Hi all!
I posted this elsewhere April of last year:
"There I was wearing my Robert Johnson Tee-shirt,first concert I've attended in a looong while. I ordered a ticket through the mail about a month ago.It was at the Theater of Living Arts on South Street in Philly. I got there very early and walked around.For those not familiar with South street in Philly, if you're ever in Philly , be sure to check it out....the section near the river front.
Anyway, i get there and see two people standing out front. I walk up and down a few blocks,come back and there's about twenty people lined up an hour before the gig even started.The venue is not very big, I guess there were about 3-500 people there at various times, but the number could have been larger.It was general admission...a concrete floor where people could stand, a small bar and a few stools and chairs in front of the mixer (where I decided to sit).Wait...who's that? Was that Steve? Yeah...he comes walking in carrying a guitar in a gig bag with three girls walking with him.To me this seemed very strange...he actually walked from the front door to back stage as if he were a concert goer.His hair is long again, past his shoulders.I'm surprised the girls weren't carrying the guitar for him...unless of course he wouldn't let them
On the stage there are two drum kits, a bass rig that would make Adrian Belew envious, on the other side ther is keyboards, a Marshall amp head and a 51/50 head.
"Ladies and Geltlemen,
the Steve Morse Band..." Steve on guitar, a drummer, and a bass player.They come on about 15 minutes late and start playing Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" into "Free Bird" and a couple of other recognizible tunes in a bid medley.
His playing was excellent.there were some things he did that I have done myself, but not in the same way.I am not talking about licks, more along the lines of effects. He was up picking while doing volume swells at the same time. My volume knob location makes this impossible. I thought of doing it with a pedal,but the way his guitar is set up, the knob is very close to the high E string. I've always wondered how Eric Johnson got his tone on the "cliffs" solo. I found out last night. Morse was playing single lines and using right hand index finger damping harmonics, causing the notes to sing out. I've done this before with one note at the end of a line, but it never occured to me to try a whole line this way. He didn't finger tap at all during this gig and he smiled a lot. I found this to be very "I'm just like any of you guys"-ish.Especially seeing him walking in carrying his own guitar. I got the distinct impression that,if given the chance, you could ask him anything about his playing and he'd explain away...no ego at all.
He actually broke a string,the high E, and STILL played is behind off on that particular tune. My jaw was on the floor. The wrap it up and take a break...lights come on.I go to rest room.
Lights dim, "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Dixie Dregs!!!" YEAH!!!!! Two bands in one night!! Same bass player, same Steve Morse, but a different drummer,a keyboard player, a violinist.They start playing "Cruise Control" and I stood up.
I first found out about steve and the Dregs through the reader's poll in Guitar Player years ago. He won overall best five years in a row. So, I went out and bought their recorc called " Unsung Heros" and Cruise Conrol was on it.I am not familiar with any other tune off the top of my head,so I was estatic when they played it and...also buzzed
The violin player and Steve were trading licks a good portion of the time and that was awesome. The whole band was fantastic.They started playing Led Zeppelin's Kashmir in the middle of it. There weren't any vocals at all throughout the night. This band didn't need them.It seemed like Steve was a little more layed back when the Steve Mores band was playing, when he took the stage with the Dregs, he was...a blurr of the fret board. Not just flash, but tasteful licks you could probably humm at a slower speed.
Encor, the drummer comes out and does a spectacular solo...whoa,What's this? The other drummer comes out on the other kit and they trade off licks....then, they start finising eachother's licks. It was amazing. Then every member of BOTH bands comes out and plays,two drummers, keys, bass, violin, and Steve.
One of the best gigs I've ever seen and definitely one of the best guitar type gigs I've ever seen. I've seen Yngwie Malmsteen twice up close, Al Dimeola, Larry Coryell and Kenny Burrelei (sp?) on stage playing together,Steve Howe with GTR...all were good, but seeing Steve Morse in a small venue, watching him walk off the street right through the audience instead of arriving back stage, carrying his guitar, smiling...tossing guitar picks out to the crowd after each set,it just made me feel like he wasn't a guitar god... well...it seemed like he didn't think so anyway. Incredible...
If you get a chance to see him tour, I would highly recomend it.Even if guitar is not your thing, seeing anyone who knows their instrument as well as he does,who can play as many styles as he does, is fun to watch.
J.P.
