My co-worker urged me to take the time to listen to Vintage Trouble, a soul jive band that had recently opened for a Joss Stone concert that she went to. “Listen to this band. You’ll love it. They are playing TT the Bear’s in three weeks – come with us!” Two thoughts went through my head at the time. One: if they are so big…why are they playing a small venue like TT’s? And two: am I really into soul? I appreciate Marvin Gaye and the occasional Saturday night at ZuZu but would I really love this band? It wasn’t until I was dancing in the street during Nemo to “Not Alright By Me” that I realized I had fallen madly in love with VT and their old-school sound.
Vintage Trouble’s set was starting late on Tuesday, so we arrived early to see the opener, Leogun. Looking around the crowd, it was apparent that my friends and I were the youngest attendees by many years. Knowing we wouldn’t get much push back from the crowd, we made our way towards the front of the stage (well, at TTs it isn’t as much as a stage as a raised area with two drum sets and some guitars). The drummer from Leogun was hanging around the merch table and informed a friend that they were signed to Elton John’s Rock Music Management Company–“Elton John is our boss man!”–not too shabby for an opener at TTs. Leogun consists of three members, Tommy Smith on guitar and vocals, Matt Johnson on bass, and Michael Lloyd on the drums. Tommy and Matt had this luminous, full curly hair (I was tempted to ask their conditioner) and head banged in unison for every song. With a killer performance, a fantastic American flag shirt worn by the lead singer and some crazy vocals, Leogun convinced the crowd of their rock and roll prowess.
It was time to really move and groove. Vintage Trouble came out to roaring applause from the sold out crowd. First on the stage was Nalle Colt on guitar, followed by the rest of the band including Rick Barrio Dill on bass, and Richard Danielson (sporting an impressive handlebar mustache) on drums. Ty Taylor (vocals) came out last and stood by the microphone. They immediately broke into “Blues Hand Me Down,” a true sizzler and the first song on their debut album, The Bomb Shelter Sessions. As soon as the song started you knew it was going to be a great show. Taylor, full of energy and pizzazz, danced and twirled around on that stage for almost two hours. We clapped in unison, we pushed our pelvic muscles to “Pelvis Pusher,” we screamed “Get Naked!” during “Total Strangers” – every song was a new adventure. They have only one album but they filled that two hours with fantastic guitar solos from Colt (some of the best ever heard in TTs) and even played a new song they had written on the road. Taylor urged the crowd to move around, even having us turn away from the stage to swing around with a partner. Many times he even entered the crowd to dance and sing.
While the rocking songs got the crowd pumped, it was during “Gracefully” and “Not Alright By Me” that his vocal talents were really on display. As the show progressed you felt yourself leaving 2013 and time traveling to a different era filled with hand jives and bopping feet. In every song you could feel the influence of Tina Turner, James Brown, and the band they have been headlining for all year, The Who. The show ended with a roaring crowd and members of the band drenched in sweat.
I went to the show loving the CD and with my interest piqued. I came out a “Troublemaker” – a VT fan base that stretches across the globe.