It was such an awesome night. It's so hard to believe that its been almost 24 hours since I was at the show. It's almost depressing it went that quick and I'm tempted to go to another show later on the tour, but where, who knows.
Other than that, the night was awesome. I really digged Sardinas' opening act. It really got people going, especially when the volume was all the way down and he played Dobroh (correct me if I'm wrong) unplugged and SANG unplugged. Now that was pretty cool. I think picture 42 showed that one. 39 is one of the better ones too. 54 was him coming through the audience.
Eric finished up about 845 or so and left the stage to Thomas Nordegg and co. who set up the stage. Surprisingly, it took about 30 minutes to set up. The anticipation built and almost was inbearable. I soon started to hear the various
Steve Vai noises come from the back as the lights went down. Jeremy was the first out, then Dave and Tony, following Billy who got a huge applause and Steve which even made the noise greater. Glorious with the double neck guitar was interesting. The sound from the fretless came about as close as it would've from the album.
Building the Church had to be flawless. It was just so mean and in your face with his attitude. Some of the songs were hard to remember, but the three that really stood out were Whispering a Prayer, K'm Pee Du Wee, and Lotus Feet. Whispering a Prayer happened early on in the show and I knew it when Tony hit the chords on his pianos and just let it go on. Steve stood there taking in the emotion. The song went on and built more emotion as the drums came in and the volume increased. The reaction from the crowd was unforgettable, not to mention how Steve was up on the stage. K'm Pee Du Wee was amazing. Executed greatly and the tone... damn, the tone of these guys were just crazy. Lotus Feet was amazing also. My friend said he almost shed a tear from that song and almost thought it impossible to pull off, but when Tony played the chords on the pianos, it was like the orchestra was almost there. After the show, we talked with Steve a bit and asked about Lotus Feet. First he explained the CD cover as the girl on it is looking into the Pond and she sees her Reflection with the Cherry blossoms around it. Steve has it all in his mind, but for me, there are still holes to the story that need to be patched.
The solos for each member were crazy. Billy's solo was LONG, distorted and unhumanly fast. Tony's piano solo was great. He really knows how to work the pianos. Dave's solo was also pretty neat. His cues are great.
Steve said that he and his band were out to kick our asses, but later on the show he took back his comment and said, we were supposed to kick your asses, but you're kicking ours. It was great. The acoustic setlist was cool. It toned down the volume, but the sound out of that acoustic was just amazing. Sisters gave the crowd something to cheer about as it started.
Drive the Hell Outta Here had a great feel too. It was just so loud and full of mean energy. I think it was on this song that Tony switched sides of the stage with Dave, and Tony did his solo and Dave controlled his wah-wah. The show sadly winded down the inevitable end as Liberty was played and Steve said, "its about time for HEADS..." (crowd) "UP" That song was pulled off amazingly. My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mamma was great too. Everyone got a chance to kick ass. The song was over and everyone thought that was it, but Steve motioned, "ONE MORE ONE MORE." I was thinking, it has to be For The Love Of God. Surely enough, it was, Tony's intro solo to it on the piano was different, but when Steve started and the drums came in, it just was great. He finished the song with either the Mirror Jem or Bad Horsie because I think Flo was going out of tune. The final chord was hit and the crowd was electric. The show was just too quick for words.
As for meeting Steve, Billy, Dave and Jeremy, they're just very cool and very normal. They have no sense of egos which was amazing. I talked to Steve, very friendly. His one guy had said something "...before we move the band over," and not even two minutes after he had said that, Steve walks in and he's like, "hello!" Just very cool. That thing with the zippers he was wearing was cool. Jeremy's very cool. Just a straight up kind of guy, and enjoys people. My buddy Magnus that was with me thought that the guy was out of this world. I talked a bit to Dave. He seemed pretty exicited about the tour and the way things were going. I finally talked to Billy. I asked him about how much he used to practice in his earlier days. He proceeded to say... "whatever I can do, I'm pretty sure you can do." My reply was very quick "no." They're just very human and sociable like you wouldn't believe. Tony didn't show up... kind of a disappointment, but what else could've been done? The night ended up with 54 pictures from the show and 4 signatures on my pickguard. Just unforgettable...
Sorry for my rambling.
My buddy Magnus is with Jeremy. I was with Steve with Magnus, but I look stoned which I didn't realize until I got home.
Linear Mode
