Colorado jam band Big Head Todd and the Monsters stopped at the Fillmore Silver Spring for a relaxed and fun night of blues rock tinged with a bit of 1990s nostalgia. Without any support act, the band (vocalist Todd Mohr, keyboard/pedal steel guitarist Jeremy Lawton, drummer Brian Nevin, and bassist Rob Squires) was free to take the stage promptly at 8PM and lept into its set, which reached into the band’s early 1990s work.
The Washington, DC area is known for being a region crawling with transplants, so it was no surprise that the crowd responded with a supportive roar when Mohr introduced the band as being from Colorado. Big Head Todd and the Monsters is known for its sizable live following out in the western part of the United States where they spent the late 1980s and ’90s touring extensively. The band still fills venues like Red Rocks near Denver, where they are scheduled to appear again in June. Big Head Todd and the Monsters’ first album, Another Mayberry, was released in 1989. In 1993, Sister Sweetly was released and went platinum in the US. The band’s 12th full-length album, Thunderbird, is scheduled to be released in late spring.
Friday night at the Fillmore Silver Spring, Mohr and the rest of the band, by the looks of it, gave the crowd what it wanted—a well-rounded setlist featuring old favorites (such as “Bittersweet”), new material (“Her Way Out”), and a few carefully selected cover tunes (some John Lee Hooker, anyone?). It was a crowd that skewed in the direction of being old enough to have seen the band in the 1990s; it was also one that was enthusiastic and became more well-lubricated as the show progressed.
Favorites like “Please Don’t Tell Her” got the crowd singing along. “It’s Alright” was delivered with a dash of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On,” which promptly got the unselfconscious in the audience slowly dancing with each other. There were many! The show wrapped up with a cover of Tom Petty’s “You Wreck Me,” which brought the house down.
It’s evident that, in 2024, Big Head Todd and the Monsters operate like a well-oiled machine, comfortably delivering blues rock jams that stand the test of time. Todd Mohr’s guitar playing was impressive, veering from smooth to blazing hot blues. It took no time for him to start destroying guitar strings and his tech stayed busy switching out Mohr’s many guitars between songs. As for myself, it had been a long time since I’d given BHTM a listen; I’m now kicking myself for not doing so sooner.
Big Head Todd and the Monsters continue playing dates along the East Coast through February. In June they return to home stages in Colorado.
SETLIST
My New Number One
Dinner with Ivan
Helpless
Angela Dangerlove
Please Don’t Tell Her
Glorious Full Moon
Dirty Juice
Crazy Mary
Sittin’ and Cryin’ the Blues
Her Way Out
Soul For Every Cowboy
Long Coal Train
It’s Alright
Wipeout Turn
Brandy
Resignation Superman
Bittersweet
Boom Boom
Circle
Broken Hearted Savior
You Wreck Me
