Here are the details of the gig :

The thunder of Jason Newsted roared again in the Bay Area. He was on stage with the Moss Brothers. Two brothers who play rock and roll with a bit of metalli-crunch and blues tinged. Reuben is 12 years old, he plays the guitar and sings. His older brother, Evan, who is 15 years old, plays the drums. Both are excellent players considering their age. They befriended Jason who has been a mentor, friend, teacher, big brother and fellow hoops player. This is the second gig that Jason has played with them. This gig on Sunday, April 1st (no fooling!) was held at Ashkenaz in Berkeley, CA. The crowd consisted of many family members of the Moss Brothers, fans of the brothers, some Metallica fans, and us, fans of both the Moss Brothers and Jason. The Moss Brothers took the stage with a cover of Dire Straits "Money for Nothing". Then Jason came out, plugged in, and rocked out with the boys. He held out his hands several times to show, he wasn't the star, and this is the Moss Brothers gig. He stayed in the background, next to Evan, rarely looking into the crowd. Except for one instance when in between songs, people were talking he yelled out "Shut up!" and pointed everyone's direction to Reuben. Jason would help Reuben with plugging in, setting up the effects boxes, amp settings, and whispering little reminders to the boys. The whole performance rocked, but Jason truly showed his passion for music, it flows in his veins. His heart beats like the roar of thunder. Sonic energy is part of his persona. This showed in his grunts, snarls, thrusts, grooves and jams. We were just a few feet away from the majesty of Jason. His sonic boom of his bass still reverberates in our souls. After the show, the Reuben and Evan came out to meet the fans and sign their CD which was released at this gig. To ensure he didn't steal the limelight from the proper musicians, Jason did not appear. After we got our CD signed by the boys, Jason came out to his adoring fans. There was never a doubt in our minds that he would appear. Jason has always been a fan favorite, always accomodating. He sat down on stage, signed the Moss Brothers CD, shirts, setlists and other stuff. He took photos and joked with the crowd. My wife and I took a photo with him and asked him to sign the CD and a Metallica shirt next to his cartoon caricature. I told him how we loved his IR8 songs, which pleasantly surprised him. He mentioned that those were done such a long time ago, he then said it was done about 7 years ago. I then asked him when we could hear his Echobrain project and Jason confided in me that it would be out in August. He then repeated "I hope, I hope, I hope". Jason seemed quite eager about this project and smiled. I told him we would be waiting and thanked him for the music. The next person asked Jason to sign the Flotsam & Jetsam (Doomsday for the Deceiver) CD. He was amused by his old photo and eager to show this to his compadres, Reuben and Evan. You could see him reminiscing about the good old days. I joked with him whether he was the same age as Evan (15) at that time, he laughed and said "Nah, I was about 20 or 21.". Jason then said that he wasn't as good as Evan when Jason was that young. Always the humble dude. We told him thanks again and wished him well. As there was nobody left, he got his stuff and went back to the dressing room. We then asked to take another photo with Reuben and Evan. How fortunate the brothers were to share the stage with the the Mighty Jason Newsted. Attached are photos from and after the gig (We have more if you want). Enjoy!

Thanks and Best Regards, Jason&Sue Pittam and Ryan Pittam

P.S. I apologize for the picture of my wife, myself, and Jason, my kid brother (aspiring bassist) was so nervous. The photos Jason01 and Jason04 are from photographs.

- jpittam@intercontechnology.com
Apr, 2001