JOE SATRIANI – Satriani Live!

After listening to this Live CD all you will be able to say is WOW!!! (with mouth agape). Any music lovers out there, especially those who love the guitar or even bass for that matter, those who appreciate and love to listen to good music, run to the nearest store and pick this up. While you are at it, and if you can afford it, get the DVD as well. Joe Satriani – Satriani LIVE! is a CD you don’t want to pass up. It’s one of the best live recordings that you will listen to all year.

Released October 31, 2006, along with a double DVD set for the hardcore fan, this is one of those win-win situations. It doesn’t matter which one you buy, you will certainly get your money’s worth and then some. Most avid Satch fans will have purchased both the CD and DVD by the time they have read this review. They already know what to expect of their guitar virtuoso. Most of what Joe does is instrumental; very rarely he will sing or play his harmonica during a song. So, if the music and not the lyrics is your thing, you will be very happy. A couple of things need to be said before getting into the review … Hard to know who put the DVD or CD package (inserts, back cover) together and then actually okayed it for release, but they need to get their act together. First of all, on the DVD it states that the concert was shot live on May 2, 2006 at the Grove in Anaheim, CA. It was May 3, 2006. They were playing another venue on the 2nd. On the CD, either the insert and back cover have a typo or the CD was pressed incorrectly. The music was supposed to match what was on the DVD identically, song for song. Listening to the CD, the concert opens with “Redshift Riders” instead of “Flying In A Blue Dream” like the insert and back cover states. Somehow those two songs (being the first and third song) got reversed. It turns out, after doing a bit of investigating, that Disc 1 (from the CD) was pressed incorrectly because the song list is correct. “Flying In a Blue Dream” is the opening song and “Redshift Riders” is the third song.

The CD is a double disc package. Disc 1 holds 10 tracks and lasts 62:15, while Disc 2 has 9 tracks and lasts 66:22 in time. Total time of a little over 2 hours and 8 minutes. Not bad —Satriani LIVE! holds a decent amount of music from his latest CD titled Super Colossal, and the first song on the CD (even though it should have been the third song on the list), “Redshift Riders,” is a killer of an opener. It’s heavy and rocks like hell, just enough of a Joe tease to get the audience going, plus more importantly, it’s new material. After an opener like that, most guitarists would need to do a slower song and relax somewhat. Not Joe, as a matter of fact he goes on like a madman for six songs before he even stops to talk to the audience a bit right before his seventh song, “Super Colossal,” off his latest release. From the first to the seventh song, Joe does many of his fan favorites and well-known material. No slowing down with “The Extremist,” “Satch Boogie,” or “Cool #9.” These three are very popular with his fans and are usually played at most of his shows.

The version of “Cool #9” performed during this show is probably one of the best heard in a long time. The beginning intro is totally different than previous versions. Joe and Dave improvise (with a Funky/Bluesy/Jazzy groove) for approximately 3:45 minutes before you even recognize the song, and the two of them going back and forth or in synch is some of the best stuff on here. Mr. LaRue has added an element that will hopefully continue on with the band in the future to come. A lot of thumb playing, slapping, and popping is done on the bass by Dave throughout the songs.

“Satch Boogie” is something special. After you get 35 seconds into the song … hold on! Nothing else needs to be said regarding this song. You will understand what that means once you hear the song — trust me. There were other fan favorites such as “Ice 9,” “The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing” (this is one of Stu Hamm’s favorite songs to do live), “Circles” (a great jam at the end which is new), “Always With Me, Always With You” (a big fan fav), “Surfing With The Alien,” and another fan favorite “Summer Song” (which got quite a bit of airplay and can be heard on many commercials). “Crowd Chant” is off the new Super Colossal CD and turns out surprisingly well, considering there is quite a bit of crowd participation in this one. It turns out that the audience is asked to use some of their musical talent throughout the entire song. It is entertaining to be quite frank. The nine songs on here from Super Colossal are done very well and sound good live. After all, it is the Joe Satriani US Super Colossal Tour that was just finished up this year.

Joe and the gang looked like they enjoyed playing during this tour since they extended many of their songs by improving and jamming more so than other times. Some songs sounded and turned out great. In watching the DVD, however, you can see that the rest of the band (everyone except Joe) looked dumbfounded at times standing around the drumset playing while waiting for Joe to finish the creation he has going on in his mind. There was a moment in the concert where Joe even says he has to slow it down a bit and play some love songs. To be quite honest Joe, no you don’t, you can do whatever your little heart desires … like more Hard Rock tunes. But, even Joe has to please some of the girls and women who go see him play live.

All in all, the CD is great (as if there would be any doubt)! One thing is certain and that is Dave LaRue was a great choice to replace Matt Bissonette on bass. Jeff Campitelli remained on drums, and Galen Henson was the rhythm guitarist to round out the band.