When I was growing up, the Dixie Dregs were one of those bands your serious music/musician friends knew about, but everybody else gave you a blank look. They came and went in the 70's and 80's with absolutely no radio airplay and little to no commercial success, but they always had that somewhat-legendary aura about them if you talked to the right people.
I'd seen Steve Morse (guitar, composer, band leader, all-around badass and one of the true good guys in music) play live a handful of times over the years, but never managed to catch a Dregs show until yesterday in Atlanta, Variety Playhouse. The Dregs were the "ROCK" side of instrumental Jazz/Rock Fusion, and they definitely aren't for everybody; as Morse said of the band's early gigs, "It wasn't that the guy's girlfriends at our shows hated it. It was that they REALLY hated it!", but man are they still good. Virtuosos through and through.
My wife is a proper classically trained musician, and she was really impressed, particularly with Jordan Rudess from Dream Theater who got the keyboard gig for this tour along with the original four Dixie Dregs (keys player T. Lavitz passed away a few years back). As I realized many years ago, when she turned to me after a Rush concert while we were dating to say, "What a great show!", I definitely outkicked my coverage.
Anyway, if you missed them, try and catch a show before this tour is over. Steve Morse Band opens (yes, the same main guy plays both shows) and they did a combined 7-piece band for the last two songs.
From an earlier date on this tour:
I'd seen Steve Morse (guitar, composer, band leader, all-around badass and one of the true good guys in music) play live a handful of times over the years, but never managed to catch a Dregs show until yesterday in Atlanta, Variety Playhouse. The Dregs were the "ROCK" side of instrumental Jazz/Rock Fusion, and they definitely aren't for everybody; as Morse said of the band's early gigs, "It wasn't that the guy's girlfriends at our shows hated it. It was that they REALLY hated it!", but man are they still good. Virtuosos through and through.
My wife is a proper classically trained musician, and she was really impressed, particularly with Jordan Rudess from Dream Theater who got the keyboard gig for this tour along with the original four Dixie Dregs (keys player T. Lavitz passed away a few years back). As I realized many years ago, when she turned to me after a Rush concert while we were dating to say, "What a great show!", I definitely outkicked my coverage.
Anyway, if you missed them, try and catch a show before this tour is over. Steve Morse Band opens (yes, the same main guy plays both shows) and they did a combined 7-piece band for the last two songs.
From an earlier date on this tour:
