show review
billyho007 Mon Aug 26 '02
119
Pop's - Outdoors, Sauget,
Rank: 10 Posted: Thu Aug 28, '03 3:20 pm

Could not hve been a better show unless Steve Vai had showed up! Two of my all time favorite guitarist in concert on the same night, Satriani and John Petrucci w/ Dream Theater. Actually had meet and greet passes for DT and got to see Joe warming up before his set. I brought my chrome boy for him to sign but security would not let me bring it in. Then when I saw Joe and asked security to ask him if i could get an autograph they told me my pass was only good to see DT. What a bunch of ass monkeys! I don't hold that against Joe though, he can't help it when jerks like that try to pull rank and blow people off. Aside from that the whole night was awsome. I hope to see Joe again this year on the 2003 G3 tour. Please come to the St. Louis area Satch!!!

"Billy Ho"

steviel Mon Aug 26 '02
119
Pop's - Outdoors, Sauget,
Rank: 7 Posted: Sun Sep 01, '02 4:39 am
well what can i say the venue really leaves a lot to be desired i travelled from the uk to catch this gig and got totally ripped off being told buying a vip ticket ( for double the price) would entail a meet and greet, prority seating , a raffle for a signed guitar and a snack the priority seating was to the far right of the stage and the snack could have been bought fror around 3 bucks thats all i got and i missed my lift home cos of some stupid cop my first gig in america was not a great experience i have seen u many times since 1988Joe-- this was my worst from a personal point of view i did nt really enjoy the show i must be honest(your playing was inspired and flawless as usual i just was disappointed in being totally ripped off) and ended up walking back to union station thru that bad ass part of east st louis overall not a great night for me ps swimming the mississippi aint easy dude

sandman4il Mon Aug 26 '02
119
Pop's - Outdoors, Sauget,
Rank: 10 Posted: Fri Aug 30, '02 6:35 pm
An asphalt parking lot.. between 2 strip clubs.. no seats for fans... and Joe and Band Played their ASSES off... treated us to a show that WAYYYYY outclassed the actual venue...True professionals to be able to play that inspired for a small crowd in the middle of nowhere.... My son and I will be fans forever This night was the first time I smiled since Aug 17th when my best freind was killed by a drunk driver... My son and I had a night togther sharing the music living again... thank you Joe Gabriel and son, Matthew

housefullofbullets Mon Aug 26 '02
119
Pop's - Outdoors, Sauget,
Rank: 10 Posted: Fri Aug 30, '02 9:43 am
WOW!! That was the absolute best show (except for the venue) that I have ever seen! Before Joe went on you could feel the energy eminating from the stage and you just knew that it was going to be one hell of a show and it was! Joe was AWESOME! I have waited a long time for Joe to come to St. Louis and I was not dissapointed. Unfortunately, I purchased the $70 VIP tickets in hopes of meeting the man himself (I was informed that there would be a meet and greet), WRONG! But I did infact get to meet Mr. Satriani. After the asshole security people kicked us out of POPS, we watched through a little window as Joe continued to sign autographs in the back room. As soon as he got up to go to the bus, the die hard Satch fans (like myself) ran out to the fence next to the bus and yelled his name over and over again. He then came up to the fence and proceeded to sign autographs, shake hands with everybody, and pose for pictures. Yes, I got a picture of me shaking his hand, albeit it is through a chain link fence. But that does not matter. I still got to meet the man. Joe, I am still looking for your guitar on E-bay and if it surfaces I will TRY to pick it up and contact you somehow to return it. That is a pretty sad deal that some dumbass would do that to you. Anyhow, YOU ROCK!! Awesome show!!

justjoan Mon Aug 26 '02
119
Pop's - Outdoors, Sauget,
Rank: 10 Posted: Thu Aug 29, '02 6:50 pm
Despite being warned by family, friends, coworkers, and St. Louis hotel and gas station employees, Pop's wasn't nearly as scary of a venue that particular night as everyone built it up to be. (Of course, when there are manned guard towers in the parking lot, you can assume there has been some serious incidents there in the past!) As for the music...I was totally surprised by King's X...they rocked, and I really enjoyed them. Unfortunately, I just can't seem to get into Dream Theater, and spent most of their performance walking around. This night was definitely an example of saving the best for last... Joe and the band closed the show and were fantastic as always! The weather was perfect, and the music was excellent! I ended up chatting with several really cool people in between acts, and I was able to meet a few other serious Satriani fans after the show (Hi Rob! Hi Keith! Hi John!) Everything about the night kicked butt! Thanks to Joe, Jeff, Matt and Galen for putting on such a great show!

jeffn9 Mon Aug 26 '02
119
Pop's - Outdoors, Sauget,
Rank: 10 Posted: Wed Aug 28, '02 1:16 pm

I came to Pop's expecting an amazing show. what I got was far beyond amazing. it was way too much for one mind to comprehend. King's X was a good band, a little different, but I liked them. Dream Theater then took the stage. I am familiar with a couple of their songs but i knew the talent of Portnoy and Petrucci which was why i was so looking forward to seeing DT. I came to find out that every single musician in that band is unbelieveable. Petrucci blew my mind as did Portnoy. Once Dream Theater was done my dad and i were in total awe and we were thinkin "holy crap now we get to see Satch!" A bunch of people left after DT so my dad and i were able to squeeze our way up to the 2nd row! So Joe came out and opened with "Flying In A Blue Dream". What happened from there is totally indescribeable. never have i seen anyone play guitar with such talent and technique. i was totally blown away. i just cant believe that anyone can play that fast. there were a couple songs that i didn't recognize but the songs that i did were (not in order): Flying In A Blue Dream (opener) Midnight Always With Me, Always With You Starry Night Cool #9 Mindstorm Summer Song (closer) Devil's Slide Seven String (i think) Friends (encore) Satch Boogie

there was definately more cause he played for a good hour and a half, but i dont know all the names. it was just an unbelieveable concert and anyone who is given the chance should see Satch!

the_silversurfer Mon Aug 26 '02
119
Pop's - Outdoors, Sauget,
Rank: 10 Posted: Wed Aug 28, '02 8:06 am

I am rating Joe's performance a 10. Like the first review, I too was a bit leery of the venue. Most of the security people had no clue what was going on. Oh well...

