Tommy Castro unleashed a wild night of soul Tuesday night at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton.
Just as the smoke was clearing from a heady weekend in the Valley, guitarist Tommy Castro arrived in town looking to spark a fiery evening of blue-collar rhythm ‘ blues. After a late start and minor technical delays, Castro’s California-based combo took the stage to the driving beat of a 12-bar blues progression, holding forth for two hours as they delivered a pair of powerful sets of rockin’ soul.
Undeterred by the sparse turnout for a mid-week routing gig, Castro made an early announcement of his intentions for his NoHo debut. ‘We gonna play Tuesday like it’s Saturday night. This is a no-thinkin’-about-tomorrow zone!’ The band launched into Wilson Pickett’s ‘Three Times A Loser’, doing apt justice to the soul legend’s classic.
Castro’s four-piece band torched their way through a first set filled with pounding rockers, including new tunes from an upcoming album. Castro’s lead guitar combined with Keith Crossan’s meaty sax tone for a gritty dual attack that updates their brand of mighty Memphis soul for a contemporary era. Set against the high energy of up-tempo R’B, the highlight of the first set was a prodigious take of Buddy Guy’s ‘My Time After A While’. Clad in his trademark black leather pants, Castro scorched this slow blues piece with searing notes from his black Stratocaster. The band showed an impressive command of dynamics and tight execution, belying the many years of touring that shore up any good blues outfit.
Castro and company maintained the momentum that grew out of the first set, returning after a short break with a string of original tunes, several of which were featured on Castro’s excellent recording ‘Live At The Fillmore’. Truly a workingman’s band, Castro’s rhythm section was tireless and bombastic. Bassist Randy McDonald was lively and reliable, and held down harmony vocals from behind tinted glasses. Badass skinman Billy Lee Lewis threw down funky fills and steady kicks, his shaven pate and chrome DW rims gleaming equally from behind the kit.
The raw funk of ‘Nasty Habits’ drew some adventurous patrons to the aisles to dance, a rare sight at the culinary-minded venue, and Castro kept the room swinging with ‘Lucky in Love’. Castro’s guitar work is beginning to approach the level where the lines between rhythm and lead disappear, and he has mastered a command of the mic after years of honing his chops on the Bay area blues scene. The mid-tempo strains of ‘Just A Man’ were echoes of the vintage Hi sound; Willie Mitchell would have been proud.
Castro elicited vociferous approval from the Tuesday night revelers, and drew a standing ovation as he closed with the title track from his sophomore effort ‘Can’t Keep A Good Man Down’. This may prove to be a harbinger of Castro’s burgeoning career; with four solid albums for Blind Pig Records under his belt he seems ready to join the likes of Johnny Rawls and Robert Cray in the pantheon of soul blues. This summer Castro will be returning for a second season of touring alongside guitar gods B.B. King and Buddy Guy, and the days of seeing Tommy Castro on a Tuesday night in Northampton may be numbered.
