show review
gmhamed Sat Oct 11 '03
26
Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego,
Rank: 10 Posted: Sat Jan 17, '04 11:59 am
This was by far the most amazing show i have ever seen or heard. Joe and Yngwie in one night was almost enough to make my head explode. Vai was alright, but really he just plays elevator music. His guitar playing is incredible, but great guitar playing is completly wasted when its put to shitty music. Joe and Yngwie showed that they were true masters of guitar, and took the stage playing harder and faster than I have ever heard either of them ever.

vin_das Sat Oct 11 '03
26
Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego,
Rank: 9 Posted: Wed Oct 22, '03 4:22 pm
I was in awe the entire time before, during, and after this concert. Even today, 11 days later I still get goose bumps thinking about this show. To me it was truly an inspirational and magical experience. I've never seen Yngwie or Steve live and I was spellbound. I've seen Joe several times and he was in top form during this performance. I saw him twice on the Flying in a Blue Dream tour and he appeared slightly shy with the audience in those days, but during this performance he handled himself like a rock and roll frontman! Very refreshing to see. I also agree with everyone else who commented on this gig regarding the sound. It was disappointing that the sound was terrible for most of Yngwie's performance and about the first 20 minutes of Steve's. It's very hard for the audience to understand how the soundman could be so distracted to the point that the house mix is so uneven! But after that problem was solved I think the audience was treated to an amazing evening. All I can say is thanks Yngwie, Steve, and Joe...you never cease to amaze and inspire me! And it was also wonderful to see all the other musicians including the amazing Billy Sheehan on bass...they were terrifyingly good as well. I'll definitely see you when you come to New York at the Beacon.

??? Sat Oct 11 '03
26
Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego,
Rank: 10 Posted: Sun Oct 19, '03 7:15 am
I have 8 words to say to anyone saying anything BAD about this performance "SHUT THE HELL UP BITCH YOUR ANNOYING ME!" Yngwie was ON , Vai was ON, Billy Sheehan was ON, Satriani was ON. If you were not in Guitar Nirvana from Note 1, Your a Brain Dead DumbAss! - But that's just my Opinion. The Greatest Guitar Performance ever in the Annals of Recorded History! They say Malmsteen is "out of style" but he plays 600 year old licks - He will never be out of style He is a Timeless Rock God! - Bring back the 80's and while your at it bring back the 70's - it was a great experience to Party with Yngwie - Yngwie knows how to Rock and Party and have fun like Rock n Roll is supposed to be - so shut your ass's you over-hyper critical nothin but analyze assholes! Party on Maestro! - Satriani & Vai - They were as good as I've ever seen'em - I really Dig Joe's New Candy Apple Red Look!. Thanks for playing "Flying in a Blue Dream" - very memorable... I was Happy to meet San Diego Guitar Phenom & former Vai bandmember and G3 concert performer Mike Keneally sitting in the audience - I just wonder why I had a better seat than he did?..Next time Yngwie, Satch or Vai is back in San Diego- I'm There.

dakook Sat Oct 11 '03
26
Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego,
Rank: 7 Posted: Thu Oct 16, '03 9:57 am
WEll...Hmmmm....Probably one of THE WORST shows I've been to!! Why the heck they let some "HAS BEEN" guitar player on stage with 2 of "THE BEST" guitar players in the industry, I'll never know. Malmsteen spent more time whipping his hair around like a swimsuite model, than playing his guitar, which was flying counter-clockwise to his hairy antics. At one point he almost took off steve's head!! It was like watching a "COPS" episode of "Vikings Gone Wild" Hey,,,We all miss notes now and then, But malmsteen could have played a whole song with the notes he missed. Bottom line,,,STICK TO BAR HOPPING!! Vai was incredible!! His whole band was a blast to watch!! I've seen satch several times but never Vai. I WILL BE AT HIS NEXT SHOW!! JOE-JOE-JOE,,,,,you never cease to amaze me!! Everything was as usuall except ,,NO SNAKE?? Love that guitar. It was great seeing matt,Galen & jeff again also...Stay cool guys...Oh and Matt,,,Thanks for the reply on the email,,its always nice to hear from you!! " WARM YA!!" NOW,,,for the sound....OMG!! I would imagine that by now that the sound man is looking for a new job?? maybe RADIOSHACK?? I think him and malmsteen were upstairs in the lounge together Drinking-Doing their nails & Frosting their hair, rather than preparing for a show. What a letdown!! All-in-All I'd do it again ,,,hell it got me away from work...

