Here's a review from a friend of mine who went last week.
Terry
Satch [img]images/smilies/icon_thumb.gif[/img]
Vai [img]images/smilies/chucks.gif[/img]
Yngvie [img]images/smilies/icon_ball.gif[/img]
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Well I went to the G3 show last night in Reno.
I could have done without Yngwie, yes he's a good guitarist, I'm not saying he's not but he is so focused on
throwing out guitar picks, whipping his gutar around his neck, in the air, etc and making poses that his playing
takes a backseat because you are so distracted by his stupid antics.
It must really suck to be in his band, 90% of the time they just stood there while he played, then he'd nod to them
and they'd walk from the side and play. It was so obvious that he just considered them paid hands. They each had a
SHORT solo during one song and even though Yngwie's mike worked the whole night... for some reason when he introduced
them.. it cut out. It probably wasnt planned but you gotta wonder.. its so obvious that he wants his set to be ALL
ABOUT YNGWIE!
He must have threw down at least 150-200 picks.. some at the audience , others just on the ground... it was so distracting
to his playing, the people I went with said "the guy needs better quality picks if he's disliking that many" It was
really ridiculous. His poor guitar tech was running out every 10 minutes with a new strip of picks to put on his mike
stand....again distracting from the show. Also Yngwie was swinging his guitar around and then suddenly throwing it
at his guitar tech. We could see the look of terror on the guys face every time he tried to catch it... luckily he did.
I thought maybe after all these years, maybe Yngwie had grown up a little and was looking forward to seeing him.....
unfortunately he seems to have cultivated that attitude and ego to levels that are completely unbearable... at least to me.
I was glad to see his set end.
Steve Vai.... now this was a breath of fresh air. His band came out and starting playing with an intensity that was incredible and
the crowd really responded..... unlike how they were with Malmsteen.
He always surrounds himself with incredible musicians and last night was probably the best band I've seen him with.
He had
Billy Sheehan on Bass,
Tony MacAlpine on Keys/guitar ( I've wanted to see this guy live since the 80's ),Jeremy Colson on Drums
and Dave Weiner on Guitar. Vai really makes sure his band members get the spotlight too, there were many 3 guitar jams dueling
back and forth. When they left the stage I wasnt ready at all... could have listened a couple more hours.
Joe.... well I've seen Joe on every tour. My friend Tom is a huge fan and gets us tickets every time he's here. Joe also had
a great band : Jeff Campitelli - Drums,Matt Bissonette - Bass, Galen Henson - Guitar I had just seen Joe earlier this year so
this set was good but short. He had an backdrop of silver tinsel... it made for some interesting pictures.... kinda
seemed like "VEGAS" or something hehee. Joe was playing all new guitars.... every single one. They sounded good and looked great too.
He also had all new amps. I'll post some pics so you can check it out. Backstage we asked Joe about the new guitars, he said he was
having a little trouble with the inlay on the frets, couldnt see it or something. We joked... that he shouldnt have to be looking
at that! He said even after 30 years of playing I still have to look! LOL
The jam at the end with all 3 guitarists was incredible. Joe sang the first one: It was "Rockin in the Free World " - Neil Young song
Yngwie and Vai were out there... of course Vai stands next to Joe and they are jamming together but Yngwie.... he has to go out to the
front of the stage and do his own thing. Vai at one point even taps him on the shoulder to get his attention... it was a joke. Yngwie is
still tossing picks left and right... even at one point tossing one to Joe's bass player?? He just thinks everyone is enthralled with him.
It was quite humorous at the end of the song Yngwie is throwing his guitar in the air and oops he drops it on the ground LOL You could see Joe and Vai
visibly cringe when it happened. Damn I wish I had gotten that picture! Of course he picks it up and tosses it to his tech again and leaves
the stage. Then Vai does "Little Wing", Yngwie came back out with what looked like the same guitar. I think it was this song but maybe the next
one that Yngwie's hair got caught on his guitar... he had to go have his tech help him get it out. Is that in a tech's job description? LOL
I'm telling you... Yngwie was more like a member of Spinal Tap than anything. The next song Yngwie sings, it's Voodoo Chile, he sounds pretty good
doing that but at the end he starts swinging his guitar in the air and both Joe and Vai jump back to get out of the way. They kind of
looked at each other, shrugged and laughed. It was almost like Yngwie was this youngster that never toured before.
They had Sheehan come out and sing one too, that was cool, he did La Grange (SP?) ZZtop.. it was good, Yngwie even got Billy to swing his
bass around a couple times.
All in all, it was good, at least watching Yngwie proved to be entertaining, especially for the last set.
I think Vai and his band stole the show last night.
We went backstage and Joe talked to us for quite awhile, he is such a little guy. He's very gracious with his fans. Just talked to us
like we were old buddies. Vai was a little less personable but he still signed something for me and let me get a picture. Yngwie, came
in, took a couple pics with some female fans, heard him say "that fucker blah blah blah" when he was talking to someone and then he started
to leave. A fan yelled "not so fast!" and he barely turned and acknowledged him before leaving. Joe and Vai both stayed a long time making
sure fans were taken care of.
Hybrid Mode
