What Played: Steve Wynn, Miracle 3 Live in Euclid Records

by Steve Pick
Photos by Jim Varvaris

The First in the Euclid Sessions Series

Saturday afternoon was the kick-off to the new Euclid Records series of live performances to be turned into 7-inch singles for the benefit of the New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund. A hearty crowd turned out to catch Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3 in what was a perfect display of rock & roll fun, energy, and pure pleasure.

Wynn got his start in the Dream Syndicate, one of the most critically acclaimed if publicly ignored rock bands of the 80s. After that band broke up, he's been churning out solo albums and assorted side projects (Gutterball, Danny & Dusty, the Baseball Project). A few years back, he put together the Miracle 3 as his perfect backing outfit. With wife Linda Pitmon on drums, Dave DeCastro on bass, and Jason Victor on lead guitar, Wynn's songs have never sounded more powerful. And that's saying something if you were ever lucky enough to see the Dream Syndicate in its later incarnation with Paul B. Cutler on guitar.


In town to play a private party the night before and a public gig at Off Broadway Saturday night, Wynn and his mates were completely in the groove Saturday afternoon. Sticking mostly to songs from their last band album, "Tick . . . Tick . . . Tick," Wynn and the Miracle 3 demonstrated their tight ensemble sound, with the ability to crank the songs up into exhilarating bursts of declarative guitar melodies. Victor is a much stronger guitarist than Wynn, but the two of them have worked up some nice interlocking, sometimes improvisatory parts. In fact, when they ended with a long take on the Dream Syndicate classic "John Coltrane Stereo Blues," they managed to evoke at times such San Francisco 60s luminaries as Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the 1970s brilliance of Television.

The show was recorded, and you can look for a 7-inch single to be available early in 2009. We'll have the details right here, so keep looking.