If you have a sincere appreciation for electric jazz and blues guitar, then you couldn’t go wrong with this bill. Larry Carlton, also known as Mr. 335, a reference to his Gibson of choice, was fantastic as always and charming as ever. Robben Ford of Robben Ford & The Blue Line fame, is also known for his contribution to the early formation of the Yellowjackets and other side projects like Jing Chi with Jimmy Haslip and Vinnie Colaiutta. Carlton is clearly the elder statesman of the duo, yet Ford easily rises above journeyman status himself. The show presented some interesting dynamics as the two exchanged roles throughout the evening. For the most part, the presence of Robben Ford pushed the music off center in a blues direction from it’s electric jazz roots . The presence of Larry Carlton pulled the show back into a series of intense jazz licks, reminiscent of his best 70’s era work. At times the two styles balanced each other, at other times they didn’t. The small club tour is in support of their 2006 import only CD, recorded live in Japan. Due to the import label, North American fans have to dig deep into their wallets to pay the $39 price tag for one disc containing 8 tracks. The merchandise table at the show sold them at a generous discount, but I suspect $25 is still expensive for most listeners. Back to the show itself, Larry Carlton left the stage for his friend Robben Ford to take a short solo spot of two songs. Both were from Ford’s recent solo release, Truth. Neither did much to impress me lyrically or vocally, but the playing was hot. Afterward, Robben took a break while Larry Carlton took center stage. The first of his two songs was unaccompanied by the band, a soft harmonic instrumental. The band, featuring Travis Carlton on bass and Novak on drums, joined Carlton for his second instrumental. Several songs from the Larry Carlton with Robben Ford CD were featured, including That Road, Rio Samba, Cold Gold and Burnable. Interestingly, Carlton elected not to perform any of his classic Steely Dan numbers, nor did he play his instrumental version of the Doobie Brothers smash, “Minute By Minute.” Robben Ford likewise did not play his biggest hit, a cover of “Talk To Your Daughter.”

MEET & GREET: Larry Carlton and Robben Ford

LARRY CARLTON and ROBBEN FORD

Arrived at Piere's around 4:00 pm for soundcheck and VIP credentials. Troy Lucketta was already working on his soundcheck for the drum kit. Frank Hannon was hanging out and it wasn't long before Jeff Keith arrived in an Oakland Raiders jacket. The atmosphere was loose and the guys just started hanging out with those of us in VIP. We took some pictures and got some autographs, had a few laughs etc. One guy brought a flying vee for Frank to sign. Frank not only signed, talked with guy for awhile and then offered to let him come up on stage at the end of sound check and plug into his own rig. That was pretty cool! Not only that, this cat turned out to be a decent player as well. Sound check consisted of running through a couple of Tesla staples like Changes Into The Now. I no more than suggested some Bar 7 and Keith broke into a verse of "Got A New Life." After sound check they guys hung out with us and I have to say, Jeff and Frank were not only the most approachable, they walked up and engaged people. They wanted us to feel right at home and we did. Troy and Brian were approachable but into their own conversations. Dave Rude, the newest member of Tesla, had a somewhat awkward role aspeople were less familiar with him...absolutely a great guy nevertheless. All of this out way, we cleared a path for support act Cinder Road to set up and sound check. Cinder Road hails from Baltimore and they're a young band with a loud sound. Their brand of rock is what I would call power pop, not unlike The Goo Goo Dolls or Gin Blossoms.

Tesla's show was stellar, despite Jeff Keith's nagging case of bronchitis.

SETLIST:
Comin' Atcha Live
Into The Now
Modern Day Cowboy
EZ Come EZ Go
Gettin Better
Heaven's Trail (No Way Out)
Mama's Fool
Hang Tough
While My Guitar Gently Weeps - George Harrison cover
Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin cover
Love Song
What You Give
Heaven 911
Rock Bottom
Signs

ENCORE:
Little Suzi
Man Out Of Time/Edison's Medicine

MEET & GREET: Tesla (Jeff Keith, Frank Hannon, Brian Wheat, Dave Rude, Troy Luccketta)

TESLA
CINDER ROAD

Fortunately I was able to sway a few friends into attending this show. It's always fun to initiate new people into CG3 fandom, but especially tonight as attendence was frightfully low at 100 people. Those lucky folks got the full show however, plus encore. Let it be said that there are few concerts that you can attend where you will hear renditions of Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Santo & Johnny, Ennio Morricone and Lynyrd Skynyrd, however California Guitar Trio would be one of them. The two hour show also included several CG3 originals like Blockhead and yet to be released songs, such as the Pink Floydesque, Andromeda.

