You know you’re in for a treat when many of the city’s top musicians can be spotted in the audience. Musicians love to listen to other musicians play and at tonight’s Lil’ Band O’ Gold show everyone from young upstart Anthonie Tonnon (of Tono & The Finance Co.) to the iconic Dave Dobbyn turned out to catch the Louisiana-based band.
No doubt the band’s reputation has grown since their show at the Kings Arms back in 2010. That show found the venue packed to the rafters as lucky patrons witnessed the 8-piece band’s unique take on Cajun, Zydeco, and primal rock & roll…they call it Swamp-Pop.
The more spacious Powerstation was a big improvement…not only was there room to breathe, there was room to dance. And there’s no way any sane person could listen to Lil Band O’ Gold without wanting to move their feet.
The band took the stage at 10pm and immediately realized that 75-year-old drummer/vocalist Warren Storm was essentially in the dark. It didn’t matter. Ol’ Warren got things rockin with a Bobby Charles tune, vintage 1958, called Big Boys Cry. What followed was over two and a half hours of some of the most joyous, heartfelt and rockin’ music ever to grace the Powerstation’s stage. Among the 30 or so titles the band played were titles like Roosta Blues, Cajun Twist, Seven Nights To Rock and Before I Grow Too Old. With a new album full of Fats Domino tunes, the band dabbled in the Fats catalogue, playing Poor Me, Blue Monday and It Keeps Raining.
The band is blessed with four excellent vocalists. In addition to Storm, guitarist C.C. Adcock, accordion player Steve Riley and pianist David Egan all led the band at various times. Egan’s Spoonbread, a tune from their Promised Land album, was an early highlight. Egan’s mournful voice had me thinking that this is what The Band might have sounded like if they came from New Orleans rather than Canada.
Other highlights included another Bobby Charles number, I Don’t Wanna Know, Storm’s 1958 regional hit Prisoner’s Song and Earl King’s Lonely Lonely Nights. The latter was used as a vehicle to show off pedal steel player Richard Comeaux’s sweet sound. Adcock and the horn section also took solos.
It was clear from the get-go that this is a group of musicians that loves to play. Take a look at 13th Floor photographer Michael Flynn’s concert shot, these guys were having just as much fun as we were.
When the show finally ended, well after 12:30, both the band and a good portion of the audience hung around, signing autographs, telling stories and basking in the afterglow of a wonderful night of music. I doesn’t get any better than this.
Marty Duda
Click here to listen to Lil’ Band O’ Gold perform Seven Nights To Rock at The Powerstation:
Click here to view a gallery of photos taken by 13th Floor photographer Michael Flynn of The Lil’ Band O’ Gold performing at The Powerstation:
Music-making at its best by a fabulous group of musicians who were obviousloy having as much fun as we were! Thanks, guys! We loved you.
Great summary of an amazing show – these guys were on form – and the crowd was loving it. Me and my mate were centre stage a couple of metres back and everyone around us was moving – brilliant. Great to see a band keep playing it because they were loving it so much. Arie 021 2450494
Thanks for sharing some of the concert by sending me an email with Mike’s pictures and a track. Yes, this is how music ought to be!