TOWER OF POWER
At B.B. King's Blues Club - NYC (10/22/04)
Vocalist supreme, Larry Braggs!
At 8:05pm, Tower of Power began their funky show with
a little bit of that funk "From The Eastside" (off the new Tower of
Power "Oakland Zone")...just as funky as the original tune
"Oakland Stroke". Then, it was on to some funky soul...actually
"Soul With a Capital 'S'", followed by "Just Enough and Too Much"...the
lead vocalist Larry Braggs was cookin' the scene with some bad-ass funky
vocals!! "You Strike My Main Nerve" featured some of Adolfo Acosta's
electrifying trumpet riffs and some standout churning organ by Roger Smith! The
funkafied organ riffs continued into "So I Got to Groove".
"Willing to Learn" was good, but better was the performance (although
a short one) of "Squib Cakes". Stephen "Doc" Kupka's
baritone sax riffs were what the Doc ordered, but the inclusion of the rarities
"Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now" and "You Ought to Be Havin'
Fun" was the REAL TREAT...featuring some odorious bass riffs by the one
and only FRANCIS "ROCCO" PRESTIA! And Larry was more than
well-prepared to tackle these treats. "Don't Change Horses in the Middle
of a Stream" featured a great rhythm guitar solo by Jeff Tamalier and some
horn blowing in a way that it sounded like a horse naying! T.O.P. found it
necessary to get some asses out of the chairs by giving airbody a "Soul
Vaccination"...well, if you cannot get the flu vaccination, WHAT CAN YOU
GET?! Emilio Castillo shined on his lead vocal performance of "Diggin' on
James Brown"...and so did the other musicians. "What
is Hip?" was the last song before the encore. The encore featured the
ballad "You're Still a Young Man" and up-tempo cooker "Pocket of
Soul" (from the new OAKLAND ZONE album) featuring the ultra-funky vocal
stylings of Larry Braggs and the churning organ of the badman himself, Roger
Smith!!The show was over at 9:20pm.
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