MEET & GREET: California Guitar Trio (Paul Richards, Bert Lams, Hideyo Moriya)

CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO

The early days of FM airwaves were alive and well Wednesday night at The Music Mill featuring a sold out performance by Robin Trower. Trower made his mark originally with Procol Harem, but went on to greater world-wide success with his early solo career. He’s been both fairly and unfairly described as a Jimi Hendrix protegé. Fairly, because it is clear that he was inspired by Hendrix and capitalized on some of Hendrix’ signature tones and use of delay and phase boxes. Unfair because it’s far too easy to write Trower off as a Hendrix clone, before actually listening to what he’s done. If we can agree that the Beatles pioneered just about everything in popular music, then it’s fair to say that many of their followers honed in on one or two aspects of the Beatles and exploited that sound or writing style even further. The same can be said of Robin Trower to Jimi Hendrix. He found certain aspects of Hendrix’ tone and took those to another level, in his own way. No one bends and warbles like Trower.

The band, consisting of Trower (g), Davey Pattison (v), Glenn Letsch (b) and Pete Thompson (d), was sharp and polished on an extensive meat & potatoes collection of Trower staples. Davey Pattison never sounded better. On of the great things I think he accomplished over his many years with Robin Trower was his ability to sound so close to the original singer, James Dewar, while maintaining his own identifiable voice through it all. If you listen to other Davey Pattison recordings outside of Robin Trower records, he has a different inflection. Take the Gamma records for example with Ronnie Montrose. Pattison’s voice fits a band who identifies more with Bad Company than RobinTrower. Speaking of Gamma, Glenn Letsch is also an ex-Gamma player. Pete Thompson is familiar to some as a contributing drummer for previous Robin Trower projects, as well as for Robert Plant.

SETLIST:
Twice Removed From Yesterday
Shame the Devil
For Earth Below
No Time
The Fool and Me
Roads to Freedom
Islands
Day of the Eagle
Bridge of Sighs
Rise Up Like the Sun
Victims of the Fury
Gonna Be More Suspicious
Hannah
Little Bit of Sympathy
Too Rolling Stoned
Go My Way
Another Time, Another Place

MEET & GREET: Robin Trower and Davey Pattison

ROBIN TROWER

The original concept of Asia appealed to me because of the breadth of talent stemming from England's greatest progressive bands, like YES, King Crimson, ELP, and UK. Instead of approaching new music with the sophistication and finesse of their previous works, the members of Asia set out to tackle the emerging Mtv and pop radio markets. That would be like Mozart scoring hits for Brittney Spears, OK well maybe not that extreme, but you get the picture. It was also the first tangible evidence of post-YES collaborations, which had been stoked by rumors of Jimmy Page working with various YES alumni around 1980-81 - the fabled exYZ project. (I've actually heard those demos and they were deplorable by anyone's standards.) So around 1982, for those of us eager for a collaborative project from any number of collapsed British bands, Asia was the one that emerged, so Asia was the one we embraced...albeit with some degree of hesitation. I suppose to some degree, original cover paintings by former YES illustrator, Roger Dean, helped us accept the new direction. Because, in the past 10 years, when we saw a Roger Dean album cover at the record store, that almost always meant there was some great music inside. When Asia toured the US in support of their second album, Alpha (strange name for a follow up to the debut release) I bought tickets. Then the date was cancelled. SO I never saw the original group. With that in mind, I secured tickets for this small venue show, featuring Geoff Downes, Carl Palmer, John Wetton, and Steve Howe, without hesitation. We'll wait to see what happens...stay tuned.

With a fair amount of skepticism, I went to the show with a packed house of 750. The show started on time and much to my surprise, the concert was spectacular...it really was. The show led off with the opening track from the new CD "Phoenix" (which incidentally is a very good CD). This led me to think the show might be heavy on new material, but no. Only one other new track was performed, the final track from the CD called "An Extraordinary Life." One selection that lost me a little bit was a B-side from the first LP, called "Ride Easy," clearly not one of the stronger songs of the night and just about any third choice from the new record would have been a welcome replacement in my book. They could have performed "Go" for that matter. At any rate, the debut album was played nearly in it's entirety and and ample selections were performed from Alpha (an odd name for a second record). To the best of my knowledge, nothing was performed from the third album, Astra and rightfully not. Afterall, this was the first album without all four original members.

