Monday saw the return to Buffalo of one of the greatest guitarists in rock, but with a new twist. Steve Vai put his usual touring band, The Breed, on hiatus and formed the new String Theories Band. Because this tour is in support of the live orchestral Sound Theories album, Vai took this opportunity to go in a different direction, adding violinists Alex DePue and Ann Marie Calhoun to the band, along with new bassist Bryan Beller and Breed holdovers Dave Weiner (second guitar) and Jeremy Colson (drums). As usual, I had avoided all news about the tour. I knew nothing more than that Vai was touring with violinists. It made for some nice surprises.

The opening act was Zack Wiesinger. Normally, he plays a solo acoustic set. For this show, though, he was in band form with Guitar Zack and No Slack. He gave an interesting performance of quirky blues-based rock with side-splitting lyrics in the vein of Frank Zappa.

Vai was in fine form, tearing through nearly twenty compositions with his usual flair for the extravagant. This show seemed less self-indulgent than other Vai performances, which certainly had something to do with the new band. The violinists were an awesome addition, adding a new layer of sound and opening the door to new arrangements like in "For the Love of God," which featured a violin intro similar to Tony MacAlpine's keyboard intro from recent years.

The show had its unique moments, from the failure of Vai's wireless unit that prompted him to actually stop the band midway through "Firewall," through the Silly String assault on birthday boy Dave Weiner and a roadie who had the misfortune of sharing Dave's birthday. I wasn't going to try picking highlights because the entire show was at such a high level, but I was very happy to hear "Oooo," "Firewall," "Freak Show Excess" and "All About Eve."

Vai showed on Monday that not only is he at the top of his game as a guitarist, but that his musicianship in general is better than ever. He's truly one-of-a-kind, a fact cemented by his live show.

Photos (contrary to Vai policy, as I found out after the show) at Flickr.

Setlist:

1. (intro jam?)
2. Oooo
3. Building the Church
4. Tender Surrender
5. Firewall
6. The Crying Machine
7. Dave's solo spot
8. Die to Live
9. Freak Show Excess
10. Violin jam/Crossroads duel
11. All About Eve (with Zack Wiesinger)
12. Fire Garden Suite
13. Drum solo
14. The Audience is Listening
15. The Murder (?)
16. Juice
17. Whispering a Prayer
18. Fire Garden Suite (cont'd.)
--encore w/Zack Wiesinger--
19. Liberty
20. Answers
21. For the Love of God