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... by Joanne Corsano

Band Personnel: Sal Baglio, lead vocals, lead guitar; Jeremy Brown, piano, backing vocals; Steve Gilligan, bass, backing vocals (lead vocals on one song); Lenny Shea, drums; Dave Friedman, organ, backing vocals

first song unknown - Coast to Coast - She's An Angel - Shutdown - When I Kiss You - First Kiss - You're the One - Rescue Me - Good News Now - Helpless Child - East Side Girl - What's a Little Rock 'n' Roll Between Friends {Steve Gilligan solo song} - Wilcox County Rock - Temptation - Palisades Park - Never Tell An Angel ... encore ... All I Want For Christmas is a Rock 'n' Roll Guitar - Rock Jump and Holler - American Fun - This is Rock 'n' Roll.

Scroll down past the videos for review.

"First Kiss":

"What's a Little Rock 'n' Roll Between Friends?" (Steve Gilligan song)

"American Fun"

Back in the late '70s to mid '80s when The Stompers were a hugely popular band on the local Boston music scene, they wouldn't have played a fancy, elegant place like the Bull Run. They played the kinds of places where your sneakers stuck to the floor and everything was black, where the ceilings were low, and where the place was filled with cigarette smoke. Stompers fans were all much younger then -- although I did see some young fans in the crowd tonight, including some who were second generation Stompers fans attending with their parents.

The leader of the Stompers is Sal Baglio, who writes all of their original tunes, sings lead and plays a wicked lead guitar. He and original drummer Mark Cuccinello started the band in Cucc's garage, all those many years ago, with the stated purpose of having a good time and sharing that good time with their fans. It has always been my opinion that the Stompers deserved much more commercial success than they achieved, but although they never reached the pinnacle of fame that I think they should have, their audience has stuck around, are rabidly enthusiastic, and they really do know the words to the songs. For "First Kiss" Sal insisted that the audience begin the song, and two hundred voices rose as one: "How do you know, if love is real?".

The Stompers music is about young love, and it's about riding around in cars in the summer, and it's about being in love with the music on the radio. Certainly the show is a nostalgia trip for many in the audience, taking them back to those days when they were young, and so were the Stompers. Sal Baglio has continued to write and record music as a solo artist; as a solo artist his music covers a broader range than the Stompers' music, ranging from straight-ahead rock 'n' roll to more experimental music. But none of that gets played at a Stompers show; it's the old songs that the band played back in the day, songs from their more recent group recordings, and covers of other rock songs.

The bass player, Steve Gilligan, has recently released his first solo album ever (Jacob's Well) and was invited by Sal to play a song from it. The song was "What's a Little Rock 'n' Roll Between Friends," an uptempo, '50s style piano rocker that fit right in with a Stompers show. It was great to hear Steve do a lead vocal. Sal also switched places with Dave Friedman during one song ("East Side Girl"), sitting down at the organ, while Dave took over on guitar. Sal refers to Mr. Friedman affectionately as "Brother Dave," apparently because Dave's deep voice makes Sal think he sounds like a preacher.

During "Palisades Park," when the original lyric is "listen to a rock 'n' roll band," the audience knew to shout out: "listen to the Stompers band." The audience also knew to shout out "where the girls are!" at the appropriate moment. During this song most of the band members pantomimed the amusement park experience (going up and down the Ferris wheel), and Steve sang lead on part of the song. Sal introduced a long-time Stompers manager who was at the show, who first met the band long ago when he heckled them for playing "Palisades Park."

Not deep, not sad, not meditative, these Stompers. Never have been, never will be. Just great, fabulous rock 'n' roll that makes you abandon your seat and jump around, sing along, and leave the show with a smile on your face. And maybe that's pretty deep, after all. It's too bad these five old friends only get together a couple of times a year for their Stompers revival, but with Dave living in California getting them all together is hard to do. This was their 35th anniversary show -- and I, for one, wish this band many, many more happy birthdays.

Here is a page with a handy list of links to all pages on this website with content relating to the Stompers or Sal Baglio.

Click for 2012 Concert Page with links to all 2012 concerts ... Click for Main Concert Page with links to all years

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