Liner Notes (December 14th, 1998) :

Ok, finally here at last, volume 3 in the Syndicated Dreams series of CD-R releases. This volume is a recent solo acoustic show from Steve. An excellent cross section of songs from his entire career and a snippet of Happy Together by The Turtles. No pretensions or grand statements here, just a man and his guitar. This time around, rather than fill the page with my rambling, we will turn the liner notes over to two dedicated fans; Bill and David, who should be no strangers to anyone on the Wynn Web. thanks gentlemen,

Pat Thomas San Francisco December 14th 1998

Bill: I listened to the webcast of Steve's solo acoustic set from the Intel Fest during July. After the show, it dawned on me that some of Steve's most powerful, emotional songs that were originally recorded as full on rock songs really shined in the stripped down acoustic setting. I immediately wished for an acoustic tour and a few weeks later, my wish came true.

Although there were only four dates, the acoustic tour would visit the midwest with a Thursday night show in Minneapolis. Even though it's a long drive for me and a weeknight, I had to go. I set up a meeting with Minneapolis area Wynn-Webber David Skoglund. We met at the 400 Bar and before long, Steve arrived to do the sound check. Then Steve greeted us and we chatted about the tour, recording plans, and the fact that he really liked playing at the 400.

David: According to legend and Steve's tour diary, after a less than ideal booking at the Fine Line in Minneapolis on Halloween night in 1996, the band adjourned to the 400 Bar to unwind after the show. After spending some time at the 400 that night, Steve decided that he should have played there instead.

When he returned to Minneapolis in the fall of 1997 he made good on his promise to himself. On that night Steve began his show by telling the audience that he had been looking forward to playing the 400 Bar ever since the Halloween fiasco of the previous year. He put on a tremendous show that night. You could just tell that Steve had found a new favorite venue in Minneapolis.

Bill: It turns out that Steve was in town for a wedding in Linda Pitmon's family, so why not play a show? The show found Steve's voice in fine form, with no signs of weariness after the whirlwind week of two shows in the US, a festival in Italy, and back to the US. The set list (although Steve, after the show, told me he never uses a written set list during solo shows) was the usual career spanning mixture including the unreleased "James River Incident".

David: It was nice to hear "James River Incident" at long last after only hearing about it from the reviews of the European shows earlier in the year. When I had emailed Steve earlier in the week to ask his permission to record the show he asked if I had any requests. This was one of them. The other was anything from 'Fluorescent' which he honored by playing "Follow Me." "This Deadly Game" featuring the torch-singing debut of Linda Pitmon was also a nifty highlight.

This was a fun little gem of a show. I'm sure years from now it won't be considered the definitive solo Steve Wynn show but it has an interesting vibe to it. Steve is very chatty and is really having fun onstage. Thanks to Steve Wynn and Linda Pitmon for the great show they put on that night and for letting me document it.

Bill Swan - Manitowoc, Wisconsin
David Skoglund - Maplewood, Minnesota

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