Presented by Michael Coppel
Palais Theatre, St. Kilda, Sat March 31 & Sun April 1, 2012
National dates: Canberra, March 27; Newcastle, March 29; Sydney, March 30; Adelaide April 3; Brisbane April 5; Byron Bay Blues Fest, April 6
Reviewer: Joe Calleri on Sat March 31, 2012
THERE IS A SCENE IN THE MOVIE, Wayne’s World when Wayne and Garth meet their idol, Alice Cooper. The two genuflect before Cooper and repeat the mantra, “We are not worthy. We are not worthy”.
Well, thank God that, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Steve Lukather, collectively G3, considered Melbourne worthy to share their amazing guitar-playing skills with the audience at the Palais Theatre last night. The show was a sell-out, and attended predominantly by middle-aged men. No surprises on both counts.
Joe Satriani
G3’s shows have been following a well-defined format since 1996, with each axe-man playing a 45-minute set – about seven or eight of their best-known tracks – followed by the now-famous G3 Jam, which invariably comprises three tunes, with at least one song by Jimi Hendrix. Last night’s set did not deviate from that format by one centimetre. Why tamper with success?
Decked out in black, 54-year old, Californian-born, Steve Lukather ignites the night’s fret-board firestorm. Lukather reveals himself on the night to be the most engaging and self-deprecating of the three guitar demi-gods. Despite being one of the founding members of 80’s uber group, Toto, a prolific writer, and producer performing on more than 1,000 albums, Lukather is not as well known to Australian audiences, or as showy as, his fellow G3 compatriots, Vai and Satriani.
While I savoured Lukather’s melodic, often sensual, jazz-rock roots playing, many of the comments I overheard from fellow audience members on the night were that Lukather was the weak link in the show. It’s a shame they felt that way.
Steve Lukather
Highlights of Lukather’s set included the punchy Tumescent, from Lukather’s most recent album, All’s Well That Ends Well, and TMZ – which loudly expresses Lukather’s anger at our celebrity-obsessed culture and the popular TV programs that promulgate it – and the sensitive instrumental dedication to Toto’s drummer Jeff Porcaro, who passed away in 1992 at the tender age of 38.
After a 15-minute set change – the first of two lengthy set changes where technicians customise the set and instruments to suit Vai, then Satriani and their respective backing bands – 51-year old, Grammy award winner, Steve Vai, slinks onto the stage, all tall and lean, and again dressed head to toe in black.
Vai’s first track is the incendiary, The Audience is Listening, from Vai’s seminal and Grammy award-nominated album, Passion and Warfare. Here’s where we get our first glimpse of the full expression of Vai’s outrageous, loosey-goosey, ‘Look Ma, my fingers have a mind of their own’ style of guitar work, and his extensive use of the wah-wah pedal.
Also from Passion and Warfare, and another musical highlight, is the punchy, bluesier, bottom-note-heavy, The Animal. With each successive track, and with each successive guitar (one track, one guitar, just differently tuned), Vai demonstrates the full range of his virtuosity: one-handed playing, tapping, note shredding, hand-over hand, and tremolo arm contorting. Vai deserves the standing ovation he receives after his set.
Steve Vai
The bald Satriani, now aged 55, with his signature Oakley Eye Jacket sunglasses, is the third and, along with Vai, the best known member of G3. Interestingly, Satriani – who is a mere four years older than Vai – served as Vai’s guitar teacher at one stage early in Vai’s career.
With the exception of the trippy Flying in A Blue Dream and Secret Prayer, the remainder of Satriani’s 8-track set, comes from Satriani’s 1987 Surfing with the Alien, including that album’s searing title track. I often wonder how many wannabe guitar heroes that album inspired?
While Satriani and Vai share some of the same hard rock guitarist tricks mentioned above, and the same lightning fast fret surfing, Satriani adds playing the guitar with his teeth, an homage to his own guitar idol, the late, great, Jimi Hendrix.
Then it’s time for the famous G3 Jam, when the three assemble on-stage to unleash their final collective guitar ‘shock and awe’ onslaught. Vai sings Frank Zappa’s bluesy-funky, My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama, Lukather takes on vocal duties on the mandatory Hendrix track, the lilting Little Wing, and last, but certainly not least, Satriani sings Neil Young’s 1989 Rockin’ In The Free World.
These guitar wizards have survived in the cut-throat entertainment industry and avoided being sucked into that black hole of oblivion reserved for guitarists whose ambition far outweighed their skills. This is for very good and simple reasons, including working goddamn hard to develop and sustain highly distinctive playing styles and sounds that set them apart from those wannabe hard rock guitar heroes that followed them. Sure, there are plenty of showy guitarists currently playing, but ultimately, you still need to be a damn fine guitar technician.
This three and a half-hour concert is a must-see for aficionados – those who don’t worship at the altar of showy guitarists will likely find the show repetitive and without any real sense of engagement – of outrageously brilliant, spellbinding, guitar playing.
By Joe Calleri
