The band’s line-up tonight included Mike DelGuidice on lead vocals, Tommy Byrnes on lead guitar, Nick Dimichino on bass, Mike Sorrentino on drums, John Scarpulla on saxophone and Carmine Giglio on keys.
Big Shot kicked off their Mulcahy’s set with “Movin’ Out” and it was followed by the saxophone-driven “My Life” and the aggressive “Pressure.” Equally noteworthy tunes were “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” and “New York State of Mind,” both of which featured killer sax solos from John Scarpulla, as DelGuidice nailed the vocals. “What do you think of this guy. That’s John Scarpulla,” DelGuidice said.
The audience had their hands up in the air during “This is the Time” and they followed it up with “Vienna,” where yellow and blue lights graced the stage. “Give it up for Tommy Byrnes, who has been with Billy Joel for 27 years,” he said.
“Any Billy Joel fans in the audience?” he asked, and the answer was a resounding “yes.” He saluted Billy with a libation, and stated “God Bless Billy Joel!”
He switched up his set by performing a new, original song “Mona Lisa,” which he debuted on the previous night in Huntington. It was well-received and he thanked the crowd for listening to his original composition.
The inclusion of “Live and Let Die,” the 1973 James Bond theme song, was an added treat in their set, where Scarpulla played flute. DelGuidice continued with Journey’s inspirational “Don’t Stop Believin’,” which had a neat echo effect to it, as well as “Keeping the Faith,” where the audience was chanting “yeah, yeah, yeah.”
He paraphrased the closing lyrics of “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” to “Scenes From a Sicilian Restaurant,” which resonated well with his fans (who had Sicilian heritage). “How many Italian people have we got here tonight?” he asked.
DelGuidice handed the spotlight to keyboard player Carmine Giglio, who sang lead on “Blister in the Sun” as he had fun with the song and was dancing around on stage. “Make some noise for Carmine Giglio,” he said. After catching his breath, Giglio responded jokingly, “I gotta lose weight.”
Lead guitarist Tommy Byrnes gave the crowd a history lesson with “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” The band gave away several Big Shot T-shirts by throwing them from the stage into the audience, and they continued with the sassy “Sometimes a Fantasy.” DelGuidice sang his solo set, which included “Your Song” and “Tiny Dancer,” which satisfied the Elton John fans, and he serenaded the lovebirds in the venue to “She’s Always a Woman.”
He invited four girls on stage for a twerking competition, which featured John Scarpulla showing his booty moves as well. They were given Big Shot merchandise for prizes and delivered some classic rock tunes such as “Whole Lotta Love” and the drum solo “Moby Dick” performed by Mike Sorrentino. It was followed by “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” “Only the Good Die Young” and “You May Be Right,” where DelGuidice went into the crowd and interacted well with the fans (especially when he walked on the bar and made his way throughout the venue taking selfies with fans). They closed with “Piano Man,” with Steven Fileti on harmonica, as well as a cover of “Hey Jude” by The Beatles.
The Verdict
For two days in a row this weekend, Big Shot rocked Long Island. Their show at Mulcahy’s exceeded two and a half hours and it was a great deal of fun. Mike DelGuidice’s voice is as good as it gets, and he nailed all 26 songs. The band members rocked as well, and it was an added bonus to see Carmine Giglio sing Violent Femmes. Ironically enough, there were no April Fool’s Day jokes throughout the night. Big Shot garnered another A rating.
