The rating is collective for the commute, location of venue, ample and free parking (and complimentary Wormhole CD for ticketholders!), and certainly not least, the SHOW. Joe and the band were fresh and eager to begin the new tour and their enthusiasm was contagious. Allen and Mike, being the new members, fit in equally as comfortably as veterans Jeff and Galen. As Joe announced, they played a mixture of old classics such as "Flying.." and "...Moon" while introducing the newest material and selections from Super Colossal and PSATMOR. I really loved hearing Revelation and Andalusia live once again! With Joe's increasing repertoire, he and the guys would have to play a 5-hr gig just to touch on the growing list of fan favorites. It's hard to comprehend how it's humanly possible to play these complicated and gorgeous compositions flawlessly night after night. It's got to be more than practice, practice, practice. They really put on a visual performance, too! Thank you, Joe, for holding your rock god poses just a tad longer for us amateur photographers! It seems your trademark JS1200CA red guitar morphed into an orange hue in honor of Halloween.

Even with the interruption of a fire alarm about half way into the set, I believe Joe and the guys made up for lost time by playing their full setlist past 11:30. Oddly enough, the venue's MC had earlier opened the show advising us of surrounding exits in case of a fire. As the band was about 3/4 through "War" with the smoke machine blowing full force, the strobes and alarms blared. Everyone stayed in their seats to see through the song's finish, and Joe had to eventually encourage everyone to evacuate as he kindly shook hands of those filing out by the stage. When we all returned, Joe indicated these fire alarms happen about once every 2 or 2.5 years and appropriately resumed with the new CD's opening track "Premonition."

"Pyrrhic Victoria", "Light Years Away", "Littleworth Lane" and "Wormhole Wizards" were also covered that night. One absolutely amazing song for me was Joe's "Dream Song" as it literally was composed in his dream and written with accompanying instruments in just a few hours after he awoke. Such a beautiful and wonderful creation! For upcoming concert attendees, you may hear some additional songs such as "Wind In The Trees." Songs like this can just have a hypnotic effect as many of Joe's does throughout his catalog where you just have to stop dead in your tracks and take it all in. A few tracks from this CD fulfills that expectation for me, and to hear these live makes it that much more enticing. Again, thank you Joe and crew for another memorable evening and for the pleasant surprise of your complimentary CD!

On a side note, Joe, during your M&G at Border's in SF on 10/10/10, I apologize for practically asking you to commit to including one of your new songs on your next DVD. You reminded me that your CD has only been released for a few days. I momentarily forgot it would be too soon to see how the song rates with listeners. I truly do appreciate you making yourself available to your fans as often as you do and freely signing all we present to you.