The songs performed were not the straight ahead, canned pop radio versions. They mostly had a progressive quality to them, which was more to my liking anyway. Each member was permitted time to wax nostalgic. Carl Palmer added a superb drum solo, along with the band's rendition of the ELP remake, "Fanfare For The Common Man." Geoff Downes offered a keyboard solo that I personally could have survived without and felt likewise of his Buggles hit, "Video Killed The Radio Star." Of all the classic King Crimson, I suppose it only fitting that John Wetton performed "In The Court Of The Crimson King," however there were shouts for the KC classic, "Red." Steve Howe was masterful as always with his fret work offering both the Yes staple, "Roundabout" (with vocals by Wetton) and the Steve Howe guitar solo which I think started off with a piece from his first solo album, Beginnings and ended up as "The Clap" from The Yes Album. All in all, an excellent show.

FIRST SET:
Daylight
Only Time Will Tell
Wildest Dreams
Never Again
Roundabout - YES
Time Again
Boléro - Maurice Ravel cover
The Clap - YES
Voice of America
The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
Ride Easy
Open Your Eyes

SECOND SET:
Fanfare for the Common Man - Aaron Copland cover
Without You
An Extraordinary Life
The Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson
Video Killed the Radio Star - Buggles
The Heat Goes On
Heat of the Moment

ENCORE:
Don't Cry
Sole Survivor

ASIA

Originally, RUSH was scheduled to perform here in June, but the show was postponed. The rescheduled date turned out to be the final stop of a tour that took the band across North America over the past several months. In many ways, the tour was much longer, considering it was simply an additional set of legs of the Snakes And Arrows tour, which began back in early 2007. With this in mind, it was amazing just how fresh RUSH sounded throughout a performance that started about 7:45pm and ran through nearly 11:00pm with a short intermission. These are no spring chickens mind you, but they roasted chickens some chickens on stage throughout the show (seriously). The ever more eccentric Geddy Lee, who only a few tours ago had a functioning washer and dryer on stage with him, had three commercial roasting ovens on stage behind him, each filled with chickens...hey, it's a tall order to feed the band and crew every night on the road right? So three ovens adorned the stage, most evident when the stage lights dimmed, revealing the warm orange glow from the roasters. The light show and accompanying video presentations were outstanding, as one would come to expect from RUSH. We were, as always, stunned and amazed by Neil Peart's drum solo. Overall the mixture of old and new songs was well balanced. I appreciate the fact that RUSH can still deliver the goods as well if not better than expected, considering many acts from their era cannot present a quality show anymore, but go out and tour anyway.

FIRST SET:
Video Intro
Limelight
Digital Man
Ghost of a Chance
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl (with McKenzie Brothers intro from 2007 leg),
Red Barchetta
The Trees
Between The Wheels
Dreamline

SECOND SET:
Far Cry
Workin' Them Angels
Armor and Sword, Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
Malignant Narcissism
Drum Solo
Hope
The Spirit of Radio
2112: Overture / The Temples of Syrinx
Tom Sawyer

ENCORE:
One Little Victory
A Passage To Bangkok
YYZ
Video Outro

RUSH

My wife wanted to see Dar Williams, but I was more interested in Shawn Mullins, whose music and lyrics are more in the same vein as Todd Snider. Small crowd on hand, but excellent performances by both artists.

MEET & GREET: Shawn Mullins

DAR WILLIAMS
SHAWN MULLINS

This was yet another fabulous show from Ragweed. If all music was this good, the music industry wouldn't be in the downward spiral it's been experiencing. We got to the venue a little early and hung around for some autographs. Randy, Cody and Jeremy talked to us for a little bit. I missed Grady who disappeared early on his own. Chris and I got our picture taken with Cody and Jeremy, though. Cody asked us if there was anything special we wanted to hear and I quickly responded with, "Yeah, Carney Man!" They don't like to do that one and I knew that was the case, so when Cody asked if I had another pick, I wasn't too surprised. I asked for "Wanna Rock N Roll." Cody said no problem, then Chris asked for the bridge to be a Primus cover called "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver." Cody said we can do that too...and they did! In the end, they threw Carney Man into the set as well.