lfher Sat Oct 11 '03
26
Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego,
Rank: 10 Posted: Wed Oct 15, '03 6:48 am
The new version of G3 is just awesome, Satriani. as always, was flawless and full of energy. I just loved how the fans welcome him, we really showed him our respect. Malmsteen, well, his performance was as expected. a lot of picking, speed and kicks. I specially liked the piece from the concerto album. Dr. Vai, amazing of course. Just when you think you had seen everything about Steve he surprised the audience with an incredible show. Starting with his triple neck guitar playing a stunning impro, following with new live songs liked Speed, the Reaper and Juice. The stunts this time included an incredible 8 handed armonizing melody (Vai-McAlpine-Weigner-Sheehan) playing inter connected with perfect coordination, a surreal solo and a beautiful interpretacion of Whispering a Prayer. It is proper to say that Vai counts with the best musicians, Mcalpine and Shehaan are simply great performers, also very carismatics. The G3 Jam was interesting from the point of view that Malmsteen and Vai (Two different styles and personalities, ex Alcatrazz members) were in the same stage with the trail blazer of the instrumental rock, Mr. Satriani. It was just thrilling and full of emocions, if i had the chance i would see it again. I will be waiting for the G3 shows in Mexico. Warm Regards. C U Soon.

joesage Sat Oct 11 '03
26
Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego,
Rank: 8 Posted: Mon Oct 13, '03 9:47 pm
Awsem Show. The show G3 stands for GuitarsGods times 3. the 3 Guitars players on this tour are,Yingvay Malmstein, Steve Vai & Joe Sstriani this is something Vai & Sstriani have done together in the past but this is the first time Yingvay has done it. Each of them played 45 min. with a 1/2 of all of them on stage togeather doing cover songs. Yingvay had his normel group behind hi for his set, Steve Vai had his group with one epception Billy Shiean on Bass the last time we saw them togeather was when they played in David Lee Roths band. Joe Awesome Show. The show G3 stands for Guitars times 3. the 3 Guitars players on this tour are, Yingvay Malmstein, Steve Vai & Joe Sstriani this is something Vai & Sstriani have done together in the past but this is the first time Yingvay has done it. Each of them played 45 min. with a 1/2 of all of them on stage together doing cover songs. Yingvay had his normal group behind hi for his set, Steve Vai had his group with one exception Billy Shiean on Bass the last time we saw them together was when they played in David Lee Roth’s band. Joe Sstriani had a good group behind him as well the bass played (Matt Bissenett) also played with David lee Roth when Billy Shiean left the band. All the sets were great Yingvay still has it the last time we saw him was in 1986 and it brought back some good memories. Steve Vai was next and his set was good it would have been great if the sound man did his job right in the first place. The sound was so low everyone in the abundance kept turning around and positioning to turn up the volume after Vai saw this after his 3rd song he asked if we could all hear him and we all let out a roar of NO! At that point he asked the sound man to turn up the house volume after that it sounded better. Joe Sstriani came out and did his set and it was cool as well the last time we saw him together was in 1988 at the sports arena, I saw him by myself when I lived in northern Ca at the Fillmore West in 1995 two friends got me a ticket for the show for X-mass. And now the last 30 min. the jam session where everyone come on stage and plays together that was really awesome. Joe Sstriani started playing Neal Young’s Ronckin' in a free world Steve Vai played Little wing By Jimi Henderix and Yingvay also played a Henderix tune Voo Doo Chil after that song they called Billy Shiean on stage and he played ZZ Tops La Grange. What a great show G3 has been coming around for the last 4 years if they come around next we are going again it is a MUST SEE SHOW!!!!!!!

kldetto Sat Oct 11 '03
26
Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego,
Rank: 7 Posted: Mon Oct 13, '03 11:08 am
What can be said, Joe, Steve and Yngwie are three outstanding guitar players, the only problem with the show was the soundman (rookie, idiot) Yngwie's set could hardly be heard throug the P.A. system. HELLO SOUNDMAN, this was an outside show, you need the P.A. to back up the stage volume for outside show's. When Steve's band started up you could not here Steve, it took half the audience (myself included) yelling at the soundman to turn Steve up so he could be heard! By the time Joe came out someone must have clued in the sound-idiot because the volume was finally correct for an outside arena, and Joe was totally on. You would think with the caliber of Talent that played this night that they could get the P.A. right for all three guitar players. My hat goes off to Joe, Steve and Yngwie, excellent show, as for Humphrey's, you people need to go back to school to learn the a.b.c's. of how to run sound!!!

gibsonez Sat Oct 11 '03
26
Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego,
Rank: 10 Posted: Mon Oct 13, '03 9:33 am
The Guys were AWESOME!!!! All three of them ROCK!!!! I liked them all, I can't even say whom I liked the most, although I'm Satch's fan. All three of them RULLED!!! It was a DREAM SHOW, the BEST G3 SHOW I've seen. But... THE SOUNDMAN - SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!! He literally screwed up VAI's part!!! ANd it took the audience about 30 minutes to get that IDIOT to realize that the sound was horrible!!! That was the BEST G3 show, with the WORST SOUNDMAN EVER!!! A total disrespect to the artists and their guests!!! To let the failed performance go for 30 minutes, and never hear the problem?! DUH!!!! Is it not soundman's job to keep everything under control and promplty address any problem?

mindstorm1 Sat Oct 11 '03
26
Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego,
Rank: 9 Posted: Sun Oct 12, '03 11:46 pm

The show was very good, but I am really not into Yngwie! When I see Joe or Steve play I want to go have sex. Seeing Yngwie, I want to go get a cheeseburger.... Those Eighty's antics just don't do it for me. Swinging his guitar around may have been cool when I was 15 and YM was 50 lbs lighter. But It bored me at this stage of the game. You think he'd want to keep the guitar in front of his belly as much as possible. His playing was very good and I was amazed at how he well could play, but the sound was somewhat dirty. It may have been attributed to bad sound crew or dead pickups on his '68 strats. But it was very difficult to discern the intricacys of his music.

