As the incessant promos on SiriusXM tell me, April is International Guitar Month. What better way to celebrate than with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, two of the greatest living guitarists, performing together? I have been obsessed with the guitar since I was a kid, and these two men and their respective approaches to the instrument have always held a special place for me. It was amazing to see them once again on stage during their tour stop in Waterbury, CT. Please enjoy my Satch/Vai photos and review!
The night began with Steve Vai and his band. By his side was bassist extraordinaire Philip Bynoe, drummer Jeremy Colson, and guitarist Dante Frisielle. Vai’s 8-song, 1-hour set centered on his 2022 record Inviolate, featuring 4 tracks from that incredible release. Steve Vai on stage is not simply a guy playing a guitar. Vai literally pours his body and soul into his craft. He has a physical style of playing that almost incorporates tai chi-style movements. In Via’s hands, the guitar is another limb, an extension of his person.
Having begun his professional career with Frank Zappa, Vai has always incorporated that unique blend of rock, jazz, and prog into his playing and recreates it effortlessly on stage. When it was time for the centerpiece of Inviolate, “Teeth of the Hydra, Vai brought out easily the most unique guitars ever played, The Hydra, a multi-neck, beast that blends different stringed instruments into one piece. Watching him play was like watching Picasso create a masterpiece in front of a band that is more than capable of following him on the journey.
“Teeth of the Hydra” may have been the set’s centerpiece, but, for me, the 1990 Passion and Warfare classic “For The Love of God” stole the show. This song moved me from the minute I heard it all those decades ago, and Vai still plays it with fire and passion. I believe it is one of the top 3 guitar instrumentals ever recorded (Jeff Beck’s “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” would be the top, we’ll talk about the third in a moment). While he has played with mainstream acts like David Lee Roth and Whitesnake, leading a band of incredible musicians on a guitar journey is truly where Vai belongs.
After a brief intermission, Joe Satriani brought his style and band to the stage. Much like Vai, Satriani was flanked by a stellar set of musicians, led by the drum legend Kenny Aronoff, as well as bassist Bryan Beller and Rai Thistlethwayte on keys, guitar, and vocals. Satriani’s approach to the instrument was a little different but no less impressive. Joe’s one-hour set focused more on the melodic rather than the esoteric, filled with the radio hits that cemented his legacy. The more traditional song structures gave his band plenty of room to flex their collective muscles. Aronoff was simply a beast on drums, pounding harder than most drummers could while the secret weapon in Thistlethwayte added a wonderful layer of keys underneath Satriani’s soaring solos.
Satriani wasted no time getting the crowd’s attention, opening with the title cut from 1992’s The Extremist, and going into two of his biggest hits, the title track from 1987’s Surfing With The Alien and “Stach Boogie”. Joe expanded beyond the guitar a few times during his set with his harmonica playing, and even his legendary vocal on the 1989 classic “Big Bad Moon”
I mentioned previously what I believe to be 2 of the greatest guitar instrumentals ever written, the third was the highlight of Satriani’s set, the glorious 1987 classic “Always With Me, Always With You”. The track is a perfect example of the pure emotion that could be created by a guitar in the hands of a master. The song is just as beautiful and powerful now as it was when he first recorded it 37 years ago.
When Satriani’s set ended, the crowd was buzzing with anticipation for what was coming next, an epic jam between two old friends and masters of their craft. With Joe’s band still in place, Vai took the stage and the pair launched into the new single “Sea of Emotion, pt.1”. Watching them trade solos and weave their parts together was magical. Two extended covers ended the night, a rollicking version of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” and a thunderous take on Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”, both with Thistlethwayte on vocals.
I fell in love with the guitar as a young kid, and still feel like one when I see it played by the best players in the world. Throughout their careers, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani have shown that the infinite number of sounds that can be created by six strings (or more in the case of The Hydra) is matched only by the infinite number of emotions those sounds trigger in us all. The Satch/Vai tour is not only a masterclass in the guitar, but also a night that raises the spirit of anyone who has ever been moved by the instrument.
