Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul Bring Celebratory Revue To Tucson’s Rialto (SHOW REVIEW/PHOTOS)

Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul aka Steven Van Zandt and his very large band are celebrating the release of their first album of original material in 20 years with a tour of the same name, Summer of Sorcery. The new album was released in May and Steven’s tour that has covered Europe and the United States made a highly anticipated stop in Tucson’s Rialto Theatre on September 15th.

Van Zandt has had a rich career in the music business since the late 1960s when he first met Bruce Springsteen. He co-founded the band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. He co-wrote many of the band’s songs as well as he produced their first three albums and officially joined Springsteen’s E Street Band in 1975 during the Born To Run tour. He has been a permanent member of the band intermittently since then and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band.

The New Jersey native has had an acting career in addition to his musical career. His most famous role was that of strip club owner, Silvio Dante, in “The Sopranos” from 1999 through 2007. In 2011, Van Zandt starred, co-wrote and exec-produced the Netflix series, Lilyhammer. It was another gangster-like role. Van Zandt was quick to point out during the show that he has spent a lot of time portraying gangsters, but “somebody’s got to do it.”

Van Zandt has had several solo musical projects through the years and his band Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul has remained the predominant one. The stage for this show was filled with a band consisting of 15 performers including Van Zandt. They made a rollicking entrance as they danced across the stage with New Orleans style parasols as they played their instruments and sang: clearly, it was going to be a celebratory evening.

 ‘Little Steven’ led the band with vocals and guitar. Marc Ribler played guitar and slide guitar while Rich Mercurio was on drums. Jack Daley played bass and Andy Burton was on B3 Organ, accordion and synth. Lowell Levinger from The Youngbloods, played piano, mandolin and esraj. The five-piece brass section consisted of Eddie Manion on baritone sax, Stan Harrison on tenor, alto sax, flute and oboe, Clark Gayton on trombone, Ravi Best and Ron Tolley on trumpet, and Anthony Almonte on percussion. The three backing vocalists were Jessica Wagner, Sara Devine and Tania Jones. Van Zandt made sure each member has an opportunity to shine during the show and they did shine brightly. Van Zandt seemed to be proud of the fact that the band has been together two and a half years this time around.

The show and the new record are dedicated to the best summer of your life as the entire vibe of the show was like experiencing the best days of Sly and the Family Stone at the height of their popularity. Van Zandt clarifies that “summer is a state of mind,” and he then quipped, “You don’t get too much winter around here, do you?”

Van Zandt tipped his hat to the early days of rock and roll giving a special shout out to the harmonizing girl groups of the 1960s from Philly, New Jersey and NYC: The Shirelles, The Ronettes, The Shangri-Las, and The Crystals. There was also reverence given to Phil Spector’s ‘wall of sound’ and The Beach Boys.” The innocence of the early days of rock and roll was masterfully portrayed. It’s easy to forget just how good the music of that era really was. The show allows you to relive that time and energy to the max.

Education and educators are close to Van Zandt’s heart. He realizes that teachers are the most underappreciated and underfunded profession in our society. He reminded the crowd, “Our future belongs to teachers and our society should act like it. I put teachers through a lot of shit in high school. Sorry about that. I know you don’t get out too often so I want you to get as loose as you want to tonight. “ Teachers were provided free tickets to tonight’s show. TeachRock is the name of his foundation benefiting teachers. They will be hosting workshops at select cities during the fall tour. 

It was hard too determine who was more exuberant, the band or the fans. A special song was added to the set, “Tucson Train,” as a bonus for Tucson fans. Seems like Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul will find their way back to the ‘Old Pueblo.’  It was fun to re-experience the past’s imagination, innocence and youth.

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