As a long term Pat Metheny fan, I was blown away by the special closing event of Montreal Jazz Festival 2005, featuring PMG. That was a 3-hour free admission outdoor setting which gathered about 10,000 people. Guess what, this time around with the new lineup Unity Group (plus Orchestrion), this event lasted almost 3 hours again, with no less of an impact than 10 years ago on me. I have closely followed Pat's latest album releases and thought Unity Group sounded like a step back from the youthful cheering of the 2005-version of PMG. The live show defied my pre-concept. Between the guitar-controlled Orchestrion "robot" band and the Unity group's human lineup, there is the incredible and unique chemistry going on. There are lots of human-computer-interaction-based electronic acts out there, but rarely did I hear the near-perfect fusion of machinery with humanity and symbolic music, all under the spirit of Jazz improvisation, like this show. The experience is also head and shoulders above the studio version; It's meant to be heard live. Some people don't seem to age; Pat Metheny brought this trait to a new level: he keeps bringing new people, new ideas, and new sounds into his formula and delivers the sophistication and accessibility at the same time, without losing one bit of passion.
Don't let this one go if they pass by your city. You won't regret it.
