Steve Morse and Joe Satriani at ACL Live

The Steve Morse Band

While living in Poughkeepsie from '83 to '93, I saw Steve Morse perform at least 9 or 10 times with the Dregs, the Steve Morse Band, and Kansas. The Chance in Poughkeepsie was always a favorite stop for him. He always put on a superb show.

Since moving to Austin, I have seen Steve play once, with Deep Purple. I did happen to run into him and Dave LaRue in the Dallas airport, waiting at a gate back in '97, and begged them to play Austin. Oh well, you can't say I didn't try.

The Lineup

The band still has the same lineup that I saw, back in the early '90s:

• Steve Morse - Guitar
• Dave LaRue - Bass
• Van Romaine - Drums

The band played about a 45 minute set. My only complaint was that the mix could have been better. It was very difficult to hear Steve's guitar. Several friends of mine, had the same criticism after the show.

I'm not really up on his new material, but I did recognize some of the older songs. He played 2 songs from The Introduction. I have post a partial setlist here, and am hoping the someone else will complete it.

Joe Satriani

The headline act was Joe Satriania. Like Steve, I had also seen Joe play multiple times. The last time was at the Austin Music Hall around 2000 or 2001.

The Lineup

There was a little bit of a sense of deja vu, since I had just seen 2 members of Joe's band perform with the Aristocrats.

• Joe Satriani - Guitars
• Bryan Beller - Bass
• Marco Minnemann - Drums
• Mike Keneally - Guitars and Keyboards

I estimate that Satch played a single set with an encore that clocked in right around 2 hours. For some unknown reason (LOL), the sound was much better for Joe's set than Steve's. I will say that Joe's band is killer, but I already had much love for his rhythm section. This band was firing on all cylinders.

The setlist for the show is posted here.

The Aristocrats at the Saxon Pub

Courtesy of one of the my fellow TOAPP campers, I became aware of a three piece, power fusion trio, the Aristocrats.

The band has the following lineup:

• Guthrie Govan - Guitar
  
• Bryan Beller - Bass
  
• Marco Minnemann - Drums
  

You may or may not recognize that two of the musicians, Marco and Guthrie, were members of Steven Wilson's band for the Raven that Refused to Sing tour. Marco was also in Steven's band to support Grace for Drowning, and has played with Adrian Belew, UKZ, along with many others.

I had never heard or seen Bryan Beller, but was aware that he and Marco had been touring in support of Joe Satriani. Clearly, he is no slouch, either.

Since the band came highly recommended, and I had already seen two of the trio members perform live, it was a no-brainer to buy their CD. I ordered the CD on-line, and was also able to digitally download the music immediately. I liked what I heard, they displayed a frightening level of virtuosity.

It was couple days later when I discovered that they would be playing a show in Austin, and at the Saxon Pub, no less. Even though the show was at 11PM on a Sunday, how could I pass up the show for $15??

Their set started about 10:55PM, after Bryan thoughtfully told the audience that he wanted to make sure that everyone had gotten into the club. They then began a 2 hour set that rocked the house. Fortunately, they introduced every song, and usually had an accompanying story for each composition. I was able to jot down this setlist, as a result.

The playing was incredible and terrifying. There were a lot of musicians in the audience, and I am certain that one or two probably went home and burned their instruments, after watching this band. Marco and Guthrie are indescribably good

I was really blown away, however, by Bryan Beller. I had a great vantage point to watch Bryan up close, and decided that he is right up there with Jeff Berlin. He has amazing alternating finger technique on the bass.

The set ended shortly after 1AM, and I have feeling that this band will be back soon.