Mike Mattison & Trash Magic
Brooklyn Bowl-NY
There is a specific kind of alchemy that happens when a veteran of the
“big stage” returns to the intimacy of a club like Brooklyn Bowl. Mike
Mattison—the soul-drenched baritone of the Tedeschi Trucks Band and
the Derek Trucks Band—brought his side project, Trash Magic, to
Williamsburg last night, proving that while he may be a world-class
ensemble player, he is a formidable and quirky captain of his own ship.
The performance served as a live manifestation of his early 2026
release, Turn A Midnight Corner. While Mattison’s work with TTB often
leans into the grandiosity of 12-piece soul-revivalism, Trash Magic is a
different beast: lean, gritty, and delightfully strange.
From the opening notes of “Going Down the Alley,” it was clear this
wasn’t going to be a night of standard blues tropes. The band—
featuring TTB drummer Tyler “Falcon” Greenwell, guitarists Dave
Yoke and Greg Spradlin, and Wesley Flowers on bass—locked into a
“jittery cowboy” groove that felt more like early Talking Heads than
standard Chicago blues.
The standout element of the night was the guitar talents of Dave Yoke
and Greg Spradlin. In many roots-rock outfits, the groove can sag
when the singer steps back for a solo, but here, the tension only
tightened. Yoke’s lead work was sharp and stinging, but it never lost its
rhythmic skeleton. Together with Spradlin’s greasy, atmospheric rhythm
work, the pair kept the pocket feeling heavy and intense even during the
most soaring improvisations. These guys definitely drove the rhythm
section.Mattison’s voice, often described as “sandpapery,” was in peak form.
He’s spent decades tempering that rasp, and at Brooklyn Bowl, he used
it to navigate lyrics that are far more surreal than your average roots-
rock fare. Lines about “ice cream in his veins” and “toothaches in the
heart” landed with a wink, humanizing the technical precision of the
band.
What makes Mike Mattison & Trash Magic so compelling is the “risk and
guile” they bring to the stage. They aren’t trying to recreate the past;
they are rearranging its pieces. Mattison is a man who clearly loves the
history of the 78 rpm era, but he isn’t afraid to let it get a little weird.
For those who know him only as the “guy in the back” of the Tedeschi
Trucks Band, this show was a revelation. It was a masterclass in how to
be a frontman: understated, deeply rhythmic, and possessing a cool
that doesn’t need to try too hard.
Review and Photos by Raymond Aponte
