G3: LIVE IN CONCERT

For those of us that either don't live in North America or just didn't get the see the first G3 tour first hand, we have the DVD film of one of the nights of the first G3 tour. For those that first heard the CD version of this concert, I can imagine they would have felt pretty excited to finally be able to see what it looked like captured on film.

Joe Satriani's band on this particular tour was just a power trio, with the legendary Stuart Hamm on bass guitar and Jeff Campitelli on drums. Before Cool #9 kicks off, there is this really cool atmospheric vibe going on, something I feel everytime I watch this DVD. Joe looks really relaxed and laid back here, always giving me a cool vibe without ever taking us on an ego trip, a testament to THE humbleness in his character. I will still never forget the first time I watched this DVD, and seeing Joe perform what I call the right hand cross over muting/left hand legato technique in this song, and just the memory of my jaw dropping to the floor at that insane lick. For Flying In a Blue Dream, the stage lighting is appropriately colored to suit, so that really enhanced the dreamy/adventurous feeling for me.

Eric Johnson's set was notably different to that of the CD version, but that wasn't a bad thing though. The first song is kinda fast and catchy, and not particularly long, but enjoyable nonetheless. Manhattan is a really touching jazzy piece and S.R.V is a fantastic tribute to the blues king Stevie Ray Vaughn. Unfortunately, Johnson's stage presence is pretty poor, to the point where you would almost think he was shy, and even his bass player was more interesting to watch stage presence wise. Luckily in Johnson's favor is his supreme talent on the guitar.

Vai, now he is our crazy man, a guy that loves to have a lot of fun on stage. I found his performance along with Mike Keneally's performance on The Attitude song really fun to watch, and seeing Mike Keneally shred it up along with Vai is a pleasure to watch.

The G3 Jam is explosive, as I hoped it would be. On all three songs the guys shred it up, but this is easily a masterclass in how to shred with taste and substance, no doubt. Joe's performance is my favorite here, always laid back yet having plenty of stage presence. A great point of the jam for me, is seeing Joe jamming on Red House, and he sounds like a natural blues player, getting licks from Albert King, Hendrix and many other blues legends but always making them his own. Truly fantastic.

A great DVD for any fan of shred guitar, and while not prog in the sense of the word, these are guys that have pushed the guitar forward and upped the virtuosity of electric guitar, and have been an influence on guitarists from instrumental shred, to prog metal and many other genres.