About Last Night...

Sigh... so sorry to have missed it

A star-powered, sold-out concert in honor of Les Paul, the original guitar hero, turned out to be a lot more exciting than any video game.

Slash of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver, Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and other musical luminaries were on hand Saturday night at Playhouse Square's State Theatre for a salute to Paul. The guest of honor forever changed the sound of popular music when he invented a solid-body electric guitar. It came into vogue in the 1950s, along with a guitar-driven style of music called rock 'n' roll.

Paul, 93, was also there for the show. It put an exclamation point on the 13th annual American Music Masters series, a weeklong Paul tribute presented by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Case Western Reserve University and Gibson Guitar Corp.

"Let's thank God for this -- and thank God for Les Paul," said Sambora, who serenaded us with Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" and dedicated his ballad "Great Hall of Fame" to the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers in the house. Besides Paul (who also pioneered multi-track recording), their ranks included Burton, Eddy, Gibbons, Kaye and the Ventures.

Paul, who still has a weekly gig at the Iridium club in New York City, capped the 3 1/2-hour extravaganza with a set of his own. He was greeted with a standing ovation from 3,000-plus concertgoers.

Perched on a riser, Paul expertly summoned clipped melody lines and bluesy licks from his guitar as he and his backing trio delivered a handful of jazz standards, including a transcendental "Over the Rainbow."

For the grand finale, the entire cast joined Paul for a blues free-for-all in the key of E. It was momentous. And cacophonous. And ultimately triumphant.

"This is a wonderful night for me," a visibly moved Paul said. "Thank you so much!"

The pleasure was all ours.

~ Hath

Hey, if anyone has YouTube or Audio of this, Goddess would be forever in your debt if I had it miraculously and mysteriously in my inbox. Drop me a line at GoddessMail.