CALIFORNIA ROCK NEWS

Alex Kluft Photography

War, Tower of Power, and Poncho Sanchez brought an unforgettable night of Latin, Soul, Funk, and R&B to the YouTube Theater December 20th. It was an annual tradition around Memorial Day, WAR would play the Greek Theater often with Tower of Power including 2010 and 2013. 

Latin Jazz legend Poncho Sanchez opened the show with his band playing a 45 minute set. This year marks the 50th anniversary of his music career which includes over 25 studio albums and several live albums. 

Tower of Power formed in Oakland, CA in 1968 T.O.P. is still band leader/tenor saxophone Emilio Castillo and Stephen ‘Doc’ Kupka (Baritone Sax) who have been there through every lineup change and on all the albums. The next longest serving member is Adolfo Acosta who has played trumpet and flugelhorn, since 2002 followed by Tom E. Politzer who plays baritone, alto, and tenor saxophone,and Jerry Cortez has been the guitarist since 2010. Bassist Marc Van Wageningen began filling in for original bassist Francis ‘Rocco’ Prestia in 2018 and after his passing in 2020 became his replacement. 

In the last three years there have been four new members. Founding drummer David Garibaldi retired after his fourth tenure with the group last year and Pete Antunes became the drummer. 

Mike Jerel from The Voice had become lead vocalist following Marcus Scott who had replaced Ray Greene after joining Santana, and before that was Larry Braggs who would join the Temptations. This year Jerel replaced keyboardist Roger Smith who had been a member since 1998 and Jordan John became the new lead vocalist and also plays rhythm guitar. Lastly, Dave Richards became the trumpet player after Harry Kim who was Sal Cracchiolo’s (2010-21) replacement. T.O.P. has always had a number of musicians throughout the years but always an incredible lineup. 

T.O.P. played a set of hits like “We Came to Play,” “Soul With a Capital S”, “You Ought to Be Having Fun,” “Soul Vaccination,” “Don’t Change Horses (In The Middle of the Stream). T.O.P. also played a few songs off their Christmas E.P. released last year. This was their first Christmas release in their 57 year history. The Christmas songs included “Silver Bells,” and “Hark The Herald Angels Sing.” They have also been playing “This Christmas,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” and “The Christmas Song” on their holiday tour but not on this show with the shortened set times. 

If there’s one group that can take Christmas classics that have been recorded numerous times and make them their own songs with a funk vibe it’s T.O.P. Castillo took over vocals for “Diggin’ On James Brown.” Before the second to last song they played “So Very Hard To Go” then the “eternal question” was asked “What is Hip? which was performed with “Soul Power.” 

War, originally Eric Burdon and War, was formed in Long Beach, CA in 1969. From the group’s original lineup the only member remaining is singer/keyboardist Leroy ‘Lonnie’ Jordan. The group’s second longest member is drummer/singer Sal Rodriguez who joined the group in 1990 followed by Marcos Reyes who joined in 1998. Guitarist James Zota Baker was the guitarist 1998 to 2002 and was replaced by Stuart Ziff and then rejoined in 2023 after Ziff. Bassist Rene Camacho joined in 2015. The group’s newest member is saxophonist Scott Martin who joined in 2017. After 50 years the group stays true to their classic sound and their message of peace and love. On harmonica is Mitch Kasmar who had been a member 2006-2011 then it was Stanley Behrens until returning in 2020. 

Just like T.O.P., War played a set filled with hits beginning with “Me and Baby Brother,” and also included “Galaxy,” “Spill The Wine,” and “Summer.” War is one of the newest members of the Hollywood Walk of Fame when their star was unveiled in June bringing together the surviving members of the original lineup along with the current lineup. From the minute WAR took the stage the show was all about groove. Of the various lineups the group has had in those five decades, this may very well be their best one other than the original group. My favorite part of the show is when WAR plays “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” and each member trades off singing on different verses.  Jordan sang lead on all songs except when Sal Rodriguez took over for “So.” “Lowrider” was the closing song. Just like T.O.P., WAR is the kind of band that performs with very minimal production and their show is all about their music. Usually the only thing other than musical equipment has is their 3 backdrops.