The Devil Had the Night Off, So Blacktop Mojo Took Over
Words and photos by Michael Sprouse/ Odd Rocker Photography
I don’t even know where to start without sounding like I’m trying to sell you a bootleg T-shirt out of the back of a Camaro.
Blacktop Mojo brought the roof down at Tally Ho Theater in Leesburg, Virginia, on Saturday night — and it wasn’t even a fair fight. The crowd didn’t stand a chance. From the first wail of “Wicked Woman” to the gutsy roar of “Dream On” (yep, that one), it felt like the place was dipped in kerosene and the whole band walked in holding matches.
But let’s rewind the tape a little.
Tally Ho isn’t a cavernous mega-venue. It’s more like your buddy’s basement got a badass sound system and a liquor license. There’s something about that worn-in floor and that slightly off-kilter stage lighting that makes everything feel more personal — less polished, maybe, but way more alive.
And on June 21, it was muggy as sin outside and inside it was full of rock fans who’d come to sweat, scream, and soak up some rock ‘n’ roll.
And yeah, I showed up early. Because let’s be honest — at a venue this size, if you want a halfway decent spot that doesn’t involve craning your neck around some dude wearing a cowboy hat two sizes too big, you post up early and stay put.
It was showtime and Blacktop Mojo didn’t so much start as detonate. They ripped into “Wicked Woman” like the devil himself was double-parked out back and they had 10 minutes to summon him. No slow-build, no polite intro, just right into the teeth of it. The drums of Nathan Gillis pounded like they were trying to crack the foundation, and Matt James — man, that voice is still one of the most slept-on weapons in modern rock. There’s gravel, but there’s gospel in it, too. You don’t hear that much anymore.
Watch the official music video for “Wicked Woman” by Blacktop Mojo on YouTube:
“Where the Wind Blows” came second, and it was like a memory you didn’t know you’d buried. There’s something wide-open and haunted about that song live. On record, it’s good, but in person? It moves something around in your chest you didn’t know needed moving. People were already singing, swaying, caught somewhere between back porch blues and headbanger church. The solo on that one… good grief. It wasn’t flashy. It burned. The kind of bluesy slow-hand thing that doesn’t try to impress but just lays you out and stares you down.
“Burn the Ships” was where the room really broke open. That riff — the way it snarls and coils — it’s like being pulled under by a rip current. But it’s the chorus that always guts me. There’s this desperate defiance in it, and the way the band drives it home live, it doesn’t feel like a performance. It feels like a warning. Or maybe a promise.
The Tally Ho is not a stadium. It’s a former 1930’s Art Deco movie theater renovated with a good soundboard and lots of speakers. But that’s what makes it lethal for a band like this. The amps aren’t six stories high — they’re right there. Close enough to feel the strings buzz through your sternum as Blacktop Mojo brings a real rock n roll dynamic, ranging from melodic heartbreakers to riff-heavy stompers with guitar tone and solos made of southern grit meets Seattle storm.
“Stratus Melancholia” had this eerie calm that settled over the place. You could hear people actually holding their breath. It’s not easy to hush a room full of beer-soaked rock fans, but that one did it. It was beautiful and weird and kind of chilling, like watching the eye of the storm blink.
And then — without ceremony — into “Weary I Roam.” A raucous tune about devils and angels trying to lead you into trouble and maybe you aren’t quite sure if you really want to resist them.
“Can’t Sleep” came in like a jackhammer. There’s this twitchy, manic energy in that tune that makes you feel like you’ve had too much coffee and not enough therapy. The guitars went razor-sharp, and the rhythm section of Cat and Nathan turned into a wrecking ball.
Matt’s voice dug deeper here, almost ragged at the edges, but in the best way. The kind of wear you want in a rock vocal. You could tell they weren’t mailing it in — this was a band that still feels everything they sing. That’s rare. That’s gold.
Watch the official music video for “Can’t Sleep” by Blacktop Mojo on YouTube:
“Red Enough” played like a Southern-fried barroom brawl. You could feel the beer getting warmer in your hand while that chorus punched through the room like a gospel gone wrong. Guitars locked in like they were chewing glass, drums rolling like distant thunder, and the whole floor moving as one heaving, sweaty mass. Nobody stood still during that one. If you were trying, you were probably being trampled.
Then they dropped “Born to Lose.” And I mean dropped like a hammer from a rooftop. That song live is a whole different beast. On the album, it’s got this slow-burn, swampy sadness. But live, it’s like getting hit in the ribs with a truth you didn’t want to hear. That’s the kind of song that doesn’t need pyrotechnics. It just walks up, looks you dead in the face, and quietly wrecks you, with everyone singing along like we all had the same ex and the same bad choices folded up in our glove boxes.
They kept pushing — “Strike Me” came in mean and loud, like it had something to prove. It’s one of those tunes that makes you feel like you’re in the middle of a bar fight you didn’t start but damn sure aren’t backing out of. Gritty, nasty, loud. Everything rock should be. No frills, no fancy lighting cues. Just good old-fashioned guitar carnage.
Matt’s vocals took on a kind of preacher-in-the-rain vibe. Angry, pleading, unapologetic. Like he was daring something — God, the crowd, himself — to call his bluff. Song after song, the band gave it everything they could.
And right when you thought they’d let us go, they pulled out the one cover that always puts me right back into my teenage bedroom with posters on the ceiling and a stereo I couldn’t afford. “Dream On.”
Watch the official music video for Blacktop Mojo’s cover of “Dream On” by Aerosmith on YouTube:
You think you know that song. You think you’ve heard every version that could possibly exist. But you haven’t heard Blacktop Mojo do it live unless you’ve stood in a room like this with the lights low and the sound pushing hard enough to rearrange your blood pressure. Matt didn’t try to imitate Steven Tyler: He found something else in that song. Something a little broken. A little more human. It wasn’t about nailing the high note. It was about meaning it. And he did. By the end, people weren’t even trying to fake cool anymore. Folks were sweaty, half-lost, high on sound and maybe a little beer, shoulders locked together like old friends even if they weren’t. Phones were mostly down. Not ‘cause someone said so, but because we didn’t want to look away.
When it was all over, the band didn’t come back out. No winking curtain call or half-hearted sendoff. They left it all there and walked off with the kind of swagger you earn by leaving nothing behind.
And you know what? That’s how it should be.
If you were there at Tally Ho Theater on June 21, you didn’t just see a band — you got caught in the storm.
And I don’t know about you, but that’s why I still go. Because sometimes you catch a night like this — a night that feels like sweat and bourbon and busted speakers — and it reminds you that rock isn’t dead. Oh, yeah Rock’s still got teeth — and Blacktop Mojo’s sharpening ‘em!
Matt James – Lead Vocals, rythym guitar
Nathan Gillis – Drums
Matt Curtis – Bass, backing vocals
Malcolm Booher – Guitar
Ryan Keifer – Guitar
Here are some photos of Blacktop Mojo performing live at Tally Ho Theater on June 21, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Michael Sprouse/ Odd Rocker Photography.
