show review
ma5t Sat May 17 '08
402
Bristol Colston Hall, Bristol,
Rank: 9 Posted: Tue Oct 21, '08 9:36 am
It was awesome! But it would have been even better if he'd played more songs from 'surfing with the alien', that's why i only gave it a 9/10. I'd love to see him again, as i couldn't really appresiate it so much, as it was the 'eye opener' that got me into Satch!

nellyfox Sat May 17 '08
402
Bristol Colston Hall, Bristol,
Rank: 9 Posted: Fri May 23, '08 2:44 pm
What can I say...? Twenty years of following the greatest guitarist of our time! I have been a Satch fan since 1988, after borrowing a copy of Surfing with the Alien. Been well and truly hooked ever since. Three amigos went to the Hammersmith Odeon to see Joe on the "Flying in a Blue Dream" tour. The three of us met up again in our home town Bristol to see him once again nearly twenty years later! My wife and little Bro also came along to pay homage to my idol. Got to admit I didn't see any of Paul Gilbert as the compulsory T shirt buy, coupled with beer and good company delayed our entrance into the concert hall! A plus bonus being allowed to take a couple of pints into the gig! We were ready to party and Joe didn’t disappoint. The opening number “I just want to Rock” was accompanied by a fantastic light show and back drop. The sound in row BB was superb, so I am a little surprised when other fans said the sound quality was not so good. The track listings have been recorded in many other reviews so I won’t dwell on that subject too long. I can only say that I enjoyed every single number played. A big lump in throat appeared when Flying in a Blue Dream was perfectly executed. Would have loved to of seen Joe do “Devils Slide” but can’t complain after being entertained for over two hours with a great mixture of new material and some old classics. Did anyone else notice Joe’s shadow on the wall twisting and bending in perfect harmony with the great man himself? Perhaps I had too many sherbets! Who ever said Clapton is God had obviously never heard or seen Joe Satriani! Please come back to Bristol so I can bring the next set of disciples along to party once again! Neil.

pip55 Sat May 17 '08
402
Bristol Colston Hall, Bristol,
Rank: 10 Posted: Tue May 20, '08 6:57 am

LOL - only my third time of trying to add a review Webby Jon

This was an awesome start for three nights of Joe.

PG played a great set, lots of stuff from Silence, a couple from GOOMY, some Racer X and Daddy Brother Lover Little Boy, plus drills of course. Smiling all the time, and flawless - apart from one missed bar in Scarified which they were all laughing their asses off about (yet still hit everything else on that crazy song). Excellent.

Then Joe... this is my fave band lineup, they sound great, and cliche as it is the man just gets better with age (how does that work!?).

New backdrops, changed outros, a New song (unless you've been to iToons lately), some classics, a great mix all round. They seemed to be having a great time, and clowning around as ever.

I couldn't faul the sound. I was 5th row middle, and it was fine there!

The set list goes something like:

I Just wanna rock, Overdriver, Satch Boogie, Diddle-Y-a-do-dat, Revelation, Ice 9, Ghosts, One big rush, Musterion, Out of the Sunrise, Time Machine, Cool No.9, Flying in a Blue dream, Andalusia, Super Colossal, , Mystical Potato Head , Bass Solo, Cryin, Always with me always with you, Surfing with the Alien, and then Crowd chant, Summer song as the encore.

Then a meet n greet after the show. Joe spent a good bit of time with us, was great with my boy again (who's definitely star struck), just a nice casual chat. signed a couple of things and posed for a couple of pics. Top man - thank you!

Also had a quick chat with Mick, and about our trip downunder to G3 Perth.

Hope to catch them all again next tour

goodstuf Sat May 17 '08
402
Bristol Colston Hall, Bristol,
Rank: 8 Posted: Tue May 20, '08 5:20 am

First of all, the Meet and Greet definitely went beyond my expectation. I particularly liked the format. The Q&A session was really informative and Joe was very keen to provide answers and insight into his experience, you could see how such a genuine person he is and friendly too.
The second part was the signing and photo, and during this, Joe was keen to have a more personal discussion with each individual.
This was by far better than another band i went to see on a similar package - it felt like a factory belt where you spent 5sec getting your stuff signed and then the picture taken...
The show was good, not knowing any of Paul Gilbert's stuff meant that I probably not enjoy it as much as I should. A bit tricky on first hear, still I could not fault Paul's very friendly and smily face as well as his technicality. His bassist was not bad either.

The interlude was 'interesting', with the ice-cream break. It kind of felt like we were attending a kid's show.

Then Joe came in. The set was really good and I particularly enjoyed the lights and background screen which gave a different dimension to the songs, This was definitely a plus, compared to previous tours. I was not sure on the sound, I could barely hear Stu, which was a real shame. I agree with previous suggestions that Gallen looked bored. I must admit, willing to be Joe's rythm guitarist is not a job I would take. Perhaps a keyboard would be better, as not all songs have 2 guitar parts at all time. Perhaps the best part was Andalousia. I was a bit anoyed with Celebrity Security, not a single picture was allowed, which, yes, ok, this is the way it should be, blablabla, but honestly, we were treated like kids. I usually am able to take pictures at gigs without too much troubles, especially when I say that I will not use the flash. Anyway, I did take some for the last 2 songs and apart from all looking the same and without the great lighting showing, they don't look too bad I guess. I will see if I can post them somewhere. Anyway, this really would have been a bonus if I could have taken some more live shots. Overall, a good gig, great list and ok sound.

