1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great music novel, January 16, 2009
This review is from: Getting in Tune (Paperback)
Twenty-year-old Daniel Travers lives and breathes music. And so far, music has been good to him and his band The Killjoys; they always get local gigs and are by far the best band in their hometown of Creedly. But this is both a blessing and a curse because Daniel has dreams of following in the footsteps of his rock and roll idol Pete Townshend from The Who and escaping from his pathetic excuse for a home. Music is all Daniel's got because the rest of him is beyond screwed and falling apart, and not only because of his pill popping and those voices in his head. So when he's offered a gig at someplace called the Mai Tai Hotel, he jumps the chance to finally make it--out of Creedly and into the punk scene, so he hopes. But Daniel can't hide from his problems forever, especially because they originate from himself.
Getting in Tune is a musical coming-of-age novel dealing with the fuzzy line between real and fake. Even through the drug and alcohol distorted world Daniel lives in, there is something so genuine about his character. He's at odds with himself and stuck between being true to his music and finding the Real Him and doing anything to get out of Creedly and launch the Killjoys to success. I wouldn't say the Daniel's very likable, especially due to his frequent drinking and drug usage, but he is very easy to understand, especially when he spells out the root of all his problems. I enjoyed the deeper, almost philosophical, meaning behind the novel more than the actual plot, which was a slightly repetitive blend of drinking, smoking, playing music, and figuring out how to get from Point A to Point B. the story means more than just that, and Daniel exemplifies this search of sorts for the truth through his internal struggles. I didn't like how the portrayal of life in a rock band is stereotyped, though many of its aspects are probably true.
Getting in Tune appeals first and foremost to all rock music lovers, particularly fans of Stephanie Kuehnert's I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, even if Getting in Tune isn't as unforgettable as Stephanie Kuehnert's musical novel.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rockin' Story!, December 8, 2008
This review is from: Getting in Tune (Paperback)
Getting in Tune is set in the mid-1970s. Daniel feels like his band, the Killjoys, is going nowhere fast after playing for four years in Creedly, or the boonies of Northern California where they live. That's when he gets a call from promoter Rick Astley, asking if they'd like to play a gig at the Mai Tai Hotel in Washington. Daniel takes this as his chance to get out of his messy life, and move on to bigger and better things. After his band mates Mick, Rob, Yogi, and Sam warily agree to it, they hit the road. The Mai Tai is not what they expected it to be, and they soon find out it's a hangout for the Hell's Angels. At the end of their week-long trip, they are offered a huge opportunity to play a major concert locally. But at what cost will it be for Daniel and the rest of the Killjoys.
Getting in tune follows the band on their journey to Puente Harbor where they have their gig at the Mai Tai Hotel, supposedly where Jim Hendrix and Heart played before they were big. The hotel is a dump, the bar smells of stale beer and cigarettes, and the hotel owner doesn't seem to like the guys. They meet some of the locals Kitten, Cecil, Beanie, and Evangeline who give that feeling of ending up somewhere you never imagined and being stuck.
Daniel is likeable and the drastic change in his mood when he is on uppers is realistic. He's looking for that one thing that can change him, and his life, for the better, and thinks that the band will take him there. He makes some bad decisions that end up costing him in the end, but they are a crucial part of him figuring out who he is as a person. Yogi the drummer, who I think is the most underappreciated character in the book, is sweet, he busts out with song lyrics at random moments, and also hoards food. You know, like Yogi Bear? The other members Mick, Rob, and Sam are constantly fighting (usually about Mick's outlandish behavior), and often talk about leaving the band. This and dealing with the dark underbelly of the music industry put a big damper on Daniel's big plans for the Killjoys
Although I was born in the early 80s, the late 60's and 70's have always had a special place in my heart. I grew up listening to amazing rock music thanks to my totally rocking dad. So Getting in Tune was a cool way to get a look into the lives of a budding rock band in the 70s at a time when Punk was just starting to break through. Roger seems to know pretty much everything there is to know about rock music, and playing instruments, which makes the story have a real legit feel to it.
I really enjoyed this story, because I'm a huge music fan in general. Aren't we all right? The balance between the band drama, the love story, the comedy, and the business side was spot on making it easy to fall right in and take the ride with Daniel. It wasn't a typical sex, drugs, and rock and roll book. Even though all those things take place through out the story, there is real emotion behind the actions of the characters that isn't represented in most "musical fiction" books.
Getting in Tune is a true rock and roll story, and if you're a fan of Stephanie Kuehnert's I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone then I think you will enjoy this one.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
bodacious, July 25, 2008
This review is from: Getting in Tune (Paperback)
As a writer, I like this book because there's nothing fussy about the prose. It's clean, straightforward, and the characters are engaging right off the bat. Yes, they're recognizable types, but they feel true. Equally entertaining is how much Trott captures the details and mood of an era. Was cracking up all the way through. The water bed right at the beginning, the phone booths, the songs playing in the background. Hell, the word bodacious, the smell of the amp tubes and the wires and litter on the stage floors. This book captures the energy and drive and confusion of a particular culture. Even better, it recreates the high of loud, rocking music when everyone's locked in to the same groove.
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