One of the most shocking things about this 1995 concert with Pat Metheny’s group that was touring in promotion of the We Live Here album is that during the interview section both Metheny and other members of the band talk about how long they’d been on the road. It had been 18-20 years for some of them. THAT WAS ALMOST 20 YEARS AGO!! Guitarist Pat Metheny is STILL on the road, and this concert film serves as a document on how much and yet how little has changed for the music visionary.
As Metheny explains during one of the interview segments, the challenge for a band is to have a concert to get the right mix of past, present and future. There is about 90 minutes of music here, with a good portion of the show featuring songs from the newest release, such as “And Then I Knew,” “Here to Stay,” “To The End of the World” and “Stranger in Town.” The band of Metheny, still with Lyle Mays/key, Steve Rodby/b, Paul Wertico/dr, David Blamires/voc-inst, Mark Ledford/voc-inst and Armando Marcal/perc create a rhythmic and melodic feast, with Metheny and May both prancing over the infectious percussive grooves. Earlier songs like “First Circle” fit right in, while Metheny gets some acoustic time on “Farmer’s Trust” before having the band go ballistic on “Third Wind.” A vocal take of “This is Not America” seems to fit just even better with the present administration than the one it was composed for; quite prescient.
The short interviews with the musicians is quite insightful in that while Mays and Rodby talk about balancing the life of a musician with domestic necessities, Metheny is all about the music, going into how he needs to be inside the music, and be able to listen to himself while playing. Fascinating perspectives on the craft, particularly in retrospect. Great visual and audible treat.
Eagle Vision DVD
www.eaglerockent.com