zincthereturn Sat May 17 '08
402
Bristol Colston Hall, Bristol,
Rank: 6 Posted: Mon May 19, '08 3:37 pm
Good to see Joe execute a flawless performance...I think...OK, probably my 5th Satriani gig in 10 years but, like other Satch gigs I've been to, the sound was bad. I agree with the points anteater2 stated, in that the PA seemed overloaded when the drums and bass kicked in. I was in the M row on the balcony and found it very difficult to enjoy the set, and especially a couple of my favourites, the epic sounding Andalusia and Time Machine, which was a great pity. The fact I knew the songs helped, and Joe's guitar was audible but if I were attending a Satch gig for the first time I'd be thinking "what on earth are they playing??" as you could not really distinguish between anything other than Joe's guitar. I thought Paul Gilbert's sound was better, maybe lower volume (?), but they seemed to crank it up for Joe which made the bass and drums distort on a good number of songs.
I am bewildered how some of these places set up the sound for such an event, is it particular to this kind of music i.e. non vocals or is the venue just not up to it? I have had the same disappointing experience from Manchester Appollo and hoped it was a one off. So, 6 out of 10 for me which is a pity as I enjoyed the last gig at Cardiff where I had a premium ticket and got to meet him in person, plus experience great sound at the venue. I think next time I'll choose my venue more carefully...

citygroundred Sat May 17 '08
402
Bristol Colston Hall, Bristol,
Rank: 10 Posted: Mon May 19, '08 2:36 pm

We have been serious fans of Joe since 1992 and seen him on many occasions when touring the U.K. This time around was different in that we had decided to go along to the meet and greet prior to the concert. The whole experience was totally awesome. Joe is a really nice guy and not at all like the typical “rock star”. He was happy to answer questions from the assembled fans and signed various items of memorabilia including guitars, photographs, cd covers and so on. It was just great to meet the man after such a long time…………

The concert itself was just amazing. He played really well and we think that he just seems to get better and better each time around! Joe and the band were on fire. The addition of Stu in the line up seems to add that extra something and Jeff, Galen and Stu all played exceptionally well throughout. We were in the front row directly in front of Joe and the view was just unbelievable. The set list was a really good mix between the new material and the old favourites. The highlights included Time Machine, Mysterion, Cool #9, One Big Rush and Summer Song. The only disappointment was that Joe had decided not to include Crushing Day in the set list but we fully understand why!! The evening was finally topped off when we managed to meet the band as they left the venue and all were really friendly and happy to sign autographs.

It still all seems surreal since we booked the tickets way back in November 2007, looked forward to it for such a long time and now it’s over. Just to say a big thank you to Joe and the rest of the band for making it such a totally enjoyable experience. We now are looking forward to seeing Joe again in Nottingham on Wednesday when we are three rows back, although sadly no meet and greet this time around…………… :-(

Derek & David

steamnut Sat May 17 '08
402
Bristol Colston Hall, Bristol,
Rank: 9 Posted: Mon May 19, '08 8:35 am

Good gig

Shame about the sound and how is distorted. I can only guess it was a problem for that venue as it improved so much more in Bournemouth. Thanks again Joe.

lulabell Sat May 17 '08
402
Bristol Colston Hall, Bristol,
Rank: 8 Posted: Sun May 18, '08 6:02 am
What a great concert This was my 6th Satch concert over the last 10 years Cool # 9 is my fav all time track and Joe's Hendrix moment was cool Plus the fact that it was back to back with Andalusia my fav off Prof Satch was the best bit of the show for me Awesome

anteater2 Sat May 17 '08
402
Bristol Colston Hall, Bristol,
Rank: Posted: Sun May 18, '08 3:44 am

I have seen Jo three times and this was the best set to date with a fair bit of improvisation from Jo and good interplay between the three main players (although Galen did look a bit bored at times). Lots of newer songs - Musterion, Overdriver, I Just wanna, Revelation, Out of the sunrise, Diddley, Andalusia. And Colossal, Crowd chant, a brilliant cool #9, ice 9, cryin' and of course Surfing and Summer Song to name a few. A full 2 hours plus.

Paul Gilbert was impressive and his bass player was just as good. I will definitely be listening to more of these guys. 45 minute set.

Now the downside, Celebrity Security kept everyone in their seats and this made the environment really sterile with people only getting to their feet for the encore. Paul Gilbert had sound problems with too much bass distortion, this was improved after a few tracks. When Jo got going it was worse and it did not improve much. You could always hear Jo clearly (and I guess this would keep most folks happy) but when Jeff and Stu really got going (and Stu on 5 string) the bass was just overloaded and the PA could not cope. I was really looking forward to Andalusia and it was spoilt for me by this. I don't know if there was just not enough room for sufficient bass speakers at the venue or whether there was an acoustic problem. Stu's solo was muffled and distorted - a real shame.

But if you are in two minds you should still go. This may have been a local problem and Jo was (as usual) great, and quite chatty too which is nice.

All in all 7 out of 10, but with clear sound this would be 11.

crampon Sat May 17 '08
402
Bristol Colston Hall, Bristol,
Rank: 10 Posted: Sun May 18, '08 3:17 am

Even better than Birmingham. This band just goes from strength to strength. They seemed to enjoy it better. A more liquid feel to the whole show.

Come back again soon Joe. You could see how much we enjoyed the show. Another DVD soon?.

Thanks again!!!!!

bobby13 Sat May 17 '08
402
Bristol Colston Hall, Bristol,
Rank: 9 Posted: Sun May 18, '08 2:26 am
absolutely brilliant some people said something about sound issues for the other concerts but it all sounded perfect to me! First time ive seen satch and now im definately going again!