Vanilla Fudge
www.VanillaFudge.com
"Paramount 04/29/22 8P"
Performance review by Roger Zee (05/20/22)
Photos by Laura Kososki
So excited in 1967 at the ripe old age of fourteen to go see my first major Rock concert in NYC! But I couldn't make up my mind between Traffic and the Vanilla Fudge. Of course, the Fudge won out. Took the Long Island Railroad from Great Neck with my best friend Martin Porter. It let us off right at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden. There we stood with our long hair over our ears, in all our Psychedelic splendor -- Beatle boots, bell bottoms, paisley shirts. No Teeny Bopper gear for us!
That year, the Vanilla Fudge's first, self-titled album blew up the record charts led by their Heavy Rock take on the Supreme's "You Keep Me Hanging On." These guys, like the Young Rascals, came out of the burgeoning Long Island, NY Rock scene. Hey, Marty and I grew up on Long Island!
Amazingly enough, tonight at The Paramount in Peekskill, NY, I would hear many of the same songs I did over fifty years ago! And they sound even better now. Crystal clear, perfect pitch, acapella four part harmony on "People Get Ready." Keyboardist Mark Stein looked and sang like a man in his Twenties Rock Prime. Oh, and his organ sound -- to die for. The heavy Funk of their version of Jr. Walker's "Shotgun" shook the hall powered by the mighty beating the world's greatest living Rock drummer, Carmine Appice, laid on his kit. And man, can he twirl those sticks! What an honor and joy to witness.
In the Sixties, which Rock band didn't cover Donovan's "Season of the Witch?" Vince Martell's snakey, psychedelic guitar lines slithered through the tune like a Ninja in full stealth mode. Bassist Pete Bremy, who replaced the ailing (and now deceased) Tim Bogart over twenty years ago, locked Rock Steady with Appice and added the key, fourth part vocal harmony.
At the end of the night, the band talked about all the legendary Rockers who began their careers opening for the Fudge, groups like Mountain and the mighty Led Zeppelin. So it appeared only fitting that the band close the show with their workup of Zepp's "Dazed and Confused."
After their performance, the whole group appeared at the merch table surrounded by fans. I kept wondering about the seated man with long gray hair and a mask. Finally, after twenty minutes, it dawned on me. I remembered Carmine Appice posting on Facebook about letting his hair go gray. Voila!
The Vanilla Fudge sound better than ever. Would love to hear a new album putting their heavy spin on the hits of the Eighties, Nineties, and upward! One <3.
©2022 Roger Zee
