show review
xeralt Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: Posted: Tue Jun 24, '03 8:36 pm
Once again another one of the great shows I have been to, It was great seening you again.

rhein_albs Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 9 Posted: Tue Aug 21, '01 7:32 am
Joe rulzzz....

xenophage Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 9 Posted: Thu Aug 09, '01 7:21 am

This was the first concert I've ever really been to, which isn't surprising once you know I live in Wasilla, Alaska (the middle of nowhere). I only recently got into this music at the recommendation of all my friends at guitarwar.com, and own only 2 Satch albums, 1 Vai, and 1 Dream Theater. For background info, I'm 18 and have been playing the guitar for 2 years. I recently performed Satriani's song "Always With Me, Always With You" at a school concert to tremendous applause, and being able to see the man live in concert was unreal.

I loved the show. A few things annoyed me, however, which I'll go through first. First of all, Vai's bassist had the shittiest tone I've ever heared. Something had to be messed up with his amp, but he didn't seem to notice - or at least he didn't show it if something was wrong. He seemed to be technically impressive, but I cringed every time he went into a solo. This problem did not plague anyone else fortunately, and it is my biggest complaint. On a side note, Dave LaRue was my favorite bassist. He had awesome tone and great technique.

Secondly, the dinner seating at this theater is convenient and in their configuration they can pack a lot of people very close to the stage, but the view sucked unless you had a bunch of short people in front of you. I had to maneuver myself for a while before I got a good view of the stage. Its a good thing they had two large projectors overhead for those less fortunate than I.

Third, I was a little disappointed with the jam at the end. I would have much preferred that they play YYZ or La Villa Strangiato by Rush, like I suggested! =) Petrucci is a big Rush fan. Oh well... I guess ZZ Top is alright, but everyone covers La Grange (I actually really liked the jam, I'm just bein an ass).

Now on to the things I loved about this show! Petrucci was on stage first, so I'll cover him: I love this guy. His music is exactly my style. A huge dose of progressive rock, shred, and thrash. All the songs he did, with the exception of one, were written exclusively for the G3 tour. An awesome composer! He is every bit as technically impressive as satch and vai, and perhaps a bit faster, but not nearly the show-off that vai is. Petrucci seems like just an average guy with an incredible talent. He was very modest and seemed to enjoy himself.

Vai: This guy is like every stereotype of a rock star I can think of. Flashy, wild, and wierd. He seemed to crave applause, and he got it! Neither satch nor petrucci could match the show he put on. In an incredible display of showmanship, Vai hit several harmonics with his tongue, and at the end of one song appeared to raise the pitch by sliding his tongue up the string! Of course this is impossible, and I learned from another member of the audience that he was using a whammy pedal. Still, Vai showed off more technical skill than anyone else at the concert. Something really incredible was when he and his back-up guitarist traded off playing each other's guitars by reaching their hands over and tapping on notes!

Satch: The man. That's probably enough said already =). He had to change the songs around a bit to play them without a rhythm guitarist, but satch is so cool he can carry it all himself anyway =). His rendition of "Always" was magnificent. I enjoyed it more than the studio recording. It was also the one song I wanted to hear him do more than any other, to see how my version compared to his. Personally I think I'm pretty bad ass (!), but I can't touch the masta =). BTW Satch if you're reading this, I've got it recorded in mp3 (www.chrismcgraw.com/mp3/Always.mp3) and on CD if you want it =) Not likely, but... would be cool to have you listen. I signed up for the backstage passes and would have given you my cd then, but I lost =(. Anyway, thanks for composing that song. All the girls were talking about me and I finally achieved fame during my last year of high school. Hey... there's no copyright lawsuit headed my way is there? =)

Well this has gotten WAY too long. I will always remember this concert. I have a lot of guitar practicing ahead of me! Maybe some day I'll get a 15 minute jam with one of these guys so they can laugh and poke fun at me! Peace.

littlejoe13 Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 10 Posted: Fri Aug 03, '01 9:46 pm
this being my 2nd time seeing joe,as well as g3 i thought it rocked,it was also my first time seeing john p.also my first time seeing vai ,well live anyways. i wanted vai to do the anger song so bad,but the preformance of "for the love of god" was enough to do it.the preformance of the cover songs,zz top and hendrix,was awsome.little wing rocked,so did voodoo chile. anyways thats it ,hope to see g3 2002,peace out...

