Steve Gunn – Bello Bar – 2/04/26 – Live Review
by Killian Laher

Of late, Steve Gunn’s recorded music has become almost meditative, but this only tells part of the story.  Kicking off his European tour in Dublin, most of the audience were aware of his considerable skills on guitar.  However, tonight, Gunn took quite a few liberties with his songbook.  Opening up with On The Way on an amped-up acoustic guitar, he played a gorgeous version of Morning On K Road before the experimentation took hold.  A cover of the Velvet Underground’s I’ll Be Your Mirror featured some really nice guitar playing before finishing with noise.  He coaxed great sounds from the guitar on New Moon, and this was followed by a stunning rendition of Old Strange.  It opened with intricate guitar playing and, as the song went on, lurched into some tremendous noise, Steve Gunn showing real mastery of his instrument.

Nearly There was mixed in with a verse or two from Wild Mountain Thyme, and he finished with more guitar exploration on Morning Is Mended.  Steve Gunn is one of the more interesting guitar players around, and it was fascinating to watch him perform live.