Al Anderson joined forces with the Spampinato Brothers to recreate the sounds of NRBQ at the Iron Horse on Wednesday night. It was the first of a three-night stand.
Al Anderson
NORTHAMPTON – The Iron Horse Music Hall was built on memorable nights of music, songs by the famous and almost-famous, magic nights with ovations that echo through the years and give the building a life of its own.
That echo could go on forever, and the odds improve every time Big Al Anderson makes his annual visit and enlists his friends and former band mates to recreate the sound of the legendary NRBQ.
On Wednesday, Anderson joined forces with the Spampinato Brothers for yet another memorable night of music at the Iron Horse. It was the first of a three night stand at the Northampton venue. The first two shows sold out in advance, while a few tickets remain for the Friday performance.
Anderson and Joey Spampinato were part of the most popular and longest running version of NRBQ, and guitarist Johnny Spampinato joined in when Anderson headed to Nashville in 1994 to become one of country music’s most sought after songwriters.
The trio capped off a three-set night of “Q” styled rock’ n’ roll with a 40 minute rambunctious romp through the band’s revered catalog, belting out “Wild Weekend,” and “Get Rhythm,” as bookends to songs like “Macho Maria” “Nothin’ Wrong With Me” and “I Want You Bad.”
Iron Horse owner Eric Suher introduced the ensemble and dedicated this year’s performances to the memory of Springfield native Tommy Ardolino, the long-time NRBQ drummer who passed away last year.
This was all part of a grand finale that capped a night that saw Al Anderson open the show before giving way to the Spampinato Brothers who warmed the crowd up for the NRBQ free-for-all.
It started with Anderson, who sat center stage and performed with a backing band that featured guitarist Jimmy Chapdelaine and the Valley’s own Paul Kochanski on bass. Anderson covered his growing catalog of hits that have been recorded by others including “Love’s Gonna Make It Alright (George Strait), “Trip Around the Sun” (Jimmy Buffett and Martina McBride), and “Not ‘Cause I Wanted To” (Bonnie Raitt).
He also performed songs from his recently released “Strings,” including the beautifully rendered title track and “Satan’s Just A Waitin’.” He reprised the break out hit from his Wildweeds days with “No Good To Cry,” and paid tribute to his NRBQ past with “Ridin’ In My Car.”
The Spampinato Brothers responded with a 50 minute set of careening guitar rock that began with a nod to NRBQ’s original guitarist Steve Ferguson, performing “Flat Foot Flewzy” and ended with the Ferguson-penned “Ain’t It Alright.” They offered new songs like “A Bear Is A Bear Is A Bear,” “Q” songs such as “I Got A Rocket in My Pocket” and delivered a quasi-surf instrumental.