Monday 4th December. Tommy Castro & the Painkillers.100 Club, London. It’s a chilly Monday night in early December so what better way to blow away the cold than with a suitcase full of the blues. It’s not the laid back picking kind of blues but the hard rockin, soulful kind of blues. We’re at the iconic 100 Club that’s seen its fair share of blues acts over the years and it’s good to see some decent beer at a venue although it still has that annoying large pillar right in the middle at the front of the stage.
It’s fair to say that Tommy Castro has been round the block a few times and he’s all the better for it. A late bloomer in terms of recorded output, the last 15 years or so has seen him release some fine albums including this year’s great ‘Stompin Ground’ with some fine horns supplementing the traditional blues base.
Tonight Tommy is supported by the Painkillers, Bowen Brown on drums, Randy McDonald on bass and the excellent Mike Emerson on keys who provides a superb rounded sound supporting the pounding rhythm section.
We have tracks from the new album, some oldies and some great blues covers and Tommy gets into his stride right from the off on his bespoke Delaney ‘Castrocaster’ guitar. An hour in the band welcome their ‘driver’ on stage who just happens to be a certain Aynsley Lister. He remains on stage for the rest of the set and the dual axe attack and interplay is superb with the bonus of Lister taking lead vocals on a couple of numbers too.
The band are all on top form and clearly have a good time. A special mention to one guy in the audience whose enthusiasm was contagious and should hire himself out as a one man crowd on his own.
It’s a breathless nearly two hour set and these Painkillers are the perfect antidote to the cold outside.
Till the next time, keep on blues rockin y’all
Isaiah Rashad
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