The last time I saw Daryl Stuermer in concert he far exceeded my expectations. While I had long admired his guitar work with Genesis I had no idea that his work with Genesis was just the tip of the iceberg until I saw him perform with his own band.
For some time I have been telling anyone who would listen that they need to see Daryl Stuermer live, and even brought a few friends to his show at The Tralf to make sure my memory was not faulty. As expected, Stuermer and his band did not disappoint me, and as I remembered from before, the evening was filled with great music and well deserved standing ovations.
As someone who sees and reviews around fifty concerts a year, I try to err on the side of caution and not sound overly enthusiastic when reviewing a particular artist. In this case my words cannot do justice to how good Stuermer and his band performed.
By the fourth song of the evening, an instrumental version of the Genesis hit “Land of Confusion,” Stuermer was dazzling the crowd with flawless runs up and down the neck of his guitar. All the while, his band filled in the pieces, combining elements of jazz and progressive rock and putting a unique stamp on the material while somehow managing to retain enough elements of the original versions to call the renditions faithful.
What makes the show work is that Stuermer has found a way to avoid the pitfalls of progressive rock by adding the jazz element instead of letting songs wander into ten-minute meandering jams. Moreover, while much of the Genesis catalogue is sacrosanct to their loyal followers, Stuermer’s legacy in the band lends him the credibility to pull it off. It also helps that he clearly loves and respects the music created by Genesis and Phil Collins.
Stuermer’s band deserves high marks for their performance. Drummer Alan Arber has arguably the most difficult task, trying to sound like two drummers on songs like “Turn it on Again” or “Los Endos.” At the risk of sounding blasphemous, Arber is at the very least in the class as Chester Thompson or Phil Collins, if for no other reason than his ability to fill a room.
The band’s latest addition, Woody Mankowski pulled double duty, matching Stuermer’s guitar note for note on some songs and singing wonderful renditions of “Squonk” and “Your Own Special Way.” Kostia on keyboards and Eric Hervey on bass both delivered flawless performances as well.
I will conclude by saying that if Stuermer is performing in your town, don’t hesitate, buy a ticket, take the night off work and you will not be disappointed.
Set List:
Duke’s Intro /Just A Job To Do (Genesis cover)
Throwing It All Away (Genesis cover)
No Son Of Mine (Genesis cover)
Land Of Confusion (Genesis cover)
Heavy Heart
Deep In The Motherlode (Genesis cover)
Urbanista
Your Own Special Way (Genesis cover)
Drum Solo
Los Endos/In That Quiet Earth /Ripples
Squonk (Genesis cover)
Something Happened On The Way To Heaven (Phil Collins cover)
Firth of Fifth /Squonk (Genesis cover)
Encores:
I Can’t Dance (Genesis cover)
Turn It On Again (Genesis cover)
We would like to thank Daryl Stuermer himself for taking care of BackstageAxxess.com in reviewing the show.
