Concert Review - Joe Satriani and the Steve Morse Band Live at the Orpheum Theatre
There are very few people who practice the art of the electric guitar that truly deserve the appellation of virtuoso when describing them. The music fans who packed the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles on August 31st were treated to performances by not one, but two guitar virtuosos in the truest sense of the word.
The opening act on this evening which featured two sets of guitar-led instrumentals, was the Steve Morse Band. This trio, comprised of Steve Morse on guitar, Dave LaRue on bass and Van Romaine on drums, is a group which the phrase "criminally under appreciated" doesn't begin to describe how not nearly enough people have listened to or even know about them. A musician's musician, Steve Morse's music appeals to an audience of six string cognoscenti who's only disappointment in the set was that it only lasted 40 minutes.
One can only imagine with a catalog of material as vast and varied in style and tone as Steve Morse has composed (as a solo musician and with groups including Dixie Dregs, Kansas and Deep Purple) that it would be challenging to put together a set list to fill only 40 minutes. The highlight for my ears was the inclusion of "Highland Wedding" from his 1989 album, High Tension Wires, which was played very early in the set.
After a well organized set change, the evening's main event took the stage. This was my third time seeing Joe Satriani play live, but only the first time as a headliner, having previously seen Satch open for Deep Purple and headline with his side-project, Chickenfoot.
As with Steve Morse, I was very interested to hear which songs from his 14 solo albums would make their way into the set list. My hope was that several songs from his incredible new album Unstoppable Momentum would be included. Not only was I not disappointed, I was very surprised by how many new pieces were played.
Joe welcomes the crowd.
Launching into "Jumpin' In" from Unstoppable Momentum as Joe and his band took the stage, the group would go on to play eight of the eleven songs from the new album along side the classics and fan favorites. Considering the fact I've already declared Unstoppable Momentum to be instrumental rock album of the year, this was a very welcome surprise. Frankly, this approach is something which fans of bands with deep catalogs that continue to release new music would prefer to hear; more of the new music and less focus on the "hits". Granted, the vast majority of concert goers seem to prefer it the other way around, but for those who continually pay to see their favorite artists play live year after year, Satriani's set list focus was ideal.
Sample of the performance of the song, "Unstoppable Momentum"
My enthusiasm may have gotten the best of me when Satriani began playing the utterly beautiful new song, "I'll Put a Stone on Your Cairn" with its mournful yet hopeful strains echoing bagpipe renditions of "Amazing Grace".
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| "I'll Put a Stone On Your Cairn" |
It was a bit surprising (or perhaps not) that some in the crowd didn't react louder when the new material was played, but they certainly did when Satch revved up the the time machine for some classics.
Sample of the performance of "Flying in a Blue Dream"
The evening was not only highlighted by Satriani's guitar wizardry. His band mates, consisting of Marco Minneman on drums, Bryan Beller on bass and multi-instrumentalist Mike Keneally on keys and truly holding his own on guitar (especially when trading licks with Satch) all delivered amazing performances of their own. Check out the photo gallery of the concert for a series of photographs I managed to get of Minnemann's drum solo, which considering how unforgiving concert lighting can be on a compact camera's CMOS and how fast he was moving, I am both pleased and perplexed at how they turned out.
Call and response with a very enthusiastic L.A. Orpheum audience
Something very cool happening at the lone merch booth, was the availability of the latest solo recordings by Satriani's band mates; not unreasonably priced but not selling as briskly as they should have. I mention this because Los Angeles was only the third date on the tour, which runs through October. Check out the upcoming dates for Joe Satriani and the Steve Morse Band. If they are playing near you and if tickets are still available, even if you only know one or two Joe Satriani songs from the radio, I can't recommend highly enough that you get out and experience an incredible night of live music.
Check out the photo galleries for more pictures of Joe Satriani and the Steve Morse Band!
All photos copyright © 2013 by @LinerNotes (Rick Damigella).
The videos featuring short, transformative samples of the performances from this concert are included here under Fair Use Doctrine, and are used as commentary, criticism on the performance, and as educational use for those unfamiliar with the artists.
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