First posted on Mark Is Cranky:

After experiencing the first two minutes of Saturday evening's Pat Metheny Group concert, there can be no doubt that Boston-area fans just plain love the man. Pat walked out onto the stage (wearing what has become his trademark horizontally-striped shirt) and was greeted by a thunderous two-minute standing ovation. This was before a single note was played!

So, being the music, Metheny and writer nerd that I am, somehow I forgot to bring a danged pen with me for setlist jotting. Ah well, that's what the internet is for. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a Boston setlist, but did find one from Toronto that served as a quick memory enhancing device.

After the Boston crazies (count me in there) quieted down, Pat began the show with a short acoustic piece which is listed as "This Is Not America" in the Toronto (and other) setlist. I guess I haven't listened to the Falcon & The Snowman soundtrack in quite a while as I didn't recognize this bit of music. Toward the end of the piece the rest of the band walked in from the wings holding and playing various percussion instruments (from simple shakers to claves to the glockenspiel)...and the song morphs into the beginning of the latest Metheny Group record, The Way Up, which they proceeded to play in its entirety.

That's right, 68 nonstop minutes of incredibly beautiful and complex music. I found myself wondering just how they were able to remember all of this stuff. The audience was pretty much stunned at the composition's end. Pat introduced the band and then jokingly said "Well...goodnight!!!". Right, like we believed that.

The band then left the stage save drummer Antonia Sanchez who with Pat played a lightening quick duet version of "(Go) Get It" from Trio 99>00. It's quite obvious that Sanchez has become Metheny's ultimate drummer. I often speak of "musical telepathy" when describing performances, but even that concept doesn't do justice to what this pair can do live. This was just beyond. Not only were they finishing each others' musical thought, they might have even been starting them.