Toys for Tots Benefit with Mike Zito – Concert Review
2nd Story Blues On Broadway held its third annual “Blues For Smiles” on Friday, December 10, 2010 in Fountain Hill, PA. The event benefits Toys For Tots and this year, 2010 Blues Music Award winner for Song Of The Year, Mike Zito, was the headliner.
The night started off with the swinging jump blues stylings of Mad Dog & Blues Night Out. The zoot-suited leader Rick “Mad Dog” Moyer’s incandescent harp playing heated up the cold December night like volcano in Santa’s village. They mixed some classics like “Stoop Down” and Paul Butterfield’s “Lovin’ Cup” with original material from their recent CD You Gotta Have Some Fun. The Pennsylvania band’s powerful set packed enough energy to power Clark W. Griswold Jr.’s exterior illumination Holiday extravaganza. Their showmanship and stage presence got the crowd into the holiday spirit and ready for the main event.
With the capacity crowd revved up, Mike Zito took the stage in his unassuming way and launched into a two and a half hour set with a charged version “Shoes Blues.” His live band is a trio and his guitar ably filled in the gaps left by the absence of instruments heard on the studio versions. He uses a hybrid picking technique to pluck many strings simultaneously with both a guitar pick and his fingers. His picking style and the full sound of his custom built semi-hollow body guitars allows the notes to hang in the air, resonating through the room like the echoes of the Pearl River’s dirty secrets. His voice is powerful and emotive. It’s a raspy, gruff tenor with sweet soft edges like a combination of the best qualities of Jonny Lang and John Mayer but without the schlock.
Mike Zito played many songs from his last studio effort Pearl River including the title track. The swampy chords and tremolo picking evince the ominous allusions of the lyrics. When Zito cut loose on the solo, he played like a man possessed, shaken by a dark history and with Hellhounds on his trail. His playing is powerful, adept and deceptively complex. His original songs stand up well next to reworked blues classics like Muddy Waters’ “She’s Nineteen Years Old” and “Sugar Sweet.” Some of the covers were changed significantly, sounding fresh and revitalized like “Before You Accuse Me” and “Hound Dog,” both of which were unrecognizable until the singing started. The songs are imaginatively revamped with different rhythms and riffs that set them apart from mere copies. The best example of his approach was Prince’s “Little Red Corvette.” It was among the standout moments of the show. It was stripped to its core, played on acoustic guitar and slowed to the speed of a Neil Young ballad. The beauty of the song emerged and it was unlike any version before it.
The second set started with Mad Dog joining the Zito band – drummer Rob Lee, and bassist Christopher Alexander – for an intense jam that lifted the whole show to stellar heights. Mad Dog’s swirling harp stirred the band into a storm force hurricane. They tore through “Natural Born Lover” and Zito’s “Dirty Blond” like they were houses made of straw, leaving the audience stunned and in need of rebuilding their notions of a blues jam.
Left with the daunting task of following the incendiary jam, Zito dropped some jaws again by stepping out from behind the mic and into the audience to belt out the next song. His powerful voice filled the room even without the benefit of amplification. He also used the tune to showcase his mellower blues abilities which are sublime.
Mike Zito closed the show with a rousing version of “Hey Joe” done in the finest histrionic style ala Jimi Hendrix. Just in case anyone still doubted his skills, Mike pulled out all the stops including de-tuning his low E string mid-song and scraping it with his hand to elicit other-worldly sounds. His wah-wah drenched solos and anguished vocals left no uncertainty that he will be a major force in the blues world for years to come.
This annual Toys For Tots event is a labor of love for 2nd Story’s Les and Donna Houck. For several years they have been dedicated to bringing blues music to the Lehigh Valley and see the Toys for Tots shows as a way to give back to the community that has supported their efforts. Les and Donna work with the Marines, Three Tower Audio, event promoter Mary Pierce and many local businesses to put on an almost free show; the cost of admission is simply one new, unwrapped toy. They see the benefits of this event as being two-fold. The toys go to kids in need and for many folks, who in this economic climate could not afford the usual $25 ticket price, a toy is an economically feasible way to see a great show by a national act and help others in need at the same time. This year they collected over 200 toys and the capacity crowd witnessed a superb show. Everyone was happy, which seems to be the goal at 2nd Story Blues On Broadway. Just like Mad Dog says – “You gotta have some fun!”
Photos from the event were used with kind permission of Martin at martinkimages.
