November 24 2024 Marigold Theater by Jimm O’D
A capacity crowd is quite a compliment in itself but, considering the day, how much more of an accomplishment is it to fill the biggest house in a small town on a Sunday evening…?
Not every one of these couple-hundred people has heard Hittin’ The Note before, but the buzz has been generating for the better part of a decade now. This Allman Brothers tribute band made quite a splash in the Western Mass music scene when they finally came out, after a lot of hard work had gone into the project. The crowd is probably one-third devotees who clamor for more whenever the band goes on hiatus, another third who are here just because they had some idea what they’d been missing; and most of the other third are local luminaries come to observe, support, or maybe even check out the competition.
This is an Event. When master-mind (and Master Drummer) Jeff Turcotte first got this thing going, it was every bit a labor of love for tasty, spicy music and the Allmans themselves, but one of the funnest things about it- for us and them both- was the double-drumming with son Joel Turcotte. Both of these guys are top-tier around the area, and each brought in players of similar standing.
Granted, things might not be quite back to the full-tilt boogie we had before Covid came along and put the kaibosh on it all, but that wouldn’t come to mind right here and right now. The venue, Marigold Theater, renovated and updated this century-old facility in good time once it was safe to come out and play, and they have become one of the most prominent properties in the famous Massachusetts Hamptons. So when the announcement came out, it was Big News indeed in the neighborhood- twice over, even.
The younger drummer is off to Austin these days, beating his own path to fame and fortune (one hopes), but Ben Becker is similarly spry as he crosses from his kit over to Turcotte’s timbales without ever missing a… beat, of course. A bit of technical trouble (not from anywhere on stage) resulted in a tipsy video of the drum duet at the ten-minute mark in the first set’s showpiece, at Elizabeth Reed’s tail end.
The ever-humble Bob Toriani masterfully mans the keyboards, somehow squeezing this commitment in with all the others he’s got going on. And the lively guy bouncing around just off-side of center stage and covering every inch of his domain is Zach Longhi, six-string bass-meister and one of Joel’s band-mates in their many other ventures. Another alum of their local academy is Dan Girouard, over to stage left (on the dark side, mostly).
Dan is often responsible for infusing a lot of Duane’s mellower jazz-tones into the mix, while Tom Ramah covers a wide range including slide guitar. Tom comes from parts further south, often mixing it up with some of the ol’ pros in New England’s “blues alley,” the I-91 corridor between Theodore’s in Springfield and Sally’s in Hartford. Between the two of them, Dan and Tom manage to honor with aplomb the parts played by Duane and Dickey (Les Dudek too, in the “Ramblin’ Man” guitar harmonies).
One thing this band has always done, and made it work for them, is to bring a singer in to add the role of front-man to the actual configuration of the Allman Brothers Band. There are probably only three guys on the planet who could cover Gregg’s vocals, and Turcotte and company have tapped them all. The longest run was with Johnny Mak, who brought excellent presence (and harmonica) to the stage. His shoes are hard to fill, for sure.
Whether RJ McCartey is the permanent fix remains to be seen, even as the band itself enjoys the luxury of gigging just when they choose to. This feller fills the bill visually as well as vocally- he bears a certain resemblance to one or the other of the slim young Allmans. He has The Look that fits the band really well.
The sound is great here at the Marigold, and the lights are certainly up to the standards of any top-shelf operation. It can be a little difficult to get a good, clear picture or video, but that comes with the turf in a place like this. The back-lights are bright and directed forward, naturally, but the illumination makes for a lot of ‘boys in blue.’
By the time the first set wrapped, everyone in the house was ready for a break. If it hadn’t been for the beautiful “Dreams (I’ll Never See)” leveling off the pace after the band blasted through raucous rockers like “Statesboro Blues,” “Stand Back,” and “One Way Out,” punctuated as they were by M-O-R numbers such as “Midnight Rider,” “Hot ‘Lanta,” and “Blue Sky,” the relentless press of “Hoochie Koochie Man” and “Ain’t Wastin’ Time” might have been a bit much before “Southbound” and “Melissa” started the slow burn that comes with the epic “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.” As it was, the pitchers of ice water were ready for refills before the short (and it was) set-break was over.
Eight minutes of “Whipping Post” kicked off the second set, followed by the one-two
punch of the 1969 album opener, “Don’t Want You No More” into “It’s Not My Cross To Bear.” “Jessica” and “Wasted Words” continued the charge before a couple of latter-day album tracks came along, much as “Desdemona” had preceded the Betts-less “Rockin’ Horse” earlier. These newer songs serve the purpose of reminding listeners that the Allmans continued on for decades. In this case, “No One To Run With” was paired with “Soulshine,” the other song recorded without Dickey Betts in 1994 (although he tracked his part in later this time). These selections also show the rationale for this band’s choice of a name, which might seem out of place otherwise.
“Ramblin’ Man,” came out in anthemic fashion to close the show… almost. A pair of classics, “Trouble No More” and “Stormy Monday” made for the perfect encore.
Your friendly neighborhood photo-journalist is forever striving to achieve balance in quality between the audio and the visual, with equipment (and ability) that may or may not be adequate to the need.
RJ McCarty – Guest Vocalist
Bob Toriani – Keyboards
Tom Ramah – Guitar
Dan Girouard – Guitar
Zach Longhi – Bass
Ben Becker – Drums
Jeff Turcotte – Drums
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