Back in December I wrote a little concert review regarding Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Tower of Power. These are two of my favorite bands yet they occupy such different paradigms. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is a blues swing band while Tower of Power is a soul funk band. Just recently I got to see Tower of Power again. The band personnel was a little bit different from their Christmas show in Davenport. My wife scored us a VIP experience which enabled us to watch and listen to soundcheck, talk to the band, shake hands, and get a group picture.

This was a dream come true. I’ve been a fan of the band since their resurgence in the late 1980’s thanks to Huey Lewis and the News. I own several Huey Lewis and the News records and I poured over the liner notes. There was a track on Small World entitled Slammin’ that is primarily an instrumental in the TOP style with Huey providing the one word vocal “Slammin’” at a stop time section. When I heard this for the first time, I knew I had to start looking into TOP. By the early 90’s I was catching up on nearly 25 years of music making. The horn hooks, bass grooves, and catchy lyrics spoke to me. I love this band, and I have always wanted to see them in concert, but the closest they get to where I lived was three hours a way. Too far for me to drive to and back in a single night, and too costly with an overnight stay in a big city on a teacher’s salary. That’s the breaks when you live in Country and Western radio country.

The band at this stop had Roger Smith back on Hammond Organ and keyboards. His playing is righteous. His solos and rhythmic comps aligned with bassist Marc van Wageningen. His energy really pushed the group forward whereas the Davenport show was a little flatter in the energy department without him. You can see Roger sitting up there behind and between trumpeters Adolfo Acosta (left) and Dave Richards (right.) We were sitting directly in front of Adolfo for the show. Dave plays trombone as well while playing the lead trumpet part. I’m impressed with Dave’s ability to have such fine control between two differently sized mouthpieces. I struggled going back and forth between a tuba and an euphonium/trombone mouthpiece. Can’t imagine trumpet to trombone.

The other new face in this incarnation of the band is Pete Antunes. Pete’s drumming is clean, funky, soulful, powerful, and rhythmically aligns so well with the band. His playing reminded me of past TOP drummers Russ McKinnon and David Garibaldi, but with his own unique sound. There is a deep love of the repertoire in his playing. He is older than the young man that played back in December, and with age is a more appreciation for the laid back – funky back beat. The horns really locked in with his rhythmic pocket and as a result their playing was on fire… If I wasn’t singing along with the vocalist Jordan Johns I was scatting the horn parts. The greatest surprise for me was hearing Squib Cakes for the first time. It was electrical. Dave Richards lead trumpet tone is brighter than the original recording. This tone is like whipped cream and a maraschino cherry on top. Umm good… When I was reading the biography on Pete I realized I saw him play in a drum and bugle corps in 1997 and 1998. He was a high school kid playing tenor drums in the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. I guess it was nice to see him again, even though I didn’t learn about that until after the TOP show. (https://towerofpower.com/the-band)

Jordan John is the current vocalist for TOP. He channels the energy of Lenny Williams (1972-1975) the diction of Brent Carter (1994-2000) with his own brand of stage presence. He is the youngest person on stage, but his showmanship never eclipses the men behind him. I can understand why the guys smile at him on stage during the performance. He has their respect. Jordan loves to leave the stage and interact with the crowd. Since we were sitting in the second row we got to experience some of this intimacy. Yes, he came right by me and my wife and since I was standing we wrapped an arm around each other to help keep his balance through the narrow aisle. I’ve never heard a funk singer acoustically (usually just mic’ed up) but to hear his natural tone a foot from my face was an awesome experience. He has great vocal control on the move. I can only imagine his work out regimen. Yes, this old man is a little bit jealous of this kid’s chops.

Stephen “Doc” Kupka is one of two founding members still playing in the band. He is in his late 70’s and I can only imagine what he has to do to keep playing this amazing stuff night after night at this age. I love Doc’s playing and his lyrics. He has written or co-written many wonderful songs with Emilio Castillo or other songwriters over the years. He is so prolific he has recorded many songs that didn’t make it to the TOP line up with his Strokeland Superband. Huey Lewis has performed as a vocalist for this recording only supergroup. He is such a fun personality and even after 56+ years of playing he still uses Rico Reeds and enjoys playing the low scoop.

The other founding member is Emilio Castillo. He is the field general of TOP. During the soundcheck rehearsal I sat in rapt attention listening to them talk to their audio tech about levels on the monitors and in their earbuds. Emilio ran the rehearsal calling for particular songs on the setlist and sections he wanted covered for sound purposes. He also apologized to us for the a couple of songs that they ran that were not on the list. There’s Only So Much Oil in the Ground from the record Urban Renewal was one of them. This 1974 Lenny Williams performance has not been a regular set list song for some time based on Emilio’s comments. Jordan John did a magnificent job singing the song even if the band was a little ragged around him. I love that song, and found myself singing along from my seat directly in front of Castillo at sound check.

Another highlight for me at this recent show was shaking lead tenor saxophone Tom E. Politzer’s hand after the group photo and thanking the band for all of their hard work. They make it look easy, and I know how much hard work and dedication goes into every performance. These musicians have to work hard to continue selling tickets for shows going on 56 years. They play masterfully, energetically, and perfectly in tune. Hearing their sound acoustically a microsecond before the amplification was neat. I am so glad my wife scored these tickets in the second row. I was grinning from ear to ear like a teenage fan boy listening to the band deliver a sermon that saved me from the doldrums of March.

Don’t want to forget Jerry Cortez on Lead Guitar.

Marc von Wangeningen on bass guitar. He plays the late Francis “Rocco” Prestia lines with grace and fluidity. The rhythmic pocket set up by Pete’s and his playing made this night of music making special. I hope I can see these guys again soon. I would encourage anyone interested to check out their music. They have a diverse line up of pieces to enjoy.

The photo credits for this show are as follows. The group photo at the top was taken by an employee of the Hard Rock Casino in Rockford, IL or a member of the band’s tech crew, not sure. The remainder of the photos were taken by my wife Tiffany on her I-phone. I’m lucky to have her by my side tolerating my musical fantasies. There is give and take. We are going to Dollywood this summer. She is a huge Dolly Parton fan so it is only fair to abide by her musical desires too. No dissenting this time… I have to take breaks from it to stay sane. It’s always fun to write about music. Until soon…