Events

[ROCK] The Marshall Tucker Band takes a lickin’ but keeps on tickin’—you’ll pardon the corny cliché because it’s true. Formed in South Carolina in 1972, the band’s core consisted of guys that’d come home from Vietnam-era military stints. As the decade progressed, MTB, coined after a blind piano tuner whose name was carved into the key to their rehearsal space, helped define the so-called “southern rock” genre also attributed to the Allman Brothers. A string of seven gold and platinum selling albums for Capricorn Records (also home to the Allmans) produced the FM-staples “Can’t You See” and “Heard it in a Love Song.” But by 1980, Capricorn had gone bankrupt and the band moved over to Warner Brothers, never quite recapturing their crossover mainstream success. Bassist Tommy Caldwell passed from injuries sustained in a car accident in 1980. His brother, lead guitarist Toy Caldwell, died from a cocaine-related cardio event in 1993. Since then, the band has sometimes veered into a more classic country sound and has also dabbled in gospel. And throughout it all, they’ve managed to continue playing a minimum of 150 shows a year. Marshall Tucker Band still features original lead singer Doug Gray. On Friday, December 1, he’s joined at the Bear’s Den at the Seneca Niagara Casino by Marcus James Henderson on sax, flute and keys, guitarists Chris Hicks and Rick Willis, Tony Black on bass, and B.B. Borden on the drums.