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Mountain started more or less on time. Leslie West’s voice sounds like that of someone who’s been playing rock shows and talking to rock crowds for decades (there’s obviously a good reason for that), and he told interesting and funny stories between sets. One ended with the explanation that seeing Cream (on LSD) was the inspiration for him to start really practicing guitar. This led into a cover of the Cream version of “Crossroads.” The trio also played a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” which alternated between melodic chords and hard riffing. The closer was “Mississippi Queen,” of course, and the crowd went crazy as soon as the signature percussion started the song.

The set seemed longer than it actually was, with lots of hard rock leads and solos from Leslie and lots of fills from the rhythm section. Corky Laing hit the drums so hard during the last song that his stick flew into the crowd each time—he had a stash of them, obviously. Every song had a big rock ‘n roll ending, and they were warranted.

Joe Satriani and his band took the stage with “I Wanna Rock”—the vocal parts coming from a tape. Joe was wearing shades, which he kept on for the rest of the show.

Quite simply, Satriani’s guitar appears to be an extension of his body. Any musician must have been left confused by how he can play those leads, and everyone else must have been simply in awe. There was a great mix of quasi-metal riffs, lyrical melodies, and all out lightning-fast barrages of notes. The band kept the song structures intact without sounding exactly like the studio versions.

The set list included a good amount of Satriani’s popular compositions, plus a couple of more obscure songs—“One Big Rush” from the Say Anything soundtrack, and a recent iTunes exclusive called “Ghost.” A highlight came when the bassist played a solo that seemed to last about five minutes, somehow managing to get a pitch close to that of a guitar.

The “Whoah-oh-oh-oh”s and “Joe, Joe”s from the audience during the first encore, “Crowd Chant,” was proof of how much the crowd were serious fans.

Anyone into rock should see Mountain if they come to your town, and anyone who appreciates musicianship should see Satriani and his band.

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