Critic’s Corner:
Tramps Like Us Concert Review
Phoenixville News / PhoenixvilleNews.com
Dec 17, 2007
Photos: Courtesy of Rick Miller

“That was amazing!” “What an incredible concert for only $25” and “Wow, what a great show!” were some of the comments heard as close to 500 people streamed out of the Colonial Theater in Phoenixville, PA last Friday night (Dec. 14) after being swept up in the music of Bruce Springsteen as performed by Tramps Like Us.

After a warm up by Phoenixville local John Valerio, who did a short but terrific acoustic solo set, the stage went dark as Mark Salore and his band from New York, prepared to rock the Colonial. For almost 3 and a half hours, like a Springsteen concert from years ago, some of the Boss’s best was delivered with raw energy and exceptional talent. Opening with Backstreets, the Tramps dug in with a mixed set of old and new Springsteen. The 3rd song of the evening was a version of Radio Nowhere that was so good if you closed you eyes you would have thought Bruce himself was in Phoenixville.

By the time Tramps worked through classics like Spirit in the Night, Growing Up, Thunder Road and The Promised Land, Salore was obviously having fun with the large Phoenixville crowd and enjoying the classic Colonial Theater. His voice was strong and convincing and his guitar playing was exceptional. The rest of the band was equally as talented. Keyboard player, Kenny Hope, basest Jonathon Sanborn, drummer Rudy Feinauer were all terrific, but saxophonist Brian Sears stole the show with his Clarence Clemons-like saxophone. There is a lot of sax in Springsteen’s music, so Sears had plenty to showcase, but when he nailed the solo in Jungleland the whole place went crazy. As loud as the crowd was for most of the night, you could have heard a pin drop as Salore passionately mastered the Springsteen classic, Lost in the Flood. All told, Tramps Like Us played an amazing total of 27 songs, never stopping except to interact a bit with the audience. Coming off of Candy’s Room, I’ll Work for Your Love from the new CD Magic, and She’s the One, it was time to celebrate Christmas. Salore looked to the back of the theater and asked the band who was the guy in the red suit. The band then rocked to Santa Claus is Coming to Town as Santa danced down the aisle, handing out candy to an audience that was obviously having fun. Santa ended up on stage proclaiming that “Phoenixville was perfect! Ho Ho Ho!”

Springsteen fans of The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle era thoroughly enjoyed Incident on 57th Street as it blended into the classic Rosalita. Salore played it perfectly bringing everybody to their feet. For the bands encore, Salore invited everyone to the front of the stage. The polite audience obliged by rushing forward to dance, sing and fist pump to Born to Run, ThunderCrack, and Tenth Avenue Freeze Out. An exhausted Salore and his band thanked the crowd and vowed to visit Phoenixville again, but chants of “one more” squeezed out one last song, and Tramps Like Us finished for good with I Wanna Be With You from the Tracks CD.