So I had a chance to see Billy Squier and GE Smith play last night at the Ridgefield Playhouse. I had front row center, and the set up was GE Smith came out, solo, and played three songs (one was a Bob Dylan song, one was a song from the Civil War, that kind of thing) and then Billy came out and the two bantered and played various songs together. Two guys, amplified (no acoustics were used in the entire performance) but with no other support whatsoever, taped or live.
First, let me say that GE Smith is a fucking MONSTER. I've seen almost all the greats - Van Halen, Blackmore, Petrucci, Page, Clapton, Howe, Malmsteen, Vai, Lifeson, Gilmour - and I don't know that I have seen someone command their instrument like GE Smith (Stevie Ray Vaughan is the only one that comes to mind that might rival him). There literally was not one half-assed note, or seat-of-the-pants riffing. His job was - for the most part - to support Billy and make him sound good, but it was interesting (as a guitar player) to see him play every figure like it was the hinge-pin riff of the song. Really amazing. I was with a good friend of mine who plays guitar as well (better than I do) and there were easily four or five moments where we turned to each other and said "Wha???", and we're not talking about Malmsteen level shredding, we're talking just solid, pulsing rhythm guitar.
Billy came out. He looks... old. Frail even. The dialogue - he played I think 12 songs, and each one had an extended intro - was illuminating; he was humble, but he doesn't come off as a very warm guy. He had some harsh words for the "download culture" while talking about "Everybody Wants You" and the "skill" of sequencing a record back in the vinyl days. Having said that, when he played (he's a far better guitar player than I ever imagined) and sang (I saw him back in 1983, and his voice sounded as good or better now) all that went away, and he REALLY connected with the audience. Really powerful stuff. He did three (!!) songs from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - which I thought was kind of random - including two from the Clapton record and one from the Peter Green record. He introduced The Stroke as a "blues song" and played it as such, and it was EXCELLENT. I found myself sitting there with a huge smile on my face almost the whole show. He played a couple hits - the aforementioned "Stroke", "In The Dark", "Everybody Wants You", but also some deeper cuts like "Too Daze Gone" (one of my favorites), "Facts of Life" (from Creatures of Habit) and "The Pursuit of Happiness" from his acoustic record "Happy Blue". He came back and played one song for an encore, a rousing version of "All Right Now" by Free. After that song, someone came up and asked him to sign an album and he pointed to the front of the house and said "I'll meet you there".
We thought he was kidding.
I went out to the lobby (it's very small if you've ever been there; I saw The Winery Dogs and Neal Morse Band there) and since we were parked very close to the building we had a little wait to get out of the parking lot (the parking lot is essentially what you'd find at a town hall somewhere). Next thing you know, a guy comes out and says "If you form a line that way, Billy will come out in a little bit", so I waited with my friend. Fifteen minutes or so later, he walks out and says hi, and starts to sign shit. It took about 20 minutes or so and I got to him and said "Hey, thanks for a really enjoyable show. I saw you in '83 in a big coliseum and this was so much more special!" I can talk the ears off a jackass, and my friend made a joke about "there's a line!", but Billy was nice and said something like "It's really fun for me, and I'm glad you liked it", so I said "would you release the music as a live disk or something?" and he looks at me - again, he doesn't have a very warm demeanor, so I was scared I said the wrong thing - and says "Sure, why not? Why wouldn't I?" and then says "I just don't think of those things anymore. I don't think about the business side of things any more, though I know there are people that would release this in a heartbeat." At that point, he launched into what was easily a 10 minute conversation with me about the music business, song writing, why he doesn't release records anymore, etc., and it was so fun and pleasureable. None of it was bitter, it was very matter of fact, and he included some of the people behind me in line, but it was very candid and open and personable.
This is a guy that just seems very happy and secure with his place in life, and his contribution to music history. He's clearly comfortable - both psychologically and financially - and just does what moves him. I was really impressed. Some of you mocked me for the "lucky concert shirt", but it delivered once again. Easily one of my top three celebrity encounters in my life (and I've been very lucky that way).