The Alley, in the historic district of Sanford, Florida, rocked out Saturday night, June 20, 2020 with Three Forks Road. All Music Magazine was out to cover the event and was treated to a wonderful night of great music and surprises. The venue was full and there were some exceptional musicians in attendance taking in the show. Mark Horan of MarkHoran.Pictures was present logging the show through his camera lens and his recollections of the show in the following review.
Three Forks Road at The Alley in Sanford, Florida
Three Forks Road played three sets mixing blues with southern rock. The show started at around 8:15pm and all the tables were filled as well as the bar area of standing room only. Dinner was being served from the restaurant Fuel BBQ located next door. Fuel is a barbecue restaurant that can be accessed through a side door in The Alley which makes the two establishments simpatico.
The first set included covers from The Allman Brothers Band to Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Rod Maurice delivered the lead vocals with Paul Drennan on lead guitar, Richie Compton on bass, Dominick Loria on keys, and the sterile Kevin Barret on Drums. This band is really good, and their choice of songs wasn’t the usual covers performed by the area’s local bands.
The second set started out to my delight with my favorite Deep Purple Song, Lazy. Lazy was on the Machine Head album and was overlooked by most because it was on side two behind “Smoke On The Water” and “Highway Star.” Lazy was the longest song on the record and received no airtime on the radio as it was over seven minutes long. I believe it is Deep Purple’s best song and is also in my personal top 10 of all-time songs. Dominick Loria gave it justice on the keyboards. I have never seen any band cover “Lazy” and I was blown away and wondered how could this show get any better? But it did get better. Towards the end of the second set Paul introduced two members of “38 Special”, drummer Gary “Madman” Moffatt and bass player Barry Dunaway. 38 Special is a well know southern rock band that has been around almost five decades.
We were treated when Dunaway came up and sat in with the band on a few songs. Gary Moffatt almost came up, but Kevin Barret’s kit was set up for a left handed drummer and Moffatt is right handed so that wasn’t meant to be. Hold on now, could there be more surprises in store? Drennan introduced another guest in the crowd, local guitarist Jim Gentry of Jim Gentry and The Groove. Gentry joined in and jammed on a couple of tunes and showed phenomenal technical ability on the electrical guitar. The night was a complete showcase of great musicians performing their love of the art of music. From the audience perspective, it was just plain intoxicating and a great night out.
I highly recommend The Alley to experience great music with the area’s best bands. As far as Three Forks Road, I will be trying to catch their shows as much as I can.
Band:
Paul Drennan – Guitar
Rod (Rodzilla) Maurice – Vocals/Harmonica
Kevin Barret – Drums
Richie Compton – Bass Guitar
Dominick Loria – Keyboards
Barry Dunaway – Bass Guitar
Jim Gentry – Guitar
Set 1:
- Side Tracked
- I’ve Got a Woman (Ray Charles cover)
- Blue on Black (Kenny Wayne Shepherd cover)
- Mean Love
- Whipping Post (Allman Brothers Band cover)
- Blues Hand Me Down (Vintage Trouble cover)
- Cold Shot (Stevie Ray Vaughan cover)
- Soulshine (Allman Brothers Band cover)
- Fire (Jimi Hendrix cover)
- Going Down (Jeff Beck Group cover)
- Sell My Monkey (B.B. King cover)
Set 2:
- Lazy (Deep Purple cover)
- Wishing Well
- I’m Losing You (The Faces cover)
- Crossroads (Robert Johnson cover)
- Ramblin (Allman Brothers cover)
- Soul Sacrifice (Santana cover)
- Jump’n Jack Flash (Rolling Stones cover)
- Magic Carpet Ride (Steppenwolf cover)
- One Way Out (Allman Brothers cover)
- Don’t Make me Cry
- Ticket to Ride (Beatles Cover)
- Little Help From My Friends (Beatles cover)
Set 3:
- Oh pretty Woman (Roy Orbison cover)
- Rock My Plimsoul (Jeff Beck Group cover)
- Come on-Good Times Roll (Jimi Hendrix cover)
- Blues Deluxe (Joe Bonamassa cover)
- Working Man
- Waiting on Time
- If You Love Me Like You Say (Albert Collins cover)
- Mojo (Muddy Waters cover)
- Ain’t No Fun For Me (Graham Central Station cover)
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.
