... that's the claim of Tim Beam (and the Deadflowers) (www.thedeadflowers.de). I saw the band last night at Rock City in Uster (www.rock-city.ch) - and I was electrified. They are one of the best live bands I have ever seen so far; and I've seen many concerts. They play their own songs which have a professional status that made me wonder at first why they are not yet big in the business. Despite of a really small audience, they gave all they could give and did a top performance. They packed their audience in a way many professional bands are not able to, and gave them a big party. People danced, laughed and had such a great time that I can only compare it to Status Quo and Die Toten Hosen shows. No matter what you think about these bands and their music - if you have ever seen their audience dancing and having a good time, you know what I mean. These are very rare experiences.

On top of a top professional good mood performance Tim Beam have their own and very unique music style: four guitars (two acoustic guitars, one electric guitar - a Gibson SG, the one that Angus Young from AC/DC plays - and a bass guitar) plus drums. That creates a very unique sound which is a mixture of out-in-the-woods -acoustic-guitar-and-drinking-parties (these were the days...) and classical heavy metal rock. I would call it a "comprehensive straight forward rock guitar" style.

So, why are they not big yet? There maybe several explanations. First of all, the band composition is new, with bass and drums since only a few months, and also now the electric guitar is far more dominant. The sound on their CDs is like an unplugged version of what I heard yesterday, not really allowing you to get an impression of their concert style. Second, and having to do with this, they are a live band. Just like it took AC/DC years of live concerts to become a mass phenomenon, they can only grow by word-of-mouth. A growth, however, that may be much more sustainable, if they stick to their music and concert style. Third, as so often, they have a great product, but the marketing could be improved a little. E.g. the only video they have on youtube is a great cover of The Eagle's Hotel California, which can give you a slight impression of what I mean. But they don't have a single of their own songs on the platform. In times of Web2.0-marketing a real mistake! And their website doesn't really reflect what you can expect from their music. Let alone that they call themselves Tim Beam now, but their website's domain name is still "www.the deadflowers.de".


It will be very interesting to see this band's future. Will they stick to who they are? Will they change if success doesn't come rapid? Will they gain the credits they deserve? Will their fan community grow? How will their marketing change over the time and what will it lead to? I'll keep you updated.

If you want to get your own impression: tonight they play in Baden, Switzerland, at the Mr. Pickwick Club.