Vai was phenomenal. Opening with his Triple-neck guitar. Very impressive. After that, the first 2 songs the sound of Steve's guitar was too low to be heard. Once that was worked out Steve stole the show. The 4 guitar players playing each others necks and trading licks was the most entertaining.

Joe was right on too.... A flawless performance... The only issue I have is that after seeing Joe play so many times, I've seen him play these songs before. I wish he would have played some of his more obscure stuff or even something from his new album, but that's a personal problem.

The Jam was enjoyable .... and Steve gave me five at the end of the show....so I hope to be playing better too!

dtishenkel Sat Oct 11 '03
26
Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego,
Rank: 5 Posted: Sun Oct 12, '03 6:58 pm

First Question. How the F&*K can 3 of the best guitar players on the planet get stuck with a soundman that was the worst I have ever witnessed myself??!!!

I pulled along 3 of my friends who had never seen any of the guys and I pumped vai up for weeks. Even up until 5 minutes b4 he went on. Now onto the most dissapointing time of the show which actually turned comical.

VAI WAS NOT AUDIBLE AT ALL FOR THE FIRST 25 MINUTES OF HIS SHOW. abotu 1/2 of the crowd, including me turned around and started yelling at the soundman who was a total retard. By the time he realized he was a rookie - vai had something like 3 songs left and he was gone. That was the biggest letdown to the whole crowd and the money I had to pay for a show that blew!!

It was nice to hear Jibbom as a backing track with steve un-audible that is.doh!

Point 1: I am a HUGE satch and Vai fan and could have done without the 80's hairband leftover. Malmsteen seemmed totally out of place. To me he seemed like a leftover relic. I was into him in the 80's, but my taste has changed. ALthough hearning YM was a challenge due to the sound mix. He was most likely swep picking his ass off, but I couldn't hear it and it alll sounded like mush. To his credit - he was the best singer. ;-)

Point 2: Satch was dead on and his guitar cut through like a lazer, almost to the point of being to lound at some points. How could vai be bascally turned off and satch be sooooo loud. Anyhow satch stole the show and delivered the knockout punch.

Point 3: Cut a couple of those wanker songs at the end and extend the setlist a little. Rockin in the free world and Little wing were cool, but I could have done without the rest. At least G3 could have realized that nobody heard Vai at all and given him a couple of songs by himslef at the end. BTW - VAi's 1 handed solo in Little wing was freggin amazing, nice resolution. WOW!

Steve Vai should come back to San Diego and replay his show or refund $20 to every person who attended. What a total sham.

poothe2 Sat Oct 11 '03
26
Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego,
Rank: 9 Posted: Sun Oct 12, '03 4:43 pm
Jesus man! That show was kick-ass. I was just in aw at how good Satch, Vai, And Malmsteen were. I'm only 15 but i have been rocking out to these guy for as long as i can remember. This is the first time i've seen any of these guys in concert though and from this day fourth, if any of those guys play at Humphrey's, I'm there. I also wanted to mention the flucked-up issue of Rolling Stone's top 100 guitarist where Joe, Steve, Ygnwie were excluded. Christ Satch is a God, what i wouldn't give to shake his hand and have all that magic rub-off on me. Just a few technical problems ijn th show other than that the concert was Gold thanx Joe keep doing what your doing bro.

quantum Sat Oct 11 '03
26
Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego,
Rank: 10 Posted: Sun Oct 12, '03 1:01 pm
This was without a doubt, the best concert I have ever attended! Thanks to Joe, Steve, and Yngwie for putting on such a good show. Although Steve's guitar could not be heard for the first 2 songs and Yngwie's set seemed soft in comparison to the later sets, it was still an excellent show. When Joe came on, the leves were just right and Satch Boogie just blew me away. I didn't know what the songs for the jam were going to be, but Keep on Rocking in the Free World was a superb choice!! And I have to add that the version of Little Wing was the best I've heard so far! The show was just really great and the atmosphere at Humphrey's was just right.

socalaudiguy Sat Oct 11 '03
26
Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, San Diego,
Rank: 8 Posted: Sun Oct 12, '03 8:54 am
Awsome show, but could see that it was a new tour. A few technical glitches, and not enough crazy jamming session at the end. Overall I thought the show was moving, and well done, but it does need some polishing. Great job Joe, Steve, Yngwie...