February 23, 2005: Smitty's Sheer Genius

Oakland, CA
Yoshi's at Jack London Square

Okay... I just HAD to post after last night's show at Yoshi's... Wow wow wow wow wow. I always love the opportunity to see Steve Smith play and even more the rare chances to see Vital Information because they're just such an amazing group, and last night was no exception.

Unknown to me, Vital released a new CD last August, so lots of the stuff they played was from that new CD. (Off to buy another new CD!) The whole hour and 15 minute set was incredible, but of course the highlights were Smitty's solos. The first solo happened about half way through the set when he got up from his kit and walked over to the center of the stage, sat down on the stage, and started beating on a clay pot with his hands. From my vantage point, it was virtually impossible to SEE what he was doing, but it sounded amazing. The second solo towards the end of the show just reaffirmed why he is one of the most respected drummers in the world. He did a bit of the hi-hat solo he'd done the last time I saw Vital and then went on to do some serious gymnastics on his kit. Hands and sticks were just a blur.

Towards the end of the show, I was thinking about just how amazed I'd been in Hollywood when he joined the guys for three songs (that, according to his on-line diary, he played for the first time in years that afternoon in sound check!) and why it was so impressive. His performances with Vital are much more complex than those 3 songs were, but watching Vital is such sensory overload for me that it's hard to focus on any one thing. With Journey tunes, I know those backwards and forwards, so I know what I'm supposed to see and hear which therefore made it much easier to focus on Smitty's playing in Hollywood. THAT was what made it such a "WOW!!" experience.

Alas, only had enough time to say "Hi" and "Great show" after the set last night and REALLY wished Yoshi's wasn't a 45 minute drive from my house and/or that it wasn't Wednesday night or I would have stayed for the second set at 10.