Music Review
Steel Notes Magazine
January 2017
Music Review
Gary Hoey at M15
By Tony Lepre , Photos by Renee Jahnke
The M15 in Corona is an excellent venue to see and experience live music , so I was very pleased to be able to experience this show . Gary Hoey kicked off his set with “ 12 days of Christmas ” and went right into “ Deck the Halls ” ( which included a medley of “ Joy to the World ” and “ Hark the Herald Angels Sing ”). Right from the start , He laid down the gauntlet of his signature melodic style of instrumental soloing and structures .
He then introduced his band mates for this tour . AJ Pappas on Bass , who has been on 4 tours and Matt Scurfield Drums who has been with Gary on 11 tours . Gary told us all this was his 21st Ho Ho Hoey Christmas Tour and this was the last show of the tour . The crowd ate it up and cheered !
The band started into “ Little Drummer Boy ” and played the song “ Kashmir ” into the ending jam ! Gary then told us about the new album “ Dust and Bones ” debuting at # 5 on the Billboard blues charts and how thankful and grateful he was for that .
He introduced the song “ Peace Pipe ” ( released 1996 “ Bug Alley ”) with an inspirational message of Peace , Love and Understanding . He encouraged us all to start right now to be the change in the world that is needed . Be the first to smile at another , be the first to say excuse me and sorry when it is the right thing to do . Then he started into the beautiful song “ Peace Pipe ”. During his middle solo , he got down on his knees playing to the front row . An amazingly intimate experience for the fan and the musician .
Then he told us how his mom asked him to play some Christmas songs and how she probably wanted some traditional sounding ones , ( which he played a piece of ), and he then dedicated “ Rocking around the Christmas Tree ” to his mom .
Next up was his classic “ Linus & Lucy ” ( Peanuts Theme ). This instrumental he
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