An Evening With The Favoritz Band

By Maureen Elder, Entertainment Weekly

The first thing that you notice is that Favoritz is entertaining and alive.  For two guys, it is amazing how much command they have on stage.  This is no sleepy lounge act.  In fact, it is more like a concert played out by master showmen who have practiced this craft for years. 

Curiously, I see a computer on stage, right in the middle of these two who sing their hearts out and smile and are obviously playing their instruments in real time.  David comments:  "The computer is something that I personally program all musical parts that we can't get to when playing live."  This explains the amazing orchestration, the strings, the lively bass lines and very punchy sound this band has.  Nothing gets to the speakers that David hasn't made just the way he wants it.  That must be why my toes are tapping and I can't help but feel like dancing at this moment.

Hold it!  What is happening now?  Joe, the drummer, is off the stage, down on the dance floor doing what looks like the back stroke, on his back laying down, maneuvering expertly between the dancers while singing with a wireless microphone.  The crowd goes wild.  He doesn't miss a note.  He has a way with those up-beat larynx rippers, definitely.

Song to song, announcement to announcement, these guys seem to be the perfect team.  David sings the big band pieces, the smooth numbers and the funky stuff.  And these two guys are funny!  They play off each other like brothers from a tight family.  And it appears that they are both drummers!  Joe & David have just switched.  Joe is on the keyboards now while David has moved to the drums.  David explains: "I have been a drummer my entire life.  It is only over the last 10 years or so that I started playing electronic keyboards.  When Joe and I decided to start a band, we were both professional drummers.  One of us had to move to another instrument.  And since I have the piano background, that choice was a no-brainer."  This is perhaps the best explanation why this band has the snap they do.  I just love to listen to bands with good drummers.  This band has two!  And you sure can feel it. 

So David's on the drums now and Joe is at stage front.  The song is Moni Moni.  And you should hear this crowd!  Talk about audience participation!  Where are my earplugs?  This crowd is sure getting their money's worth.  The song ends with a roar from the crowd and David smoothly sets the mood for a ballad, probably the last song of the night.  I'm still dazed by the incredible selection of music I've heard this evening; Smashmouth, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Beatles, Huey Lewis, Sinatra, Lou Bega's Mambo #5.  Incredible!

The honored couple, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary has requested "I left my heart in San Francisco."  And David has the magic.  Everyone is up and dancing with the spotlight on the anniversary couple.  David is not trying to copy Tony Bennett.  It's more like David sings it his own way.  But whatever it is, he has the hair standing up on my arms.  Magic. 

I love this band.