mrselfdestruct Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 9 Posted: Sat Jul 07, '01 5:00 pm
I loved this stuff !!!! I saw the "original " G3 ( with Kenny Wayne Shepard & Eric Johnson) But, This show was by far the "best" ! I only have one complaint: Steve Vai "s sound was a "little weak". I was "in the front row" and I was nearly "blown away" by Mike"s "little " Rivera amp and Steve's sound was barely therebut, other than that small "technical problem" it was a great show ( And I've seen both steve Vai & Joe at least 12 times !!). I am also a HUGE Dream Theatre fan ( Thanks Scott !!). John was the MAN !!! I saw D.T. @ The H. O. B. hollywood last year and was in awe of what a great band they are so getting to see John on his own was enough for me . I want to thank Joe & Stu for the picks !!!! Sut "the Girl" did catch one of your "curve ball picks" You Guys were AWSOME !!!! PLEASE Joe - Make the G3 tour a "yearly event" !!! I will be "front & Centre" evertime !!!

edwoodca Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 9 Posted: Thu Jul 05, '01 12:21 pm
Great show, of course! 12th time seeing Joe [incl. the 1st G3]. Didn't know of John Petrucci before... started out okay, like he showed his hand all on the first song, but his third!!! Now THAT was a song and performance - beautiful. Vai & Satch - great as always. The jam was great, but ended on a mellower note than I preferred after all the fireworks... La Grange should've been the closer, 'cause they absoulutely TORE IT UP! Looked like they were havin' a blast, too. Ran into Steve Davis from high school... his friend, Greg, is the guy that had Joe sign the front right quarter-panel of his red Corvette, lol. Wild, silly, and totally cool at the same time! If you could buy a limited edition, signature series Corvette, that is how it'd look! Great memory for me.

mathios Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 9 Posted: Sun Jul 01, '01 6:02 pm
holy crap was that show good. Joe as always was on and playing like a madman. The three guitarists playing at the end made me want to put my guitar away and not look at it for a while. Thank You Joe, see you next time around.

mysticalpotatoehead Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 10 Posted: Fri Jun 29, '01 2:57 pm
STEVE VAI IS THE MAN. Joe was incredible, beter than I could even imagine and John was great. Steve was amazing and wild. It is so inspiring to see so much talent in one night in one place. The talent, skill and great musicanship proved that all three of the guys are true masters of the guitar. I am still trying to recover from the most amazing show I have ever seen. SATCH IS INCREDIBLE.

melior Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 10 Posted: Fri Jun 29, '01 11:19 am
This show i saw of satch had to be the best yet so far (even though i only saw 2) i was very happy to get his autograph afterwards and shake his hand I think satch has to be the coolest guy there is. hope that guy has a way of preserving the signiture on his car :).

buddymiles Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 8 Posted: Fri Jun 29, '01 12:47 pm
Joe and Steve jammed there asses off,John was cool it was the first time that i had seen him,I wish Joes set was longer though and would have played my selections from Engines.But Eric wasn't with him and that might have had something to do with it. Steve was on fire all nite the best i'd ever seen from him! Joe was playing some great licks and cool #9 was a nice way to start his show ,Voodoo chile was killer except i envision more blues/rock type of solos on that tune which have my emotion at times that Showing off!Maybe Jimi and Stevie still have something to teach these guitar heros.....sometimes one note in a tune like Voodoo Chile doesn't need to be basteredized to a point of What song is this?or has anyone studied Billy cox's bass lines on how they worked with Jimi's solos........Little Wing was more impressive to me with Vai singing and more emotional guitar playing from all three guitarist...Playing with your tounge and finger taps and great runs/riffs are impressive but does it connect with the listeners soul,heart....not always....mind yes,but if Miles Davis wanted to impress musicians with fast riffs allnite what would be the point...maybe this is why these guys don't get much radio time cuz the average listener can't relate!If I would have been on that stage with my equipment playing Voodoo Chile you would have heard Hendrix...not Van Halen............so now i get mail from somebody telling me not to diss joe...iam not .i just said that i thought Voodoo Chile could use alittle more voodoo!nother more/less and yes if i was with them there would have been more Voodoo !1 i would have brought Dallas Arbiter Fuzzface,my Uni-vibe and my Tycobrahe Octivia to juice up my sound

taddseiff Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 10 Posted: Thu Jun 28, '01 8:06 pm
I went and saw SATCH play. Me happy. I got Joe's autograph after the show and he is such an unbelievably nice guy, which makes me all the more proud to be a fan.

maryjayne Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 10 Posted: Thu Jun 28, '01 4:06 pm
AWESOME!!!

