Saw Al Di Meola last night

metropolis_4

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It was the first show of the new tour. Lots of fun! There were some very talented musicians on the stage, but you could tell it was a group who hadn’t played together much playing their first show as a band. It was a little loose and shaky at a couple points, but there were also some incredible moments when they locked it in.

Al may have lost a step when it comes to pure speed but I think his playing is tastier than ever. He put a cool spin on some of his original solos that were very cool.

Surprisingly they chose not to play the planned encore (Race with the Devil…) not sure why, I guess he wasn’t feeling it.

Gear wise he played a black Gibson LP Custom the whole night that looked just like the Elegant Gypsy guitar. He had a rainbow PRS on stage but didn’t play it.

He had a small pedalboard with a Mutron phasor II, I think a TC Electronic compressor, and an amp switcher. I couldn’t get a very clear look. Two cabs mic’d on stage, but they were turned around backwards so I couldn’t see what they were. The amps were off stage so I couldn’t get a good look at them either but I think they were some sort of Two-Rock.

There was a cool solo acoustic section in the middle of the show. I can tell he’s focused more on acoustic the past decades, he seems much more comfortable when he’s playing acoustic.
 
Cool I’ve been a fan of his since the late 70s but never got to see him play live .
Did he play anything off his two brilliant Beatles albums ?
 
Cool I’ve been a fan of his since the late 70s but never got to see him play live .
Did he play anything off his two brilliant Beatles albums ?

He threw a little Strawberry Fields into his acoustic set.

It was really cool having a chance to see him do the old electric stuff from the 70s. I don’t know the last time he did that stuff live
 
Nice, I saw him a few years back and he still had that blazing speed. He mainly played PRS guitars that night. I want to say I read about him having a stroke or something recently, so this is great news that he's back touring and still lighting up the guitar!
 
Nice, I saw him a few years back and he still had that blazing speed. He mainly played PRS guitars that night. I want to say I read about him having a stroke or something recently, so this is great news that he's back touring and still lighting up the guitar!

Yeah he mentioned that stroke being what motivated him to do this tour.

He’s still got most of the speed, but maybe wasn’t quite as clean on the fast parts as he was back in the day. But wow, he knows how to improvise a solo! His note and phrasing choices are :chef
 
Epic! :beer

Hasn't he been on Tour most all of 2024? He did a run in the States from January through
the Spring, and then hit Europe, and now is back in the States doing the Rockies and West
Coast. I had thought about flying to Seattle to see him with a friend, but passed on that as
other things have come up.

Super stoked you were able to see him. He may never do another Tour where he is focusing
the shows on his 1st 4 Albums.
 
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