Sold-Out Scream of the Butterfly Doors Tribute a Smashing Success
When your first trip to the plate in the majors is a grand slam, well, that’s pretty darn fine. George Pennington III and Jess Phillips share that accolade for their sold-out Doors tribute Friday night (June 15th) at Crowbar in Ybor City. Pennington, the 21-year-old guitarist now playing with Displace, assembled a who’s who of local musicians for the tribute, and Phillips hosted her first show: The Scream of the Butterfly: A Tribute to Jim Morrison and The Doors.
Fans were streaming in as music started promptly at 9 PM, with a band nobody seemed to know. Garden Club, a quartet from St. Petersburg, truly surprised the crowd with a tremendous set of music. Bass, keyboards, drums, and… harp? No, not harmonica, a harp! How would this go over?
To say they made a great impression would be an understatement. Bass player Savvas Savvinidis was front and center, handling vocals. They opened with several band originals: “Bitterroot,” “Indian Spector,” and “Insmyth.” Alex Merrill got a wide range of great tones and effects from his keyboard, creating a really interesting vibe with Adam Lynn on harp and percussion.
Natalie Depergola, drummer, kicked the groove in another direction with Thundercat’s “Them Changes,” some deep funk. Next they invited Shevonne Philidor, one of the singers in the Doors tribute, to join them on some even deeper funk with the Chaka Khan tune “Pulse,” Savvinidis’ bass pulsing throughout the club. And they closed with even hotter funk on original tune “Rain.” The crowd response spoke volumes; you’ll be hearing lots from this fine group!
Live painting was going on in several locations, with Steve Berry, Adam Danger Smith and others adding to the great vibe.
After a very brief set break, Pennington, wrapped in the perfect black leather jacket, strode on stage with his first group of conspirators, his three Displace bandmates: Vinny Svoboda, bass; Tucker Sody, drums; and Chris Sgammato, keyboards and alto sax. They dug immediately into “L.A. Woman,” a tune Displace also performs. Pennington’s deep voice matched the late Jim Morrison’s intensity.
Then the additions and substitutions began, which would be the rule for the remainder of the evening. Jonathan Huber took over keyboard duties; he would play much of the evening with a nice feel for Ray Manzarek’s organ work. And this was — for me — the best vocal performance of the entire program, as Joe Roma (Row Jomah) CRUSHED “Peace Frog,” with Alexa Toro on backing vocals.
Pennington took over the mic for “Light My Fire,” highlighted by the two gold-painted butterflies dancing on the floor speakers on either side of the stage. They were Alaysha Sky and Jen Ferry from ‘of the Mirage,’ and they were awesome! They would return again later. Dennis Stadelman (CopE) grabbed his guitar for “Love Her Madly,” sung by J.T. Brown, a powerful performance.
Sgammato was up again for “Riders on the Storm,” which contained a lovely “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” tease. Svoboa’s bass provided that pulsing beat. Flow Sisters — Alexa and Bella Toro — had dibs next on “Love Me Two Times,” with Al, Thee Eloquent Barbarian, on keyboards and harmonica.
This would be a good opportunity to sing the praises of the house sound engineer. The ladies’ vocals were a bit too low on that tune, and that’s the only comment I could make about the best sound I’ve ever hear in Crowbar, and I’ve been there a lot. Not too loud, both bands mixed very well. And he was tasked with the challenge of a new dynamic every time players came and went from the stage. Bravo!
Bravo also to the light show! I’m old enough to remember — via movies — the way they did light shows at Monterey Pop, the Fillmores and other similar venues. Using two old-school overhead projectors and drops of color swirled in oil, Smokin’ Mirrors with D-Ray and partner was as retro as it gets.
