There is no doubt whatsoever that one of the most successful and celebrated albums of 2023, it has been Blood Brothers, a new project that has met the favours of both music fans and worldwide press from two of the biggest giants of contemporary American Blues/Rock, guitarists and singers/songwriters Albert Castiglia and Mike Zito.
On the back of a triumphant Blood Brothers Tour that has seen Zito and Castiglia circumnavigating the United States and Canada obtaining enormous success, the Blood Brothers Tour is now touring the United Kingdom, with Europe following soon after the end of the UK leg of the Tour.
Our website was invited to admire this new, exciting music project in the town of Devizes in the county of Wiltshire, at the Long Street Blues Club, where tickets were almost immediately sold out when the Tour date was announced at this lovely venue.
After a rather entertaining semi-acoustic from the English Troubadour Adam Giles Levy, at 9.20pm Castiglia, Zito and their band, made by Doug Byrkit on Bass Guitar and the two drummers Ephraim Lowell and Matt Johnson, are welcomed by a huge roar of the crowd present here tonight, a roar that will be recurring very often in tonight’s Blood Brothers showcase.
Zito and Castiglia are visibly in stellar form, both vocally and on guitars; from the foot-stomping opener of Hey Sweet Mama on, the night will continue between strong, rock solid vocal performances, with both artists delivering big, particularly, for Zito, on songs like Fool Never Learns, No Good Woman and his much loved classic Gone To Texas and for Castiglia, a special mention, among others, goes to songs like Big Dog, A Thousand Heartaches and You're Gonna Burn.
The show has got so much electrifying power running through on each of the songs performed tonight, with Castiglia and Zito's guitar playing different techniques that complement so well one another on so many level and with such amazing result.
Tonight’s crowd is literally blown away by the swagger and the class shown on stage by Zito and Castiglia, with the show reaching its climax, after almost 110 minutes of exciting Blues, Boogie, Funk and Blues/Rock, with the last rush of sonic adrenaline thrown on stage by these two amazing artists, through songs like Tell The Truth, You're Gonna Burn and the infectious Rock'N'Roll tempo of Bag Me, Tag Me, Take Me Away, swiftly followed by a killer version of Mike Zito's Gone To Texas, to close a truly breathtaking show.
But the good citizens of Devizes are not ready yet to let the Blood Brothers show to end and, after few minutes, Castiglia, Zito and the band return on stage once again for a high voltage rendition of Neil Young's Rockin' In The Free World, which will involve the best part of the excited crowd present here tonight in a joyous and liberating collective R'N'R dance.
Tonight's performance just goes to show that when two artists and comrades in music like Zito and Castiglia decide to join forces, only great things are destined to happen. The success of their eponymous debut album confirmed that and so did tonight’s show. With the final promise, from the two artists, that they will be most certainly back soon in a town that really showed their love, respect and admiration for these two pillars of modern Blues/Rock in such a passionate way.
