Heading into the homestretch of a twenty-seven date North American tour that began at the end of July, multi-award-winning Tommy Castro & The Painkillers played four shows along the Colorado front range last week. On Thursday, October 12 they were in Colorado Springs. On Friday, October 13 they played Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox in Denver. On Saturday, October 14 they made their way to Greeley. They wrapped up their Colorado swing with a show at the Velvet Elk Lounge in Boulder last night.
As much as I would have loved to cover multiple nights, prior engagements had me out of town for the first three of the Colorado shows. But I was able to make it back for the Boulder show… this review is exclusive to that gig.
The last time I saw/covered Castro was in December of 2021, at the Oriental in Denver. Despite Castro struggling with an oncoming illness, he and the band killed it. But as good as it was then, the Velvet Elk show blew it away.
Billed as Tommy Castro & The Painkillers “with special guest Deanna Bogart,” I assumed that Bogart would be the opening act. Not that I would have had a problem with that. Bogart is an immensely talented multi-instrumentalist and vocalist with a successful solo career dating back to the early 90’s. But for this tour, Bogart has effectively taken up residence as an additional member of the Painkillers. She’s also using Castro & Company as her backup band for a mini set of her own music. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Castro & The Painkillers took the stage at exactly 9:00 pm. Over the course of the next two hours, the packed crowd at this intimate venue was treated to Castro classics, a mini set of Bogart tunes, and an acoustic interlude that started with Castro solo before bringing in Bogart on keys.
The 20-song set covered a lot of ground. Both Castro’s and Bogart’s careers have spanned three-plus decades, so there’s a lot to draw from. Add in a handful of covers, and you have an absolute feast for the ears.
Castro & The Painkillers opened with the title track from their 2021 award-winning album, Tommy Castro Presents A Bluesman Came to Town. They then moved through Bad Case Of Love and Make It Back To Memphis before launching into a blistering and extended cover of John Lee Hooker’s Serves Me Right To Suffer. Only four songs into the night, and the crowd was already wired to the max.
The band slowed things down a bit for My Old Neighborhood, although Castro ended that tune with another lengthy and blazing guitar solo.
At this point, the band exited the stage, leaving Castro solo for what would be a five-song acoustic set. He played the first two of those songs (John Fahey’s Buck Dancer’s Choice and Lloyd Price’s classic Stagger Lee) solo.
Bogart then joined Castro on stage for three more acoustic tunes… It Ain’t Easy Bein’ Me, Freight Train, and a rollicking version of the Muddy Waters classic Rollin’ And Tumblin’. For that latter song, Castro shifted to an electric acoustic and picked up the slide for the first time that night.
Bogart remained on stage for the remainder of the night, which included three songs from her own albums, Won’t Be Long, I’ll Be Missing You, and Beat Me Daddy, Eight To The Bar. She played keys and sang on those three songs but played sax on most of the remaining songs of the evening’s set.
No Castro show would be complete without Nasty Habits and Right As Rain, which were the last two songs played on this evening.
Throughout the night, Castro’s voice was in outstanding form, and his guitar playing was mesmerizing. Bogart’s voice was Castro’s equal, and both her sax and keyboard playing were off the chain.
As great as the music was – and trust me when I tell you it was great – what really pushed this show over the top was the obvious fun all the players were having on stage. Castro and the Painkillers have been together for a long time, and they clearly enjoy each other’s company. There’s an infectious playfulness between the members of the band. As the frontman, Castro gets most of the between-songs mic time, but bass player Randy McDonald get his fair share as well. Mike Emerson (keys) and Bowan Brown (drums) are a bit more laid back, but no less spirited. Castro spends a lot of time engaging with the crowd, telling stories, making jokes, and in general pulling the crowd in as part of the show.
Bogart fits in with the band like hand in glove. She’s not just someone along for the ride… she’s an integral and essential member of the band. A lot of Castro songs have sax in them… having a sax player with him on stage adds a LOT to the mix. And let us not overlook her prowess on keys. At one point in the night, she and Emerson engaged in a good, old-fashioned back-and-forth duel that whipped the crowd into a frenzy.
A big shout-out to the Velvet Elk Lounge. This was my first time visiting this venue, and I fell in love with it. It’s intimate, to be sure. The stage is maybe a foot off the ground, and the crowd is only about 10 or 12 feet away from the band. I heard one member of the crowd comment, as we were leaving after the show, that it was “awesome… almost like having them perform in my basement.” (But with better acoustics.)
A second shout out to bass player Randy McDonald, for inviting me on stage to take a few pics of Castro from behind. I’ve never had the pleasure/honor of shooting on stage before, so it was an absolute thrill for me. And I managed to not trip and fall into Bogart’s keyboard setup on my way off stage, which was nice.
Story and photos by Rick Witt www.rickwittphotography.com
