Spampinato Brothers with Ray Mason opening ~ 2013 April 6 ~ Bridge Street Live ~ Collinsville, CT
Joey Spampinato on bass and lead and backing vocals; Johnny Spampinato on guitar and lead and backing vocals; Aaron Spade on guitar and lead and backing vocals; Marshall Grossman on drums
Opener: Ray Mason on vocals and Silvertone electric guitar
Set List
For a photo of the written set list used by the band, click on the thumbnail picture to the right to view the photo gallery.
Scroll past the videos for review.
Videos
"Flat Foot Flewzy":
"Be Here Now":
"Twice and Out" (by Ray Mason):
Concert Review
This was my first visit to Bridge Street Live in the town of Collinsville, CT. It was unclear from the website how the seating for shows worked, so Concert Going Partner and I sprang for the slightly more expensive "VIP seats" (the still-reasonable twenty-five bucks instead of fifteen) and also made a dinner reservation. It turned out the restaurant is separate from the performance venue, a fairly important fact not mentioned on their website. But because our dinner reservation was early, we had plenty of time to get dinner and still be comfortably seated in our "VIP" seats before showtime. We concluded that this venue should skip trying to be an upscale restaurant (we weren't particularly impressed with the food) and concentrate on presenting music, because they do that splendidly.
The performance venue was filled with tables meant for two, and the chairs were arranged facing the stage, always a sign that a venue expects people to actually listen. (We like that.) The stage is big and about two feet off the floor, affording a good view even in the back. Good stage lighting helped me get some decent pictures, and the neon-lit club logo at the back of the stage added a festive touch of color. The sound was also very good.
It would be fair to call the Spampinato Brothers an NRBQ spinoff without the jazzy elements. Lead singer/bass player Joey Spampinato was one of NRBQ's founding members, and little brother, lead singer/guitarist Johnny Spampinato also served a tour of duty with the Q. Like the Q, they played a good long show, dense with songs, moving quickly along from one toe-tapper to another. (They played only about two slow songs all night.) Like the Q, the lead vocals were shared more or less equally among three band members -- Joey, Johnny, and second guitarist Aaron Spade. There was very little banter, as the band concentrated on the music. Like the Q, the band themselves seem to thoroughly enjoy themselves. Everyone was smiling for a good deal of the night (especially Joey). They jumped and skipped around the stage playfully while performing (especially Aaron). They played with joy -- and the audience responded with joy.
They played 16 songs, took a fairly quick break, came back and played 16 more songs (16 songs is a whole show for a lot of bands), and even came back for an encore. The songs were from their 2010 album, Pie in the Sky, they were from NRBQ's long and extensive catalog, and they were covers of rock 'n' classics. Johnny, Joey, and Aaron were all dressed in very spiffy stage clothes, with nicely complementary colors. Johnny was wearing stripes, Joey checks, and Aaron a diamond pattern. They all looked so nice. One gets tired of rock bands all in black. The audience loved the show, with a lot of dancing up front, a good deal of singing along, and a happy time had by all.
Western Massachusetts' legendary King of the Silvertone, Ray Mason, opened the show. We've seen Ray perform in a few hole-in-the-wall places so it was a real pleasure to see him on a real stage with a real sound system, and a real audience to laugh at his droll, self-deprecating wit. He performed an eight-song set including a very nice cover of the song "Are You Ready?" by Barbara Mason (no relation, says Ray Mason) and a new instrumental called "Twice and Out." Here is Ray's set list: I'm Not That Kind of Guy - Castanets - Liner Notes - Monkey in a Convent - Are You Ready? {Barbara Mason} - Twice and Out - Cats - When I Meet You on the Moon
More Ray
Here is a page with a handy list of links to all pages on this website with content relating to Ray Mason, the Ray Mason Band, or the Lonesome Brothers.
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