The Steve Morse Band made a welcome return to Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse. They last played there a year ago, opening for Morse’s “other” band, The Dixie Dregs. The last time I saw SMB was back in 2009, touring Outstanding in Their Field. Life circumstances can be hard. Having stepped aside from nearly 30 years with Deep Purple to care for his wife, and meanwhile dealing with arthritis, Morse has returned to the road with SMB regulars bassist Dave LaRue and drummer Van Romaine. Fans in the know of this collective talent were happy not only to see them again but to hear a couple previews of their forthcoming album, Triangulation— their first in sixteen years.
So who are these fans? First, they are likely to ask, “Do you play an instrument?” Or more directly, “Do you play guitar?” Morse is a guitarist’s guitarist, comfortable shifting between rock, fusion, country, and progressive instrumentals. These are fans who come to listen—eyes on his fingers, but ears on his tone. There are no “rock star” windmills, strutting or posing, just a man playing technically demanding notes, fast and clean. Some in the audience are likely to recognize Lydian, Dorian, or Mixolydian scales as they listen.
It’s not a difficult thing to listen, though Morse acknowledged that their might be +1’s having to experience something far removed from the pop charts. But most, like me, were there for the music, happy to be amazed by a legit guitar hero. But the SMB is not just about him. Bassist Dave LaRue is not merely part of the rhythm section but a co-navigator of complex music. When Morse’s guitar takes a breath, there is LaRue, reminding the audience of the harmony and structure that holds everything together. He does not simply fill space—he converses with Morse, his fingers blazing across the frets and creating an interlocked energy that drives the music.
Joining the band is Angel Vivaldi, an accomplished guitarist in his own right. While he took some of the available space that Morse himself might have handled, the results were strong. In the Dregs, there were foils throughout the band – usually keyboards or fiddle, but guitar versus guitar suits Morse just fine. Vivaldi, a generation younger, brought perhaps a more expressive, modern phrasing, while Morse met him with tone and precision—two artists finding common ground through contrast.
Additional highlights included “Brink of the Edge,” which delivered a sharper melody and attack—or perhaps just from its familiarity from Morse’s 2009 album. Also, the closing numbers, the Dregs’ “Attila the Hun” and “Cruise Missile,” provided a fitting, high-energy finale.
Still, at the heart of all the guitar wizardry was Steve Morse himself. He reflected on the 1970s, when Atlanta was a thriving music scene. The Dregs had uprooted from Augusta to be part of it, getting to know Skynyrd and Kansas—an era when, as Morse put it, “everyone could play what they wanted,” adding with a grin, “now there’s laws against that.”
Another piece of the man was evident when he introduced “Attila the Hun” as “an obscure Dregs tune, even in comparison to the other ones.” Morse is a man who has toured the world, and still might again, but on this night he was simply a musician—humble, grounded, and grateful for an audience that enjoys live music. His live music, to be certain.
Setlist:
Encore:
