19 Jan 2003, House of Blues, Los Angeles, CA, USA
The warm-up performer, John Jorgensen (formerly of the Hellecasters), was accomplished and entertaining and the audience were duly appreciative. Well into his set, John mentioned they were about to play a tune called "Terra Firma" which Tommy and Phil Emmanuel performed at the 2001 closing Olympic ceremonies in Sydney. They did a decent rendition of it and the crowd seemed to really enjoy it.
Hopefully, Tommy E will have some new fans as a result of that plug.
If you've never heard his amazing acoustic guitar work, check him out!
Soon it was time for a set change and then the Dregs came on. By this time, the HOB had filled up quite a bit and the energy level was climbing. I love that funky line in Jerry's "Brick Chicken" where he's playing the violin like a guitar. Dave got an opportunity to show off his new bass and had the crowd cheering for more. T was hangin' tough and he got a chance to stretch out a bit on the piano solos. Of course, Rod had his moment in the limelight as well and was he ever slammin'. That double-bass gets me every time, what a sound! Steve, the virtuoso that he is, continues to amaze with his precision and speed. He can draw out emotions by the bend of a note or the harmonics he plays so effortlessly. I feel like I get a good sense of what the tune is meant to convey. Some of the tunes were: Odyssey, Kat Food, Take It Off the Top, the Mahavishnu piece, Assembly Line, Brick Chicken, The Bash and Cruise Control (not in that order). From time to time, various members of the Dregs' road crew would come out front to listen for a few minutes. There didn't appear to be any glitches with the equipment this time and the guys really seemed to enjoy their time together.
One of the great things about Steve & Co. is that they usually come out to meet and greet their fans after the shows. This night was no exception as far as that goes but this time some of the 'fans' were members of Deep Purple. Roger Glover, Ian Paice and Don Airey were all there to show their support and congratulated him and the other members of the Dregs on the fine job they did. I think I caught a look of surprise and wonderment on some of their faces as if they'd had no idea what they'd been in for.
They were able to see Steve perform as a headliner who also shares his spotlight with all the other fine musicians that are The Dregs--a cooperative unit that supports one another and works well together while having a helluva good time. That certainly can't be said of every band and it speaks well of their close rapport with each other that they can continue to do so after all this time. Let's hope we can all enjoy this fine music for many more years to come. The Dregs Rock!!