All Music Magazine’s quest for live music sent correspondent Mark Horan of MarkHoran.Pictures LLC all the way to Ft. Meyers, Florida on December 6, 2020. The Coconut Falls Tiki Bar and Grill was hosting “Coconut Falls Blues Concert Series Presents Mike Zito, Sean Chambers” . Mark recounts the afternoon below in words and pictures.
I arrived at the venue at around 1:00pm and the three-time Blues Music Award Winner, Mike Zito was on stage and ready to start his set. I was fortunate to see Mike last year at The Tampa Bay Blue Festival and at that time I was impressed at his ability playing blues guitar. This day was different as it was on a small stage in an intimate setting.
The stage was located in the center of the restaurant separated from the front door by the dance floor. Socially distanced tables were located to the right and left of the sage with a few outside tables. Most tables in the venue were full and waiting for the show to begin. Overall it was a very casual atmosphere with a beach location vibe even being 12 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.
Zito started the set with “One More Train” off his 2016 Album, “Make Blues Not War.” The second song was “Back in The USA” from his 2019 release “Rock N Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry”, which was recorded with the help of 21 guest guitarists: Joe Bonamassa, Walter Trout, Robben Ford, Sonny Landreth, Richard Fortus, Alex Skolnick, Joanna Connor, Anders Osborne, Ryan Perry, Ally Venable, Albert Castiglia, Luther Dickinson, Jeremiah Johnson, Tommy Castro, Tinsley Ellis, Josh Smith, Kirk Fletcher, Jimmy Vivino, Kid Andersen, and introducing Charlie Berry the 3rd. The show was heating up as fans were leaving their tables and hitting the dance floor.
The rest of the show had numerous songs from Mike Zito’s 18 albums to date. After cancelling his 2020 European tour, Mike headed home to Texas and recorded “Quarantine Blues” which was released free to download. In addition, on November 13, 2020 Gulf Coast Records released “A Gulf Coast Christmas”, an album featuring 16 Christmas covers as well as original Christmas songs from the labels talented and diverse artists. There were 18 artists including Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia. This man has unbelievable energy and talent.
We were lucky to have Albert Castiglia on stage this afternoon playing along side Zito adding solo’s and great backing guitar. The quartet rocked out for well over an hour and left everything on the stage.
Mike Zito was followed by Sean Chambers, the Stevie Ray Vaughan influenced guitarist from Southwest Florida. Time restraints caused me to miss Sean Chambers set and the finale that included Mike Zito and Albert Castigilia joining The Sean Chambers band on stage. Take a look at what I missed.
Band:
Mike Zito – Guitar
Albert Castiglia – Guitar
Matthew Robert Johnson – Drums
Doug Byrkit – Bass
Set List:
One More Train
Back in The Usa
Keep on Swing
Wasted X
Somebody Stole
Highway Mama
All I Got for Xmas
Big Dog
Texas
Rocking
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Photographer and Editor/Founder of AllMusicMagazine.com. My love of live music has taken me to incredible experiences with the top bands of all time in stadium shows to the smallest venues with equally inspiring musicians. Using the medium of photography and my publication, these memories will last forever.
