Ah, the difficulties of living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Two of the biggest living guitar gods are playing on the same night: March 2nd, 2011. Both of these guys got a lot of spin time on my old turntable back in the days of my youth and they still retain a special place in my heart and ears. Jeff Beck is playing at The Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco; the historic, legendary Fillmore. Robin Trower is playing at the Mystic Theatre in Petaluma CA, 35 minutes north of SF and hometown of Ace Products and Reunion Blues. Life can be hard, but this is too much.

Jeff Beck is arguably the greatest modern guitar player and I have never seen him perform live. With his supersonic approach, he gets sounds from the guitar that can be more alien than human. As fellow blogger Brett Paley noted, Jeff Beck gets musical notes that are sometimes unfamiliar to our ears as they can be in between the 13 western notes. (wham that bar like a sitar!). Or he can play a melody so sweet that you want to cry.

Robin Trower is one of the Hendrix disciples that carved his own style out of the psychedelic blues movement. He wrote songs of intrigue and imagery that still stand the test of time like “Bridge of Sighs” and “Too Rolling Stoned.” He started with Procol Harum but quickly moved on. Trower is less known than Jeff Beck, but still very powerful in his own right.

Can I get a time machine and witness both? I think that is the only way I will be satisfied. Anyone have an opinion on which guitar god I should see that night?

(Jeff Beck photo by flickr user MandyHallMedia, Robin Trower photo by flickr user Carl Lender, licensed under Creative Commons.)