reigning Toads would be exposing me to throughout the night. It was a loud and powerful riff that made the keypad shake a little as I was trying to put in my PIN. And as I waited for my receipt, my only thought was that they sounded a little like The Liquid Tension Experiment (an incredible prog-rock side project for a few guys from the band Dream Theater; think Phish mixed with Steve Vai, only without the singing. That's right, kids - no vocals.)

Matt Mang, the Toads' bassist, explained that the show had a few structured songs, but for the most part, Saturday night's set was made up on the spot between the three members: Mang, guitarist Dave Campbell, and drummer Bob Gatto. Mang continued: "We just start playing and then see what comes out."

On this night, Mang was the most vocal member of the band, probably because he was the only one with a microphone in front of him, but he didn't use it too often. He wasn't the singer, after all. That's right, kids -- no vocals.

Wait? No singer? Nope. Even though the group has auditioned quite a few singers, the lack of vocalist thing tends to split its audience into one of two camps -- "You really should get a singer," and "You sound great without one." Mang says that the Reigning Toads doesn't want to have a singer just for the sake of having one. "Half the people who come up to us love that we don't have a singer and the other half say that we should get one. We'd like to have one, but we want a singer who can really bring something to the table. Maybe we'll get one soon, but who knows?"

Honestly, at first it was a little disconcerting not hearing a singer, but the more I got into the long jams, the more I realized that if the Reigning Toads did have a singer, he (or she) would just be standing there for quite a long time not doing a lot. Campbell and Mang have a great instrumental interaction, something you can clearly hear on the band's CD, which will be finding its way into the Gallery of Sound very soon. (Because the Judge 'n' Jury played its CD in between sets, I have absolutely no trouble recommending that you pick up a copy when you see it.) A musical bond like theirs isn't put together by accident -- believe me, these two can play. When you combine that with Gatto's masterful drumming, you've got a band with a total package -- one that could throw down with the best of them.

Through the patchy crowd in the Judge 'n' Jury, I tried to capture every improvised note and every spontaneous change of direction, but I wasn't up to the task. It was a near impossibility -- The Reigning Toads changes gears more often than Mario Andretti.

In the process of trying to make a bigger impact all over Eastern Pennsylvania and beyond, the Reigning Toads will be making a few appearances in the area in the next few months and I think you should make it a point to go see these guys. It's easy to recognize talent when you see it, and The Reigning Toads are developing into a band that has the skills to back up what I hope will soon become a local phenomenon.

Some people might think they're bad just because they're almost all instrumental, but to me that's like thinking that The Muppet Show sucks because there's no way a frog would ever get together with a pig. Just go with it.