August 11, 2023

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Steve Miller, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2016 inductee, is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of his landmark album The Joker.  He and his crack four-piece backing band appeared at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater on Wednesday night to play songs from that album and all the hits from his career.

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Miller opened the show with "Swingtown" from the Book of Dreams lp, and showed that he is still in top form in his playing and singing even though he is approaching his 80th birthday this October.

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"Abracadabra," "Jet Airliner" and an extended version of "Fly Like An Eagle" were played early in the show.

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In the middle of the set, Miller told a great story of how Les Paul and Mary Ford got married in his childhood home and how he became Les Paul's godson.  As Miller got older and started to learn how to play guitar, he thought that Les would give him one of his guitars.  However, the great innovator told him that he would appreciate the guitar more if he saved up and bought one himself. 

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So he did!

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Miller brought out an acoustic guitar to play a totally rearranged version of "Jet Airliner" and it was fantastic!  It had a more laid back vibe and the lyrics really stood out.

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Towards the end of the set, Miller told the crowd that their will be a 50th Anniversary box set of The Joker coming out.  He noted that his wife went through over 600 hours of recordings that he had made before the making of that album.  He said that he was influenced by Santana on "Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma" before the band went into that deep album cut from that album. 

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Three of the biggest hits were saved for last as the band played "Jungle Love," "Take The Money and Run" and of course, "The Joker."

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After a brief exit, the band returned to close out the show with "Rock'n Me."

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Steve Miller proved that he still has it and shows no signs of slowing down.

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Review and photos by Greg Drugan

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