Alan W
Well-known member
A neighbor knocked on my door at 5:15 last night, and asked if I wanted to go hear Pat Metheny, we’d be leaving in 15 minutes. I’ve listened to him over the decades, mainly when he was playing with someone else I was a fan of—Charlie Hayden, Joni Mitchell, Gary Burton. Somehow, he never pulled me into his 50 odd albums.
Last night was just him, mainly on flat top acoustic guitars that had pickups in them, played through the very good house system at Freight and Salvage. (He told a few quick stories about working with Linda Manzer, who made almost all of them for him.) No idea what effects or pedals he was using, he had at least two techs that kept bringing more guitars out. Many baritones, one that had 50something strings (think a jumbo body with a lute above the main neck and two zithers crossing the area (that was extended quite a bit from the body) behind the bridge. He played Woodstock on it, no loops or synths, and it was awe inspiring. Overall, I’d guess 15 to 20 different guitars during the entire show.
He talked quite a bit, (specifically mentioning that he tends not to speak much during concerts, but that this was more an overview of his years of soloing, and he wanted to present the full spectrum).
He used loops, again making me feel like I need to learn how to do this. Whatever he was using to create the down octave was by far the best Ive heard. (Towards the very end, the one solid body he played was most likely pure synth guitar—he did one of the most moving alto sax solos I’ve ever heard, a complete surprise given how largely “traditional” most of the other sounds were. It also would fool me if listening to it, really sounded a LOT like a reed.)
I won’t go on any longer—but look to see if this tour is going anywhere near you. The man has chops for miles, and has a wider range of styles than pretty much anyone I’ve seen. Color me both surprised and really impressed!
Last night was just him, mainly on flat top acoustic guitars that had pickups in them, played through the very good house system at Freight and Salvage. (He told a few quick stories about working with Linda Manzer, who made almost all of them for him.) No idea what effects or pedals he was using, he had at least two techs that kept bringing more guitars out. Many baritones, one that had 50something strings (think a jumbo body with a lute above the main neck and two zithers crossing the area (that was extended quite a bit from the body) behind the bridge. He played Woodstock on it, no loops or synths, and it was awe inspiring. Overall, I’d guess 15 to 20 different guitars during the entire show.
He talked quite a bit, (specifically mentioning that he tends not to speak much during concerts, but that this was more an overview of his years of soloing, and he wanted to present the full spectrum).
He used loops, again making me feel like I need to learn how to do this. Whatever he was using to create the down octave was by far the best Ive heard. (Towards the very end, the one solid body he played was most likely pure synth guitar—he did one of the most moving alto sax solos I’ve ever heard, a complete surprise given how largely “traditional” most of the other sounds were. It also would fool me if listening to it, really sounded a LOT like a reed.)
I won’t go on any longer—but look to see if this tour is going anywhere near you. The man has chops for miles, and has a wider range of styles than pretty much anyone I’ve seen. Color me both surprised and really impressed!
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