Fuel

Writing about bands you like is easy. Writing about bands you hate is also easy and occasionally enjoyable, especially if it’s a band that everyone else seems to love. By contrast, coming up with 200 meaningful words about a band that no one cares about (including, apparently, the band itself) can be challenging. As of mid-August, Fuel’s show at Tempe Marketplace wasn’t even listed on its MySpace page or its official Web site. It’s a free show, so it’s probably safe to assume that Fuel are getting paid the same whether five or 500 people show up, but it’s still a shocking display of ambivalence by a band that has fallen from public favor so rapidly. Back in 2000, Fuel had a pair of platinum albums and a handful of hit singles to their credit and appeared to be on the way to a long, successful career of melodramatic, Nickelbackian schlock rock. By 2006, original lead singer Brett Scallions had bolted the band and noted American Idol loser Chris Daughtry had spurned Fuel’s offer to replace Scallions. The first line of the band’s official bio pretty much sums it up: “Fuel has nothing to prove.” In that case, they probably won’t mind if we make other plans on Friday night.