Melody Trucks with The Fitzkee Brothers: Skipper’s Smokehouse Blowout!
[We are indebted to Joel Shover Photography for capturing this event!]
After seven shows in support of Jackson Stokes, Melody Trucks and band with The Fitzkee Brothers, Otto Grundman, and Nick French blasted through the stratosphere with their headlining show February 1 at Skipper’s Smokehouse in Tampa, with the Tony Tyler Band opening the show. This was one of the greatest and most important sets I’ve ever heard at Skipper’s, and I’ve heard hundreds.
I also need to acknowledge the sound quality that evening. I have been the most outspoken critic of the sound engineer there. Let me be clear: the sound this night was phenomenal, best I have ever heard there, bar none. Volume was great, every musician perfectly dialed in, and vocals were crystal clear. I am so pleased to write this paragraph. Looking forward to the next show there!
(On a separate note, we couldn’t find the recycling bins that have always been there.)
The Tony Tyler Quartet opened the evening with a fine set of rock and blues with a very funky edge. Tyler is a multi-instrumentalist, but this evening he stuck to guitar, most ably supported by his bandmates. they tore through “Gates of Love” and “Miss Pristeen,” with D-Truth the Professional (Displace) on bass. Tyler has played for years with great drummer Rage Paige Cantrill, and Dr. Linda Kiley was superb on keyboards.
Tyler, his Malibu pink locks flowing, bore down on “Tough Luck” and then slowed things down for “Headed to NoWhere,” with great backing vocals from D-Truth and Kiley. “Obsession” was uptempo, followed by the mellower “Lonely Heart.” Then it got wild with the riotous “Ain’t Going Back to Jail,” slide guitar front and center.
Kiley got a great feature on the slow, bluesy “The Blues Has a Groove,” and it got very churchy with “Bury Me.” The too-short set, continuously propelled by Rage Paige and D-Truth, closed with deep rocker “Mississippi Runaway Train.”
[TTyler: Gates of Love, Miss Pristeen, Tough Luck, Headed to Nowhere, Obsession, Lonely Heart, Ain’t Going Back to Jail, The Blues Has a Groove, Bury Me, Mississippi Runaway Train]
After a lightning-fast set change (15 minutes), Melody Trucks and crew got on stage, and for the 135 minutes they put on one of the best shows to ever hit the Skipper’s Smokehouse stage (and that is saying a whole lot!). We had seen this same band open for Jackson Stokes the previous Sunday in Sarasota, and it was a great show (read that review here).
This show was a light year more powerful and mind-blowing. Absolutely stunning. Melody had cobbled this band together with two Maryland boys — Otto Grundman on guitar and Nick French on keyboards — and a pair of teenage brothers from Delaware — Alex and Drew Fitzkee — and has been having a blast playing with this wonderful youth movement.
The show opened with an old Marvin Gaye tune we commonly associate with The Band, the bouncing “Don’t Do It.” Drummer Alex Fitzkee, all 16 years of him, handled lead vocals as the quintet joyously took off. That melted into “Live Your Life,” a tune written by Brady Clampitt and Isaac Corbett, two men in her band when they recorded Walking in Gratitude. Alex and Melody traded the vocals back and forth.
“Lake Song,” the first of three Fitzkee Brothers songs, was next, with Drew occasionally going airborne with his bass! Grundman stepped up next to offer a fine take on “Deal,” Garcia’s great song.
And then magnificence exploded all over the Skipperdome. It began with a brand new Fitzkee Brothers tune called “Tomorrow” (the single isn’t out yet). It is a really good song, and the jam began to build and then morph… into “Not Fade Away,” the Buddy Holly standard. Suddenly next to Drew Fitzkee Stephanie Perez appeared, ready to shred. She and Grundman wailed on that jam, which was intensifying by the minute. Then that jam bled into “Mountain Jam,” and there was Tony Tyler on the other side of the stage; three guitars were now blazing away.
Nick French had been providing superb support all evening, but now his organ playing shone through, followed by Tyler on guitar. The jam twisted and turned, with everybody hanging on for dear life. Electric piano filled up the space, followed by a drum clinic from the 16-year-old Alex (with just a basic kit). Drew, all 19 years of him, blew it out on bass, then rocking back and forth with Tyler on slide guitar. The full “Mountain Jam” returned, yielding briefly to “Not Fade Away” to close the 45-minute romp. DAMN!
Perez stayed up, Tyler split, and the Fitzkees played another of their fine songs, “Give You All My Love.” Then it was +Tyler -Perez for the great Traffic pop tune “Medicated Goo,” Tyler singing. They gave the old Allen Toussaint classic “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley” a fine ride; Grundman proved himself a fine vocalist as well as guitarist. Tyler played slide, then used his guitar voice box as he and Grundman traded back and forth.
Perez came back for “Trouble No More” with Tyler on vocals and Grundman on slide. Melody and the Ftizkees explained that “Stand Back” (from Eat a Peach) was the first song they ever performed together. Grundman again played slide.
Ever since the first Melody Trucks Band arose in 2017, Melody has been working to let it all go when she sings, and she has been hitting that note for several years. It got even better when she began doing shows with the amazing Lee Boys, truly righteous experiences. I’ll say that her singing on “Stand Back” was the best I’ve ever heard from her, and I was crying tears of pure joy.
The tears continued as she hit that note again when they played the song she wrote for “my dad, Butch Trucks,” “Freight Train.” Three guitars, Tyler slide, Perez solo, then Grundman, Melody soaring, and a “Les Brers in A Minor” tease to close!
Done? Nope! Time for one tight “Whipping Post” to send us home beyond sated and satisfied. Melody sang it, and Drew Fitzkee owned it.
WHAT A TRULY SPECTACULAR EVENING OF MUSIC! And we would suggest that you keep tabs on The Fitzkee Brothers, Otto Grundman, and Nick French. You’ll be hearing a lot more from them.
[MTB: Don’t Do It > Live Your Life, Lake Song, Deal, Tomorrow > Not Fade Away > Mountain Jam > Not Fade Away, Give You All My Love, Medicated Goo, Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley, Trouble No More, Stand Back, Freight Train, Whipping Post]
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