A spry 76 year old Ian Anderson pulled into town with his band to present the Seven Decades tour. Damn, Seven Decades, if that doesn’t make you feel old, I’m not sure what will. This was the last night of the US tour, and it appeared to be a sold out show. The Palace is a beautiful venue, and it has hosted many legends in its many years of existence. Just prior to the start of the show, Mr. Anderson made an announcement to ask the crowd to put their phones away, and enjoy the show. He promised that during the encore, you could take all the video and pictures you wanted, and the crowd from what I could see respected his request.

June 24th & 25th 2023 was a special weekend in Saratoga NY, as SPAC (Saratoga Performing Arts Center) hosted the 46th annual Jazz Festival that has been a staple since 1978. It is the fifth longest consecutive running jazz festival in North America. Two full days of music on two stages, with the main amphitheater hosting the larger acts, and a small stage on the lawn hosts some fine artists as well. The festival has a storied history, having hosted the likes of Chick Corea, George Benson, Herbie Hancock, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Miles Davis to name just a few.

One has to scratch their head and wonder why it can take so to take a chance on an artist. I’ve been familiar with both Snarky Puppy and Mark Lettieri for some time, but other than watching a few YouTube clips; I owned nothing by the Mark Lettieri Group. Let’s just say this past Thursday night changed everything. Lettieri and his trio played close to a two hour set of funky, rocking, tight and intricate music that was nothing short of exhilarating. I was well aware of what a great guitarist Mark is, but the songs are so good. His trio consisted of bassist Wes Stephenson (The Funky Knuckles) and Jason “JT� Thomas (Snarky Puppy) on drums.

It’s been 4 long years since Riverside graced Scottish soil and a lot has changed during that time. One thing that has remained steadfast however is that this four-piece are the premier Polish progressive rock act out there and neither are they shy in proving that fact. With a new album in the shape of ID.Entity to show off, this outfit weren’t here to simply celebrate their long heritage and that was reflected in a set split evenly 50/50 with old songs and new. Sea of Tranquility’s Steven Reid had his ID checked at the door of the Glasgow Garage.

It’s heartening to know in these days where ticket agencies seem to have borrowed their business models from the touts we used to despise, that it’s still possible to fork out less than £30 and revel in a top class evening of progressive metal. Sea of Tranquility’s Steven Reid was treated to some of the best sounds the genre has to offer as Haken, Between The Buried And Me and Cryptodira enthralled a packed Glasgow Garage.

Legendary Moody Blues bassist John Lodge treated fans to two hour long sets Tuesday Night at Cohoes Music Hall. Set 1 consisted of Moody Blues classics such as “Isn’t Life Strange�, “Gemini Dream�, and “I’m Just A Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)� among others for the capacity crowd. This intimate venue is a great place to see a show, not a bad seat in the house. Lodge tackled the lead vocals through the first set, and although he’s not the singer that Justin Hayward is, he did an admirable job. At 77 years old, let’s give him credit for going out and performing for his fans. Lodge interacted with the crowd often, and his 10,000 Light Years Band were more than capable in recreating these classics.

For the first time in almost 10 years the Steve Morse Band is back on the road with a short 5 date east coast tour. Now that Steve’s tenure with Deep Purple is over, we can all hope to see and hear more of Steve Morse in the coming years.

Their most recent album may well have been released a year ago but Frost* have clearly arrived at Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall with one thing on their mind - namely to promote 2021’s excellent Day And Age. Well, I say that they only had one thought to the fore, but in truth there were another two itches the four-piece were desperate to scratch, those being to thoroughly entertain the near sell out crowd and to have a great time while doing so. Sea of Tranquility’s Steven Reid was only too pleased to get his prog thoroughly rocked.

I was stopped a few times before and after this astoundingly excellent gig by the Cats and there was only one real question people wanted to discuss: Why aren't Cats in Space playing much bigger venues? It's a great question. Is it because of the name as some posited? Is it because the band are of the older persuasion? Is it because of the lack of mainstream media support? Is it because their target audience is reluctant to venture out these days? Whatever the reason is there's absolutely no doubt that Cats in Space are one of the very best bands on the circuit right now.

Chicago based fusion band Kick the Cat made a stop in Albany NY at the newly renovated Lark Hall for their second show of the tour on Friday night. It's not often these days that I discover a band that I love, but also get to see them live. The quartet came ready to play and tore into a number of tracks from their 2021 release "Gurgle".

The day was upon me, one I had looked forward to for weeks. In my busy single parenting life, one I’m sure a lot of you know, it’s hectic & crazy & hurried, I don’t get to hang out with my girlfriends quite like I used to. Amidst the anxiousness of awaiting a night out with them, I was waiting to see a good metal show, especially 5FDP, my gym buddies as I call them. I put them on and I can do more reps, go harder and go longer.

It was rather ironic that Genesis performed what has been said to be their final concert on 3/26/2022, and just a few days later I am seeing RAEL perform the music of Genesis. RAEL is a NY/NJ based tribute band that focuses on the early years of the Genesis catalogue.

Dream Theater's A View From the Top of the World was voted by our readers as the Best Album of 2021! Coming in second place was Iron Maiden's Senjutsu, and third place was Mastodon with Hushed and Grim. Thanks to everyone who voted, and we'll see you all later in 2022 to do this all over again.

Pete and the SoT Crew