Tommy Castro bounced onstage shortly after 8 p.m. with a jubilant, "How's everybody feelin'?" He launched into a rousing rendition of “A Good Fool Is Hard To Find.” He had the crowd instantly.
After the opening number, Mr. Castro quipped, "I feel lucky."
Conversely, the band then swayed into “I May Be Broke But I'm Not Broken,” followed by “My Time After While,” written by post World War II Godfather Of The Oakland Blues, Bob Geddins Sr.
Castro displayed some intricate, pianissimo guitar work and the sound engineer took it down accordingly during “My Time.” Then, after building dynamic tension the band punched in forte style for powerful effect.
The band members include Tommy Castro, lead guitar/vocals; Scott Sutherland, bass; Keith Crossan, sax; and Chris Sandoval, drums. They were augmented by a trumpet player with monster chops whose name I wasn't able to get.
Another highlight of the set was the band's rendition of “My Big Sister's Radio,” written by Mighty Mike Schermer, who, not coincidentally, plays on Elvin Bishop's latest CD. It's a great song that captures the adolescent joy of discovering great music on a hand me down transistor radio. Some of us do recall transistor radios ...
The iconic, groundbreaking contributions to the Blues Rock genre by Mr. Elvin Bishop cannot be understated. His associations with Paul Butterfield, Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield and The Allman Brothers helped shape the form into what it is today.
Bishop came onstage with an instrumental Cajunesque rouser that perfectly grabbed the crowd's attention. The band then segued into “Stealin' Watermelons” from his latest release on Blind Pig Records, "Booty Bumpin'." I gotta tell ya, it was so Louisiana funky that I thought I heard the swamp dogs baying. Way more so than the recorded version.
Another track from the CD, “I Feel All Right Again,' featuring the vocals of multi-instrumentalist Ed Early, was the next number. Mr. Early is the horn section of the band when he plays trombone. He switched up to rubboard on “What The Hell Is Going On” and intermittently laid down some tambourine riffs that are rarely seen in these parts.
Bishop changed the pace with a monologue which revealed he just celebrated his 65th birthday on Oct. 21. Said he feels like a teenager until he looks in the mirror. He reflected on junior high school sock hops and the band doo wopped into “In The Still Of The Night,” which had the lovers in the house on the slow dance floor.
The band of course had to reprise “Fooled Around And Fell In Love,” which may very well be Bishop's signature song. It featured his tricky work on slide guitar.
When the band was midway through “Fishin,” Bishop spryly jumped from the stage and pranced around the room, not missing a lick, his guitar tech lighting the way. When they returned to the stage, they brought a woman from the audience with them. Bishop encouraged her to do the right hand strumming rhythm work on his guitar while he did the fretboard chord chores with his left. She really got into it. Shucks, playing half guitar looks easy!
The final numbers were “Hallelujah” and “Traveling Shoes.” After a standing ovation, the Elvin Bishop Band returned for an encore.
Big ups to the staff at Robinson Rancheria for giving us another big venue choice in Lake County. Ain't it grand!
T. Watts writes about music and culture for Lake County News.
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