Concert Review: The Steve Morse Band

Steve Morse has been my favorite guitarist for many years, now. I was first introduced the brilliance of Steve's playing and writing in the early eighties, while he was in his band called The Dixie Dregs. He is a truly rare talent who combines world class technical virtuosity as a player, with amazing depth as a composer. Since then, the Dixie Dregs have all but retired, with the occasional short concert tour, but Steve continues playing and writing in his solo band.

Yesterday's concert at Buffalo's Tralf Music Hall is probably the tenth or twelfth time that I have seen Steve play. Most of those performances were with his Steve Morse Band trio, but I have also seen him solo, opening up for the T. Lavitz band, with the Dixie Dregs, and with the band Kansas.

Last night's show was very typical of most concerts. Steve mixed some older classic tunes from the Dregs, with a variety of his Steve Morse Band material, and he also played four or five tunes from his new, soon-to-be-released SMB album, called Out Standing In Their Field.

If I'm being honest, I will tell you that I haven't liked the last two or three SMB releases. Steve's compositions are normally complex, and layered, with strong counterpoint, but on the more recent releases, he's chosen to go down a very boring rock-and-roll road. After hearing the tracks from the new record, however, it sounds as if Steve is writing material that is more similar to the stuff of old; the stuff that I really like. The great news at yesterday's show, was that he was selling pre-release copies of the new CD, and he made himself available after the show for autographs.

This was also the first time that I've gotten to see him play, since he's had his own signature guitar amplifier, made by Engl. For years Steve played through a Marshall Jubilee amplifier, and he always had good tone, but this new Engl is a screamer.  It sounded incredible.

Also appearing with Steve last night were bassist Dave LaRue, and drummer Van Romaine. It should come as no surprise to you that a player like Steve surrounds himself with the best players that he can find, and these two guys are no exception. Together, the three of them make up one of the most powerful trios of all time, and I highly recommend seeing them if they ever play near your neck of the woods. If you enjoy interesting and complex music that rocks, you won't be disappointed.

Here is a likely incomplete and possibly inaccurate set-list from last night's show. I wrote down all of the songs whose titles I could remember, and did the best I could with the material from the new CD:

• On The Pipe  (SMB, The Introduction)
• Highland Wedding  (SMB, High Tension Wires)
• Refried Funky Chicken  (Dixie Dregs, Night Of The Living Dregs)
• Vista Grande  (SMB, Southern Steel)
• Night Meets Light  (Dixie Dregs, What If)
• Here And Now And Then  (SMB, Out Standing In Their Field)
• Up In The Air  (Dixie Dregs, Industry Standard)
• Baroque'N Dreams  (SMB, Out Standing In Their Field)
• Little Kids  (Dixie Dregs, What If)
• Sleaze Factor  (SMB, Southern Steel)
• Name Dropping  (SMB, Out Standing In Their Field)
• Relentless Encroachment  (SMB, Out Standing In Their Field)
• John Deere Letter  (SMB, Out Standing In Their Field)
• Cruise Missile  (SMB, The Introduction)

Encore

• Van Romaine Drum Solo
• Cruise Control  (The Dregs, Unsung Heroes version)