Blown Away!
This was the conclusion to the Park City Jazz Festival at Deer Valley Ski Resort.
I went to this show with some high expectations and they were exceeded at length. John Scofield is a true guitar god! Everything he does is such a surprise. It was my second time seeing him and my second time seeing MMW but, the last time was long before they became very popular. John Medeski really blew my mind. All of them did, actually. They came out with guns a-blazin' and by the second tune, they were in all-out sick and twisted, acid drenched, Bitches Brew-in space. There were brief moments where they played straight stuff but, most of the time they were really pushing the envelope. Weather became an issue and the emcee almost stopped the show. But, MSMW said they wanted to keep going. And they kept going higher and higher, spiraling out of the stratoshpere and they'd come crashing down burning in glorious flames only to rise up to new heights. It was the most I have danced in years!
Because of the weather, a crowd of about 2000 was reduced to about 300 by the time they finished, 30 minutes past their curfew after a triple encore.
Also of note on today's bill was former Jefferson Starship lead guitarist, Craig Chaquico. I saw him about four years ago at the Jazz Fest where he was stunning in his smooth jazz genre. Today, he was also quite impressive. However, half the set he rocked out. He played three Starship tunes - "Jane", "Stranger" and an impressive"Find Your Way Back" which briefly touched on Sly Stone's "Higher" and he also did a stunning Hendrix' "VoodooChile" that touched on a few other Hendrix tunes. AND......he did a couple Knee-Drops!
Wow! More Jealousy dude! I have noticed you see a lot of Jazz. Good on ya', mate. I'm moving ever more in this direction for the last 5 years.
Utah gets all the shows...
Thx for the review, Gunnar!! Any pics to go with it?
I may see MSMW in a couple weeks here in NorCal at EarthDance. Can't wait!!
Fabulous review!
cool man.... cooooool
Ahh Im so jealous. I JUST missed MSMW in London AND at Montreux Jazz Fest. I told my friends it would be the best show they saw all year so they went and left halfway cuz they couldn't handle the acid-jazz stratospheric weirdness of it all. (Sorry guys.) But man, sounds great!
It figures.
If you don't like a band to get friggin' weird, don't go see MSMW.