Search - Joe Satriani :: Satriani Live

Satriani takes his live performance to the next level

The Camera Eye | Bowie, Maryland USA | 11/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a Satriani fan since his first album, and especially after the release of Surfing with the Alien. My one gripe was how static and simple the support parts in his compositions were, specifically, the drums and bass. More recently I've gained a greater appreciation of why this was so. First to highlight his incomparable ability to write an amazing guitar melody, and second (and more obviously) to highlight his amazing technical virtuosity. Nevertheless, this lacking in the support areas has been addressed continually over the years, for example, with the frequent use of the unbelievable Stuart Hamm on bass.



This live CD & DVD set is by far the most dramatic step forward in the area of support, and it is what makes this a definitive Satriani live CD/DVD. Specifically, the extended versions, the jam-outs (or jam-ins), which include some very interesting stretching on Joe's part also, highlight the dynamic nature of this big step.



In recent years, Joe has used the reliable backing of bassist Matt Bissonette & Satriani stalwart drummer Jeff Campitelli. And while Bissonette is a decent and very reliable musician, he is not by any means a mind-boggling technical virtuoso, as is the aforementioned Stuart Hamm. Likewise, Campitelli had never really pressed any buttons for me as a drummer, as my leanings in that area tend to be toward the likes of guys such as Neil Peart, Vinnie Colaiuta, Terry Bozzio, etal. I have been to many G3 shows, and the energy level always seemed to be higher when Steve Vai was out with his amazing band (particularly with the likes of Billy Sheehan on bass in recent years, and Tony MacAlpine on Second Lead Guitar and Keyboards). Satriani was always reliable and perfect, but the energy never quite seemed to go through the roof, like in Vai's band.



Another G3 repeat offender, John Petrucci, guitar player for the current greatest band in the world, Dream theater, last toured with G3 with Dave LaRue on Bass and Dream Theater cohort Mike Portnoy on drums. It was much of the same thing - high energy. What would you expect from 2/3rd's of your members being Dream Theater guys?



I bring this up because now Dave LaRue is touring with Satriani and is the bass player on this live outing. And he is the one difference in the lineup. I have been familiar with LaRue's phenomenal abilities as a bass player for many years, having seen him play in the Steve Morse Band, the Dixie Dregs, as well as a previous G3 tour that Petrucci performed on as well. LaRue is not only a virtuoso who can stand toe to toe with any other bass player, but he is also a team player. When the required playing is to sit back and support & do the great support job Bissonette had done in recent years, he does it and he does it well. However, when it's time to stretch...



Then there'e Jeff Campitelli. Always has been a GOOD drummer. Well, we're hearing some stretching from him on this recording as well. This recording proves his abilities as an excellent drummer. His performance in the jam sections with LaRue and Satriani is superb.



Next there's rhythm guitarist Galen Henson. He fills in the spaces accurately, doesn't make mistakes and never gets in the way. A perfect shadow for all the holes that are hard for one guitarist, even Joe Satriani, to fill up.



And then Joe. Always amazing. But now that he's freed himself up a bit to stretch out and to play off of the other musicians more, and not always just in front of/on top of, however you want to say it, he is truly shining on another level.



I am a big fan of Rush. And one of the many great things you always notice about Rush is how well they play as an ensemble. They are all virtuosos, and they are virtuosic together, as a unit. Similarly, this ethic is displayed by Satriani's band on this live outing also.



The most important thing about this is that the wealth of new tracks from Super Colossal (one of his best CD's in years) are well performed, and the older, tried and true mainstay tracks have almost all been given a new spin, making this an ideal live performance.



Finally, Satriani's guitar tone is ridiculously amazing. This should be used to sell the JS model Ibanez & to sell whatever amp setup he is using.



Highlights: "Cool #9," "Circles" & "Always with me, Always with you." Especially the jamming: The jam-in on Cool #9 & the jam-outs on the other two tunes. For the newer songs, "One Robots Dream."



This is what I've always wanted to see Joe do, to stretch out. And now that he has done so, he's exceeded my expectations, which I did not think possible, because they were very high."

The "Super Colossal" tour album.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 11/17/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Joe Satriani Live" is a live recording taken from one date on the "Super Colossal" album tour. To this regard, it is what it is-- this seems to be a point of contention for fans-- the set is "Super Colossal" heavy (more on that later) and the show has the flow and consistency of an individual live performance rather than a best-of a tour sort of live album. I'm actually in preference to this sort of live record, the ones that cull the best performances from various shows tend to feel less organic. The band for the tour was bassist Dave LaRue, drummer Jeff Campitelli and second guitarist Galen Henson, with the unenviable task of being the other guy with six strings on stage with Joe Satriani.



As far as the set, it is really heavy on "Super Colossal", but this shouldn't be a big surprise-- it was the tour for that record. Nine of the nineteen cuts on the record come from "Super Colossal", meaning if you didn't like that record, you're not going to like this one either in all likelihood. The other notable thing about the setlist is that beyond that it's really heavy on the early stuff with all but one song coming from Satriani's first four albums, including no less than five cuts from "Surfing With the Alien". The bottom line is that with the exception of "Cool #9" from 1995's "Joe Satriani", nothing is from any later than 1992's "The Extremist", with Satriani's four previous records totally neglected.



This was a complaint I had with the tour and it also feeds into this album as well, it's a shame to see Satriani pandering to the endless desire amongst fans to hear the hits-- I've never been one for touring jukebox shows and while he does go heavy on the new material and somewhat avoids this trap, how many times do we need to hear "The Extremist" or "The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing"? Yeah, they're great songs, but they've been played to death, and while some of Satriani's signature songs retain their vitality (his performance on "Surfing With the Alien", for example, is always downright awe inspiring and certainly "Cool #9" picks up a great extended jam for an intro and has a sense of looseness that plays nicely to the material and the live setting, but then again, it's not really an "old classic"), you can pretty much feel that some of the older cuts are ready for retirement ("Ice 9", "Circles" and the aformentioned "The Extremist"). The material from "Super Colossal" tends to fare better-- good thing, since there's so much of it. The title track turns out to be bigger than life, "One Robot's Dream" picks up a bit of a funky lilting groove, and "Crowd Chant" is both as goofy and entertaining as you'd assume from the album.



In the end, the album is what it is-- I don't regret buying it and the tour was a blast to see, but I'd've loved to have seen some material from some of Satriani's later albums in both."

3.5 Stars on this Bungled Release

Gothiclespaul | NJ | 11/01/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Ugh. This is the very first Joe S. release that I have been disappointed with. First, I don't know about any one else, but the CD is messed up. Red Shift Riders was the first actual track on the CD, while the first track listed on the packaging materials is Flying in a Blue Dream, which turned out to be the third track. Essentially these two tracks were swapped on the recording. Not sure how the heck that happens.



Secondly, the track list is just poor. How many times do we need Flying in a Blue Dream, Satch Boogie, Circles, Always With Me Always With You and Mystical Potato Head on live releases? While the new CD is well represented, what about Is There Love in Space and Strange Beautiful Music. I was dying to hear songs from those albums live. Joe, as much as we love your back catalog, please change up the set list to include some of your newer material on your next live CD!



The production seems to be adequate, though I was disappointed to hear a few blips from Joe himself on Redshift Riders. In all, I was hoping this would be a great CD to add to my Joe collection. Alas, it's just average."