Tommy Castro and the Painkillers, Stompin’ Ground Tour.
Music Box Supper Club, Cleveland, OH, USA April 18, 2018
by Doug Hardesty
Sporting a classic black T-Shirt, slicked back hair, and playing a black-lacquer Delaney guitar, Tommy Castro and his band The Painkillers arrived at an ecstatic crowd at the Music Box Supper Club on Cleveland’s west bank Flats area Wednesday evening.
Born in 1955 Castro hails from San Jose, California. Castro started playing guitar at the age of ten and started playing professionally in northern California clubs in the 1970’s. A member of a number of cover bands in the 1980’s, Castro started his own band in the early 1990’s. He opened for B.B. King during his 2001 and 2002 summer concert tours. The Blues Foundation awarded Castro the honor of 2010 “Entertainer of the Year. His career spans four decades and includes the release of fourteen albums.
Castro and the Painkillers performed a well-balanced selection of older material along with tunes from the
Tommy Castro (credit: Doug Hardesty)
recent CD Stompin’ Ground. The band is made up of Mike Emerson (Keyboards), Bowen Brown (drums) and long-time companion Randy McDonald (bass). Each member has over forty years of experience.
Castro is always smiling and full of energy and has great stage presence. He enjoyed interacting with the crowd and storytelling. One standout was his rendition of Ride off the Method to My Madness CD. Castro explained the songs’ connection to the beginning of his band and the blues bar scene on Grant Street in the North Beach area of San Francisco during the early 1990’s. The rendition featured a nice keyboard solo by Mike Emerson and subtle but powerful bass by Randy McDonald.
Songs off Stompin’ Ground included Enough is Enough, Nonchalant, and a wonderful version of My Old Neighborhood, a very personal song which perfectly captured his observations of growing up in San Jose during the 1960’s.
The set was rounded off with older material including Make It Back to Memphis off the Hard Behavior CD as well as Lose Lose, and Two Hearts off The Method to my Madness CD.
The quintessential group of road warriors, Castro and his band supplied a great mix of soul, rock, and blues. It was a fantastic show.
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Photo Gallery from the night of the show.
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