wazp Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 10 Posted: Thu Jun 28, '01 11:53 am
STEVE VAI is the man. This concert was the first time I had ever seen Vai, Satriani, or Petrucci play live. It was definantley the best concert I have ever been to and I advise anyone who plays guitar to go see the masters them selves and expierience real music. Not only did the concert consist of just excellent music but great trick guitar by all of them (namely Steve Vai and his whole band along side him) All the guitarist were full of energy just as if this was there first time playing. Steve, Joe and John all played together at the end of the show doing covers of Hendrix-Littlewing and Voodoo child and ZZ top's La Grange the solos they did together were amazing. Seeing the concert just really makes you want to go home and play guitar for many hours. What I really like most of all is that there not in it soley for the money as some bands are these days but there into the music to reach out and really give people a great show and enjoy it while doing so. Before Satriani's performance I had the honor of speaking with and shaking the hands of Mike Keneally. He was standing out in the lobby taking a drink of water as people congratulated him on his performance. If your really into guitar and your looking for some good music to listen to and learn on guitar look no further than G3 one song may take years of practice. And careful not to cut your tounge if you are trying to imatate Steve on "For the love of god". All I can say is I wish it never ended and it's all about the love and dedication to any thing you choose to do wich none of the guitarist lacked. once more STEVE VAI IS THE MAN

jimmyj Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 9 Posted: Thu Jun 28, '01 10:05 am
One Word...VAI !!! I must say, the show was wonderful. The previous play-by-play reviews are on the nose! Everyone was fantastic. Mr. Vai is a true showman and a pleasure to watch. Billy Sheehan and Virgil Donati are both amazing. I have seen Vai a number of times, yet this time he was more fluid and was at the top of his game. His axe battles with Sheehan were reminiscent of the DLR/EEAS days...A must see. His duels with Keneally were jawdropping! Also, for anyone who has not seen Virgil...ya gotta check it out!! I am a huge Dream Theater fan and really enjoyed John's set. Hats off to Mike Portnoy and Dave LaRue for a great job. Joe's set seemed a bit short, but was to the point. Great song selection, many of the same from G3's of the past. Thoroughly enjoyable. The jam at the end was great. Lots of energy from all the players. All in all a great show. Don't miss it!!

satchblues Wed Jun 27 '01
70
The Sun Theatre, Anaheim,
Rank: 10 Posted: Thu Jun 28, '01 3:42 am
Wow. I knew from the other reviews that this was going to be amazing. I had seen Joe 10 times before and Steve once on the last G3, so I had some idea of what I was in for. But amazing is an understatement. John Petrucci started off the set with 4 amazing new tunes that he wrote specifically for this tour. The third was called Lost Without You and was very beautiful. I really enjoyed the middle section of song #2, and #4 was very awesome. He then ended the set with something from Liquid Tension Experiment I believe. Mike Portnoy and Dave LaRue were absolutely incredible, both turning in jaw dropping solos. On to Steve Vai, clearly the showman of the group. His set started off with Shy Boy, an old David Lee Roth tune, with Billy Sheehan on vocals and some amazing bass. I thought Stu was incredible, but man, Mr. Sheehan certainly gives him a run for his money! The set continued with Giant Balls Of Gold, off Steve's new album, then The Crying Machine, Whispering A Prayer (incredible!!! also off the new one), The Animal, Incantation (also new), Jibboom, and For The Love Of God. Steve was flawless as usual (ok, actually I noticed a mistake on FTLOG, just barely!) and incredible to watch. Again, Billy Sheehan kicked so much ass on bass, as well as Mike Keneally and Virgil Donati (oh and the other guy on guitar - Dave Weiner). Literally blew my mind and I was wondering how Joe, Stu and Jeff could possibly top that! But they came out anyway, and in my mind, they did top it. Hands down the best performance I've seen from that trio out of 11 shows now. The setlist was Cool #9, Devil's Slide, Satch Boogie, Flying In A Blue Dream, The Extremist, Summer Song, Raspberry Jam Delta-v, Always With Me Always With You, and Surfing With The Alien. Satch brought out the clear (see-through) guitar for Flying through Summer Song. Very cool! Again, Joe was so on tonight, hitting every note and coaxing out every harmonic just right, with so much energy! It was essentially an abbreviated EOC tour show, but far better than the 6 I went to last year just because of the extra energy tonight! Finally, the encore. ZZ Top's La Grange, then Voodoo Child, and finally Little Wing with Steve on vocals. Nothing short of amazing. Both Billy and Stu played, and at some points all 5 of them stood up front playing together. Awesome! John was to play the intro to Voodoo Child but his wah pedal broke. So instead, Joe played it while Steve played Joe's wah pedal. They did an excellent job together! I brought my digital camera in and got tons of great shots (aside from the audience heads in the bottom 1/5 of every picture, heh). Go to http://www.bikegods.org/mike/g3/ for the pictures and a little surprise... Quite simply, an amazing evening. Can't wait to do it all over again the next two nights!