Cartoon from Kansas City Star 1998

Pat Metheny Group

A scrapbook of the Pat Metheny concerts I've attended

11-08-02 Uptown Theater in Kansas City
Nov. 2002, Kansas City Sept. 1993, Kansas City
Oct. 2000, Kansas City 1986, Tampa Bay, Florida
July 1998, Kansas City Pat Metheny links

November 2002 show in Kansas City

The Uptown Theater, Nov. 8, 2002 in Kansas City. The usual high quality was there and the program was long: three hours. Metheny dedicated the show to his mom, who was in the audience and had a birthday coming. Pat's brother Mike joined the band for the encore and played a trumpet solo. This tour was supporting the Speaking of Now album.
Metheny Trio bows at the end of the last performance of their 2000 tour, in Kansas City

October 2000 show in Kansas City

The Folly Theater, Oct. 10, 2000 in Kansas City. This was a fun show, the final one of their 1999-2000 tour. No wonder Metheny wanted to record and tour with Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart. There was some seriously tight and crisp percussion and bass work here. We were glad to hear Metheny announce that a live album of the trio was due out soon. There were plenty of quiet pretty tunes on the acoustic guitar, which the casual fans liked, and even more of the hard-driving stuff that builds tension and rewards you with a jamming release, which we hardcore fans liked. "Into the Dream," "So May It Secretly Begin," "First Circle," and "Roots of Coincidence" come to mind. At the very end, when they were taking their bows, I saw that some people were shooting flash pictures, and I remembered the digital camera in my coat pocket. I popped off one quick shot, seen above.

My ticket stub from 7-17-98 concert Tickets from October 2000 show in Kansas City

July 1998 show in Kansas City

Penn Valley Park, July 17, 1998, the Blues and Jazz Festival in Kansas City. Wow! What a great jam it was! It was a bright and hot summer evening, and a large crowd relaxed on a hillside while the band played. They played selections from their latest album, "Imaginary Day," and of course old favorites like "Third Wind" and "Are You Going with Me?" Notably missing was "Last Train Home," but you can't have everything. It was a great show and we applauded furiously and of course got an encore. The encore was a special treat because Pat's older brother Mike came out and jammed with the band.
Here are a couple of pictures I snapped. Click the thumbnails to see larger versions:

Pat Metheny in Kansas City, 7-17-98 concert Lyle Mays in Kansas City, 7-17-98 concert

September 1993 show in Kansas City

The Midland Theatre, Sept. 5, 1993 in Kansas City. This was a benefit concert for flood victims. I felt bound up in the flood situation because I then was the editor of the small paper in Parkville, where my own offices and many others' businesses were underwater. My date knew someone who worked at the Midland Theatre and got us passes to the after-show party, where I met Pat and he autographed my ticket, shown below. My date played it cool and didn't approach him. By contrast, I was almost repeating the scene from the movie "Wayne's World," where the guys throw themselves on their faces before Alice Cooper and say, "We're not worthy!" This tour was supporting the Secret Story album.
My autographed ticket stub from 9-5-93 concert After show pass from 1993

1986 show in Tampa Bay, Florida

This was long ago and frankly I don't remember much, except obviously that I enjoyed the show immensely and knew I wanted to see them again. I remember I was incredibly poor and buying the ticket was a big deal. This tour wasn't supporting any particular album.

Code key for Imaginary Day - De-code the symbols on that album.

Pat Metheny Links

Pat Metheny Group homepage - The official site. Plenty of tour and CD info pix of ALL pat metheny album covers (gotta scroll down), and links ultimate pat metheny transcriptions site
My music/bands links page Pat Metheny links Analysis of Beyond the Missouri Sky
buy the pat metheny songbook1 buy the pat metheny songbook2 more Pat Metheny links
analysis of Jim Hall and Pat Metheny album ECM Records pat metheny page legal mp3 downloads at lycos
  Excellent Metheny write-up at Wikipedia.org  

Pat Metheny Midis

Pat Metheny midi music 1 Pat Metheny midi music 2
  Pat Metheny midi music 3
Pat Metheny Group The Way Up Bob Fahey's Home Page