They opened with Drive A Crooked Road from the first solo album Lukather and that led into Twist The Knife off of the same album. After this great start, the title song from the latest album Ever Changing Times came next. This was followed by another new song, the fun sing along How Many Zeros. For anyone interested in Steve's equipment, he was switching between his red and green Music Man guitars after every song.
They continued with the new album by playing the song Stab In The Back. Then they did a version of Michael Landau's instrumental tune I'm Buzzed. The set also included a keyboard-drums duet which was really fun to watch and listen to. It was then time for something from Candyman, the Song For Jeff followed by Never Walk Alone. They did another cover song after this, Talk to Ya Later by The Tubes. I had never been to a Steve Lukather gig before this so I don't know if this song is a regular on the set list or not, but the crowd seemed really appreciative of the fact that this song was included in tonight's set. The reaction was also great because Steve's son Trevor joined him on stage and performed on guitar. It was a treat to watch them play together!
Red House, a Jimi Hendrix cover and a B-side on the Candyman album was played after this. The amazing drum solo was next. The drummer played for a good 10 minutes and he was blind folded half way through the solo by the keyboard player ! More stuff from Candyman including Party in Simon's Pants and Hero With 1000 Eyes closed out the main set. They came back out with an encore performance of Pink Floyd's Shine On. It was a very entertaining show tonight. Steve was brilliant on the guitar, playing a wide variety of songs including his own as well as covers. Trevor was delightful with his short appearance on stage as he also got the crowd to sing Happy Birthday for his dad. The other musicians on stage did their job splendidly well and I loved all of the keyboard, drum and bass solos which were in the set here and there. The idea of placing a Steve Luakther action figure on the drum riser was hilarious. They were having all sorts of fun with it, even putting a cigarette in its mouth at one point.
All in all a very enjoyable show, a very knowledgeable and appreciative crowd and a great venue in terms of ambience, sound and lights. I hope Steve plays many more gigs at the Roxy and celebrates his birthday here every year!
fullmetalrock.com, October 21 2009
