L to R: Eddie Vincent, Joe Parker, Tony Lindsey, Fenner Castner, Tom Tutino of Stormbringer at Wha Bah's 3-14-2009. Photo by Pennman.

My memory got a workout tonight. Stormbringer brought a catalogue of vintage, old school hard rock to Wha Bahs that brought me back to those hazy days of the late 60s/early 70s (if you lived through that you know exactly what I mean). And there were plenty of vintage fans there with me (face it, embrace it, and be proud). There were also quite a few who I’m sure were not even around pre-1980, a testament to my running observation that these great old tunes and groups are garnering new generations of fans all the time. Until I see otherwise I’ll still have faith that rock & roll will never die.

The band not only sounds vintage but looks the part too. Stormbringer is a classic five-man hard rock unit consisting of Tony Lindsey on vocals, Tom Tutino on lead guitar, Fenner Caster on drums, Joe Parker on bass, and, just to make it authentic 70s hard rock, Eddie Vincint on keys. You just don’t hear enough organ these days. All these guys are pretty outstanding musicians and loving what they’re doing up there. And there’s plenty of long hair to go around too. So yeah, it’s 1970 something again here in 2009. And one might think that Stormbringer is a Deep Purple tribute band since they share the name with a Deep Purple song and album (if you knew that and still don’t see yourself as vintage I can’t help you). Well they’re not.

Yes, Stormbringer does play some Deep Purple (as in a smokin’ version of “Burn”). Actually, I was thinking Deep Purple thoughts right from the start of the show. But most of the time they’re playing other stuff from the early 70s era. Of course, just when I was thinking all 70s, they backed up even further to 1966 to do a hard rock instrumental arrangement of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme” (very nice). Some of the other classics performed were “Easy Living” (Uriah Heep), “Cities on Flame” (Blue Oyster Cult – I mean, who plays BOC, one of my personal favorites?), and “Frankenstein” (Edgar Winter). By the time they were eight songs into the set with “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” (Night Ranger) the band was soaring in a real hard, tight groove. People were getting up, some were dancing, and that would continue off and on the rest of the night. A few others that were getting people up were “Black Magic Woman” (Santana), “Carry on My Wayward Son” (Kansas), “Tom Sawyer” (Rush), “Blue Collar Man” (Styx), “Hokus Pokus” (Focus – a cool instrumental version in lieu of the infamous yodeling), a Stevie Wonder mini-set of “Superstition” and “Higher Ground”, and “Muscle and Blood” (Glenn Hughes).

According to Lindsey, the band has been together about a year or so, and plays every once and awhile. And rumor has it the set list changes a bit each time. This was my first time hearing them and I enjoyed myself. If you’re vintage (that’s my term for older than old school, given the 80s are old school for the younger set), or younger (with a thirst for the music that came before), you should go check out Stormbringer next time they’re playing. It’s a fun night out.    

Pennman bought his first 45 at age nine and has been hooked on rock ever since. He has spent much of his disposable income on music, especially live performances. He writes reviews of the shows he sees and keeps a keen lookout for upcoming shows in or near Bowling Green. He has a BA in Communications, specializing in journalism, and has dabbled in music himself, both as a player and instructor. Find more of Pennman’s work at www.associatedcontent.com/user/165511/pennman.html