Kenny Stadelman, the bass anchor for CopE, took over as Pennington dug deep into the bluesy “Been Down So Long.” Next, was “Alabama Song” (from Three-Penny Opera) with Sarah Ferrer and Flow Sisters in the chorus. The lead singer? Kyle Pennington, opera singer and, oh yes, George’s dad! Then Mark Etherington grabbed the mic for an incredibly enormous “Changeling” that rocked the house.
Ferrer’s turn was next, offering “Hello I Love You” with backing help from Flow Sisters. Shevonne Philidor then proceeded to bring the house down with “Break On Through.” Electric! Brown was back with Ferrer and Flow in tow for “People are Strange.” This was the first appearance (I think) from Richard Saez on trumpet and Joseph Kelemen on trombone and tuba, USF music classmates of Pennington. They added a great punch to the sound.
George Pennington then sang a rollicking “Touch Me” and a tender “Crystal Ship.” I lost track of when Kenny and Svoboda switched back and forth on bass, but Kenny was back to sing a slammin’ “Five to One” with Pennington, Al on harmonica.
It was time for the surprise set for the “27 Club,” musicians other than Morrison who also passed away at the all-too-young age of 27. The Stadelmans were on board, and Etherington took over the drum kit for “Little Wing,” the Jimi Hendrix tune. For those familiar with the original studio version, Etherington absolutely nailed that intro! Ferrer was on vocal, and Pennington and Dennis had a great guitar exchange.
Next in this mini-set was The Zutons’ “Valerie,” a song Amy Winehouse later redefined. This one was all Bella Toro, best performance I’ve ever heard from her. Alexa was on backing vocals with the horns adding zip. The other best part was the jazzy electric piano work of Huber. Then it was Alexa’s turn on “Smells Like Teen Spirit” with Bella backing. Pennington, Dennis, Svoboda and Tucker killed this one, Alexa out raging on the speaker cabinets.
For the last tune of the mini-set, Philidor returned to do Janis Joplin. She sang as great a rendition of “Me and Bobby McGee” as you’ll ever hear. The crowd was with this great performer every move and every lyric. I would pay mad money to hear her rip into “I Need a Man to Love Me” and “One Good Man.” Just sayin’…
We were near the end. Actually, we were at “The End,” that opus from the first album by The Doors. Al was on harmonica for this brooding dark tale, which included band intros and Pennington leaning on the mic stand a la Morrison. It was a long version.
And now my rant. First, I will acknowledge that this was a difficult tune to close with; perhaps the mood might have been different if the last song had been, say, “When the Music’s Over” or “Wild Child.” Be that as it may, a situation occurred that has been occurring all too often at shows and festivals alike: jaded fans who expect an encore and don’t want to do anything to earn it.
Look: these 18 or so musicians had just played two thrilling hours of the music of The Doors, and NOBODY could whistle, stomp, yell, clap, or shout “One more song?” REALLY? I did. Two or three others I saw did. The band was waiting in the wings, hoping, expecting to come out for a joyful encore.
And I really respect that they DIDN’T come out. We are better than this. Yes, the best thing you can do is to go hear live music to support the bands we love. But we also need to let them know we DO love them. With actual applause.
Rant over.
Kudos to George Pennington III and his excellent troupe. Special praise goes out to Tucker Sody, who propelled everything (except the Hendrix tune) from his drum kit. As Roma pointed out, this is hard work learning to interpret and deliver music of such iconic stature.
Kudos to Jess Phillips. Now, along with Julia Stewart of Moongoddess Entertainment, we have two strong women show promoters in our area, and for that we are forever grateful.
[GARDEN CLUB: Bitterroot, Indian Spector, Insmyth, Them Changes, Pulse, Rain]
[DOORS: L.A. Woman, Peace Frog, Light My Fire, Love Her Madly, Riders on the Storm, Love Me Two Times, Been Down So Long, Alabama Song, Roadhouse Blues, Changeling, Hello I Love You, Break On Through, People are Strange, Touch Me, Crystal Ship, Five to One, Little Wing, Valerie, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Me and Bobby McGee, The End]