SETLIST:
Blues For You
Suicide Blues
Deal
Loved
Huntsville
42 Miles
Hammer Down
Soul Agent
Alabama
Anywhere But Here
Oklahoma
Number
Flowers
Blue Bonnets
Dead Man
Time To Move On
This Time
Carney Man
Boys From Oklahoma - Gene Collier cover
Late Last Night - Todd Snider cover
Record Exec
Dimebag
Wanna Rock And Roll - Ray Wylie Hubbard cover with Primus ending

MEET & GREET: Cross Canadian Ragweed (Cody Canada, Jeremy Plato)

CROSS CANADIAN RAGWEED
THE ELMS

This is one of only 4 shows that Sammy and The Wabos are doing at the end of 2008. The first two shows of this small trek began in New Orleans; one show was at the House of Blues and the other was a private event. Then the band landed in St Louis for two consecutive sold-out nights at The Pageant, a small but awesome venue near Forest Park. The Tuesday show was the first show and special because it was also the release date for Sammy's new album, Cosmic Universal Fashion. I had an on-stage ticket which required m eto report to the venue doors at 6:00pm, about 2.5 hours ahead of actual show time. Louie, the on-stage coordinator, was running a little bit late, I stood out in the cold along with all the other on-stage funatics for a total of just under 2 hrs before we finally got to go inside. Since I knew the stage lights would be extremely hot, I opted to leave my jacket in the car, so 27 degrees in a t-shirt was more than brisk. Once inside, I needed tequila to thaw out. These two shows were for charity, which explained the $99 general admission (an extremely high admission for Sammy Hagar). In addition I understood sales of Cabo Wabo at the bar also benefited charity. Still, $12.75 for a small Waborita was a bit steep and $25 for a shot of Cabo was a clear sign of Obamanomics (robbery for charity). Unlike most Sammy Hagar shows over the past few years, Michael Anthony was missing from the line-up. Rumors of a possible "Chickenfoot" appearance were also dampened (Chickenfoot being the new supergroup project that Sammy is currently working on with guitarist Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony and Chili Peppers drummer, Chad Smith). Nevertheless, the Wabos were well equipped to deliver a fantastic set list, consisting of older classics like Rock N Roll Weekend, Turn Up The Music, and Plain Jane. Hagar also played for the first time ever, an old cut from his Musical Chairs album, You Make Me Crazy. The Wabo waitresses were among the hottest that I've ever seen working a Hagar show and he worked that to his advantage throughout the show.

SETLIST:
Rock N Roll Weekend
Plain Jane
Turn Up The Music
Loud
I Can't Drive 55
One Way To Rock
I'll Fall In Love Again
Top Of The World - Van Halen
Cosmic Universal Fashion
Marching To Mars
Why Can't This Be Love? - Van Halen
When The Sun Don't Shine
You Make Me Crazy
Finish What Ya Started - Van Halen
Three Lock Box
Whole Lotta Zep
Right Now - Van Halen
Eagles FLy
Heavy Metal
Mas Tequila
Dreams - Van Halen
Fight For Your Right To Party - Beastie Boys cover
Cabo Wabo - Van Halen

MEET & GREET: Sammy Hagar

SAMMY HAGAR

OK, so I enjoy listening to Shawn Colvin but I'm no devoté. She's a wonderful performer and I appreciate her personal stories told through song and occasionally between songs. The Music Mill was a fantastic setting, warm and intimate on an otherwise crappy Indianapolis December night. I liked everything she played even though I couldn't begin to name the set list. However, I know that she played the following in no particular order (actually, I'm certain she played them in a particular order, but I couldn't begin to remember them in any particular order...)

From A Few Small Repairs we heard: Sunny Came Home, Get Out Of This House, and Wichita Skyline. From A Whole New You I believe we heard A Whole New You and Anywhere You Go. And from These Four Walls, we heard Fill Me Up, These Four Walls, and Summer Dress

The opening act, Garrison Starr, needed a little refinement in my opinion. She was awkwardly funny and honestly personable. Her songs were probably better then her own performance of them, but she could have certainly benefited from the use of a $12 tuner.

SHAWN COLVIN
GARRISON STARR