My gf and I were at the Red Bank show last night.
It was loud for sure. My gf said she is getting ear plugs after that show. Hard to say if it's louder than DT, but it may not be much of a difference to bother debating.
Sadly the place was empty, which was expected, although I think they sold some more tickets between when I last checked and the show started.
Meanstreak were not my thing. I hadn't heard a single song before, but I don't think I enjoyed a single song I heard. Having said that, I'm not entirely sure that's the bigger point of them performing (I'm sure the band would like people to enjoy their music) but obviously the wives and reunion of the band is kind of their thing. They were legit thrash metal, but I'd say the songs sounded like they needed a lot of work. As in, like they were more of a garabe band trying to find their way to writing good music. There's good passages here and there, some sick riffing, and Rena can shred, but the songs as a whole just didn't come off well to me. They were definitely live too, the live sound was good. Very raw and not perfect by any means, but that's exactly what I like. I'd say the worst part was the singer screaming WOOO after every single song. Kind of got old. They did mention the DT wives as well. Here's their opening song:
Meanstreak - Giant Speaks LIVE @ Count Basie Theater Red Bank NJ 10/12/2022I must sadly admit though, I'm not really into JP's solo music. His performance and guitar playing ability is no doubt through the roof, but what I feared I would feel became reality. I just can't enjoy it after 15 minutes or so. But let me say, this was always, for me, about seeing JP and MP play together. That's definitely a chemistry that I've missed. I was in the back, so I couldn't see JP's facial expressions too well, but he kept saying how happy he was. There was lots of eye contact between the two while playing. I wonder if they both truly were legit happy playing together again. I assume so. Not trying to start a debate here, but I don't recall ever hearing JP talk about being so happy playing with anyone else. I can definitely say I got my money's worth seeing those two again.
As for MP's playing. I've only listened to Terminal Velocity once or twice in full. I definitely don't know the songs well enough to say if MP's was not performing the songs correctly or up to par with the album. What I will say was that he was awesome, as usual. He didn't have a drum solo, but there were definitely climax drum moments in a lot of the songs where he shined. As I already stated, seeing him (and JP) were the main reasons to attend and both of their performances were fantastic. I've got nothing negative to say about MP here.
I should also add that Dave sounded good and got quite a few bass solo highlights throughout the night. While it may have been JP's show, the other two guys got their moments in the sun too. I do wish maybe MP got a drum solo spot though, and that's not something I often say as I usually don't like drum solos. But for MP, I thought it might have been cool to give him a couple minutes. Eithey way, the show started around 9:15 and ended at 10:50 so it was actually slightly over 90 minutes but there was a break for the encore. Also JP talked a bit between the songs. Other than talking about being happy (multiple times), he obviously brought up playing with MP for the first time in 12 years. Mentioned the Italian theme of the night (was this at the other shows?) being in NJ so the Sopranos theme song played before he come out and the lights were of the italian flag color on the stage. He mentioned this after playing the Oddfather of course.
Highlight song for me (and my gf as well, she was quite vocal about this) was Out of the Blue. It was really the one change of pace song and IMO much needed for me to get a break from all the heavy shredding. When I get home tonight I'll make my full video of the night, maybe 50 minutes of video recorded. But for now, here's two songs:
John Petrucci - Snake in My Boot LIVE @ Count Basie Theater Red Bank NJ 10/12/2022John Petrucci - Happy Song LIVE @ Count Basie Theater Red Bank NJ 10/12/2022
Topic: JOHN PETRUCCI SOLO TOUR - MORE DATES JUST ANNOUNCED (Read 25836 times)
