The Moss Brothers with Jason Newsted
April 13, 2000 Last Day Saloon in San Francisco, California
Story and Photos by David Hutton

Jason had some goodies with him for the kids to use. Effects pedals, amplifiers and mics from the Chophouse. After the gear was set up, he pulled Reuben aside and asked him how many guitar picks he had. Rueben fished a couple of pics from his pocket while Jason explained the importance of having backup picks ready, and then pulled out a couple of extra picks, and taped them to Reuben's mic stand. All I could think as I watched this exchange was what a cool, down to earth guy Jason was, helping out with a gig like this, and imparting valuable words of wisdom upon these kids.

	Jason helped with sound check and practiced with them for about 10 minutes. He put his bass down as the brothers practiced "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits. While they played, Jason pulled a camera out of his bag and snapped a few pictures of them as they practiced, for his personal collection. After sound check Jason and the boys went to relax until it was time to play.

Twenty minutes later, the room now full with, ranging from young kids who know the Moss Brothers, to Metallica fans, to the Moss Brothers' 82 year-old Grandfather. The lights went down, their manager came out to introduce the Moss Brothers, who came to the stage amid great applause. Evan took to the drums, with Reuben grabbing his guitar and they broke into a cover of "Money for Nothing". The sound was excellent, with Reuben playing both the guitar portions, as well as the deeper bass like notes on his Fender guitar.

About 4 songs into the show, Reuben told us that they had been jamming with this friend of theirs, Jason Newsted, and that maybe some of us had heard of him and the band he plays for, Metallica. At that point, Jason ran out from the back of the room to join them on the song "Guitar and Drums", as Reuben explained, for this night only, it will be re-titled, "Guitar and Drums and Bass". This was followed by "Football all the Way", "Baseball", "Hot Water" and others.

Jason took a very low key approach, as well as his spot on the stage, which was in the far back right corner. I could see that he wanted the spot light on these two fine young musicians, and not on himself. After his set, he headed off the stage, and then came around through a hallway to the side stage area, watching them perform. Rueben called on Jason to join them on the final song of the night, "Grandpa Turns 80". A song written for their Grandfather for his 80th Birthday. Tonight was his 82nd Birthday and the place soon turned into a birthday party with cake and everybody singing Happy Birthday.