This was my first time seeing Joe live. I can tell you it was a FANTASTIC show. Joe was great. There are few words that can describe what it was like for me to finally see Joe live. WOW is all I can say right now.The set was a good mix of old and newer songs. This may be the only tme I ever get to see him live, but I could not have asked for a better performance. I think he played for about an hour and fourty-five minutes.

However, the icing on the cake was my best friend (Lagoona) winning the after show passes from the web site (THANKS!). We got to say hello to Joe, ask why there is not a left handed chrome ibanez guitar, say thanks for all the great music and got two autographs. Anyway, dispite the club it was great.

PS. I hope Joe can come to other midwest venues in the future (like Indy). We drove to St. Louis from Indiana. It was 3-4 hour drive oneway. Did not get home untill 4am local time... ZZZZzzzzzzzzzz...tough to stay awake at work....Still, it was worth it!

THANKS JOE for coming to "our neck of the woods." Jon Stepro

jkm1972 Mon Aug 26 '02
119
Pop's - Outdoors, Sauget,
Rank: 8 Posted: Wed Aug 28, '02 3:44 am

Friend Xrob and I arrived about an hour before the gate opening time of 6pm printed on the tickets and found ourselves in perhaps the first 100 in line. Now pardon me Pop's, but if you advertise yourself as a 24/7 joint, you can't have a sign on the door that says you're closed until 6pm. Anyway, about 6:30 they start letting us into the bar. I'm not sure what this was for since the show was outside. After a good number of us are inside and forming a line around the door they are obviously going to let us out of, we're told "there is no line" and to disperse. Well that only had the effect of ticking everyone off, especially the people that had been in line all day. Pop's finally figures out they aren't going to sell us any beer and let us outside. By this time and the repeated "dispersals" we had managed to get into perhaps the first 20 in line. We of course ran to the left side of the stage to get best spots for Joe.

King's X was good. If you were around in the early-90s you should recongnize a couple of their songs. Dream Theater left me confused. Their lead singer engaged in a lot of theatrics to get people to clap or wave their hands or whatnot. He would sing a little, go off the stage for long periods, return to bang a tamborine a few times, and then repeat the process. What I like about Joe is that he doesn't talk a lot or try to manipulate the crowd. He simply comes out, rocks your socks off, and goes about life. He played my favorite song off the new album (Starry Night) and a great version of Summer Song. The rest of the set was good but left me wanting more. So get Dream Theater off and let Joe play more!

To sum up: Pop's you suck, Dream Theater you need to focus, and Joe you rock.

bluesoul88 Mon Aug 26 '02
119
Pop's - Outdoors, Sauget,
Rank: 10 Posted: Tue Aug 27, '02 6:51 pm
Well, this was my first concert (i'm 14), and I'm glad it was Joe I got to see. I agree, security was stupid, but considering the amount of people they had to check, it wasn't that bad. King's X was good, but they didn't really do anything to make me wanna rush out and buy a cd. Dream Theater was awesome, John Petrucci is such an underrated dude. The drummer finally caught his drumsticks near the end (those that were there know what i'm talking about :)). But I was there to see Joe. I was not disappointed. Flying In A Blue Dream was good, but Crushing Day was one of his best performances in the concert. I was hoping I'd get to see Cool #9, it was beter than I'd hoped. Mind Storm, my favorite off SBM, was great, just too short. Seven String was pretty cool, could've been better. I'd never seen two-hand tap like Midnight, it was awesome! Sorry to all the old-school Satch fans, but Always With Me put me to sleep. Devil's Slide was MUCH better than EOC. Starry Night was beautiful, nice solo at the end. The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing: unbelievable. Raspberry Jam, not really a favorite with me, was excellent, with a cool...umm something(don't know how to classify it) at the end =). Summer Song was awesome, and a great way to close. We managed to get him to play Friends as an encore, very cool. All in all, it's been one of the coolest nights in my life. If he's ever near me again, I'm going again.

xrob Mon Aug 26 '02
119
Pop's - Outdoors, Sauget,
Rank: 10 Posted: Tue Aug 27, '02 12:01 pm

I was leary of the location at first, but it turned out to be fine. I had a BLAST!! Thank you, Joe.

Got there at about 5, an hour before they were supposed to let us in. I'll say it for all of us in line. THAT GUY RUNNING THE LINE WAS AN IDIOT!!

They hearded the first 200 or so of us into the bar and then told us not to form a line. WHAT? There were people there since 7AM and now they lose their spot? What? Yeah, that sucked. Luckily, I guessed right and ended up even closer to the front than I had been. Got my favorite spot, front row - right in front of Joe! Woo hoo!

The performances all rocked. I couldn't ask for any more. I wish DT would have played Pull Me Under ... that'll probably be their encore after tonight (since they'll be closing the shows now).

Saw a couple friends at the show ... Hi Joan! Hi Keith! Had an interesting little after-show meeting. Hehe ... can't talk about that here. : )

Keep up the good work, Joe. Play The Forgotten II next time! Thanks!!