Who went to see G3 Live In Tokyo in the theatre?
Last night, my girlfriend Ruby and I went to the Brooklyn Pavilion show. The start was delayed until 9PM, so we sat through Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit! The theatre was having electrical difficulties, so they gave us free popcorn and soda and complimentary passes for a movie another day.
There were only about 20 of us in the theatre. It's too bad they could not have shown it in Manhattan. The theatre was 17 stops on the F train from Midtown. A long way for someone used to the conveniences of everything in NYC.
Petrucci's set was flawless. Ruby commented that it looked as if he wasn't even playing. He's a talented player, but very mechanical with a weak stage presence. Glasgow Kiss was first and then Damage Control, which had an interesting composition. It looked as if his guitar kept on changing from green to purple and back. Apparently Petrucci's signature model has a paintjob called "Mystic Dream" that changes colors. Ruby mentioned there is a nail polish like that too. Oh John, you're so fashionable!
Vai started his set by talking to the audience with his guitar and wah. So cool. His set was like a miny Real Illusions tour. They whole band played excellent and very dynamically. After seeing Steve facial expressions, Ruby said that Steve's brain was probably a guitar!
Joe makes everything he plays sound musical. Still his choice of songs was a bit dull in terms of their composition. Up In Flames and Searching had me twiddling my thumbs after the first one thousand improvised notes. War was nice to hear, but seemed to drag on as well. Joe also started his set speaking a little Japanese. He said. "Good evening. My name is
Joe Satriani. How are you all doing? Um, I only speak a little bit...." It was very well received.
The Jam was a bit different. There you could clearly see the strengths of each player.
Technically, Petrucci was the best. He can play. That's for sure. He did an oriental sounding riff at the end of his first solo. You know the one they always play in old Hollywood movies when Charlie Chan walks in the room. It seemed a little off taste. Maybe someone called him a "gainjin" earlier and he was pissed off. No really. I don't think Petrucci meant anything by it. He probably just didn't realize the negative connotation that it has. Apparently, that riff has no historically Asian basis. It was probably something created in Hollywood to be commical and condescending toward Asians in early cinema.
Steve seemed to have some trouble improvising over the songs. He is a composer more than a guitarist as I think he aspires to be. His weird riffs seemed a little out of place at times.
Joe was just on fire. Everything he played sounded great! His riffs were interesting and unique. His tone was warm and clear.
All I can say is that Vai truly has great music. His songs are so inspired and inspiring. The band was amazing playing the Audience is Listening, Building the Church and K'm Pee Du Wee.
Ruby sent me a quotation this morning in reference to the way she felt after seeing these three men play their hearts out:
"Few men during their lifetime come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them. There are deep wells of strength that are never used." -- Richard E. Byrd
She felt as if she could go back to what she does and work even harder to make something special. As Steve says in the latest issue of Guitar World: "If I imagine it, I will be it."
