So I saw Joe Satriani with Eric Johnson at UB Center for the Arts tonight. I got tickets a whole month after they went on sale, yet still got 11th row center. That's a little bit better than the seats I had for the Vai show last year, and I bought those tickets within a couple days of onsale. I was seriously pumped to see Satch...I've been a fan of his for 4-5 years and this was my first time seeing him. EJ...I've never been a big fan of his. I admire and respect his crazy skills but, from the little that I've heard of his stuff, he just doesn't do anything for me. Still, I went into this with an open mind.
Johnson played close to an hour. His stuff was kinda hit-and-miss...some stuff was just awesome but other stuff was literally putting me to sleep. His vaunted tone...well, I didn't find it too great. I've never liked his lead tone because it sounds like there's a blanket over his amp. Well, he decided he was going to play a rhythm part on his Strat's neck pickup using that tone. The result was so muddy that I felt like a pig in a mud pit. Apart from that and a clean tone that practically cut my head off with its sharpness, the tones were pretty good.
Things got better after the intermission, when Joe took the stage. I was pleasantly surprised to see Dave LaRue on bass. It's just a shame that Joe doesn't let the bass and rhythm guitar players take more of a forward role. LaRue didn't get to show off at all. I'm not too familiar with his work, but he got plenty of spotlight as a member of John Petrucci's trio and can really tear it up. I don't know how skilled rhythm guitarist Galen Henson is, but I suppose it really doesn't matter when he's so low in the mix that he can only be heard when Joe stops playing. Those issues aside, Joe's set was excellent. He played for just under two hours and covered a somewhat predictable set of older material and a handful of cuts from Super Colossal. My only gripe with the song selection is that nothing from the four prior albums ('97-'04) was played. Joe's playing was dead on. I heard barely any sloppy stuff and no clams. People seem to trash his live show, especially on the G3 tours. I don't buy it. He may not be an extravagant showman like Vai or Yngwie, but he's not a bore like EJ. He commands the stage and the audience's attention, and it was obvious that he was very 'into it.' I left completely impressed.
Here's the setlist, but it may not be 100% as I had to recheck the new songs:
1. Flying in a Blue Dream
2. The Extremist
3. Redshift Riders
4. Cool #9
5. Ten Words
6. Satch Boogie
7. Super Colossal
8. Ice 9
9. Just Like Lightnin'
10. One Robot's Dream
11. A Cool New Way
12. The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing
13. The Meaning of Love
14. Circles
15. Made of Tears
16. Always With Me, Always With You
17. Surfing With the Alien
--encore--
18. Crowd Chant
19. Summer Song