JOE SATRIANI – Satriani Live! (DVD)

It just so happens that Mr. Joe Satriani has released a new double DVD and a single CD on October 31, 2006 called Satriani Live! A true Joe Satriani fan doesn’t need to read a review about a CD or DVD that has just been released in order to determine whether or not to buy them. Even more so, probably every Satch (probably the most recognizable nickname Joe has been linked to) fan will buy both. Not only do these devoted fans want to listen to their guitar god, they want to watch him play every chance they get. Listening to Joe Satriani can be compared to a drug addiction — it is so easy to get hooked and you crave for new material all the time.

Joe Satriani was born on July 15, 1956 in Westbury, New York. Aside from teaching some of the top guitar players of the 80’s & 90’s, he in his own right had emerged as one of the most technically accomplished and well-respected guitarists of all times. Joe was 14 years of age when he decided that playing guitar is what he wanted to do with his life. He quickly took to the instrument and all he did for many years is practice, sometimes up to 16 hours a day. You can hear it in the language he uses when talking to other fellow musicians. Joe had been teaching students since some time in 1971, including fellow Long Island native and schoolmate, Steve Vai, who turned out to be his star pupil as the future would hold.

Never satisfied and wanting more, Joe studied music under two modern Jazz masters, guitarist Billy Bauer and reclusive Jazz pianist Lennie Tristano in 1974. In 1978, Joe decided to move to Berkeley, California. While trying to get his musical career on track, he began a 10-year guitar-teaching career. Some of Joe’s most notable California students included: Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Alex Skolnick (Testament), Larry LaLonde (Primus), David Bryson (Counting Crows), Keith Cadogan (Third Eye Blind), Phil Kettner (Laaz Rockit), and Jazz Fusion player Charlie Hunter. It would be some time around 1986 where Vai would return the favor (of being taught by Satch) by offering praise and admiration for his friend and former teacher in several major guitar publications. It was at the time when Vai just made it big himself by becoming the guitarist for David Lee Roth’s solo band. All this news led to instantaneous and widespread interest in Satriani’s playing. It was from here on out that Satriani’s life changed for the better and his career took off just like his friend Vai’s did.

What is nice about Joe’s latest double DVD release is that it doesn’t just contain a live recording of one of the many shows he did from his latest tour. There are many extras included. The tour that this was filmed from happened to be called the Super Colossal Tour, stemming from the fact that Mr. Satriani had released a new CD entitled Super Colossal on March 14, 2006. It is quite evident that camp Satriani has been very, very busy this year. After a bunch of pre-tour promotional events back in March 2006, the Joe Satriani Super Colossal USA Tour officially kicked off on April 1, 2006 in Denver, Colorado, with very special guest Eric Johnson, and continued with the European Tour that ran mostly in June and July of 2006. To follow up on the rest of the year, Joe continued with his famous and world-renowned G3 Tour. They hit Latin America in October and ended in Australia in early December 2006.

The DVD was recorded at the Grove in Anaheim, California on May 3, 2006. On Disc 1, the concert, filmed in HDTV, can be seen in it’s entirety followed by some extra, but invaluable, material to the average Satch fan. The four extra items are: “Super Colossal – The Tour”; “Super Colossal – The Tour Rehearsal”; “Super Colossal US Tour – The Last Show”; and “Super Colossal – The Music Video”. The last one is pretty much self-explanatory. It is an animated version of the song “Super Colossal” off the Super Colossal CD. The other three items kind of speak for themselves too. It becomes apparent while watching these extras that the band members are quite comedic themselves and their antics are thrown at you every chance they get. Without giving away too much, here are a few things to look forward to:
There is a short interview with Dave LaRue explaining how he was asked/chosen to be the bassist for this tour.
You get to meet some of the techs along with Mike Manning (Joe’s tech).
You get to see the making of “Crowd Chant” in the studio.
You see a lot of practicing by the guys all over the place.
There are short interviews with the band members, scenes from backstage, on-stage, live show, pre-show stuff, pre-show antics, and practicing, etc., and talk about new stuff incorporated into the current show from previous shows.
A songbook with notes and lyrics, but with a slight twist (funny as hell, the guys have fun with this one).
You meet Johnny A. who helped Joe on the European leg of the tour.
A photo shoot with Joe’s band and Eric Johnson’s band.
A pretty good gag done on Joe from the audience (you have to see it for yourself).
This should be enough to whet the appetite for now.

On Disc 2, there are mainly two sections. The first section contains footage and a variety of scenes from Flying In A Blue Dream: Joe Satriani India Tour, 2005. It’s safe to assume that Joe doesn’t get over to that neck of the woods very often.

The fans, however, are very much excited to see him. They seem to know him quite well and are up on his material and know what to expect from Joe. The footage opens by showing many young fans waiting to enter the show that night, and all of them running to the stage area as soon as they are allowed to enter the venue. They are shown yelling and screaming “Satch” and proclaiming that Joe Satriani is a guru.

Then you have four podcasts that are nothing more than short mini-movies or mini-documentaries. It was Joe’s son ZZ that recorded the material on a camcorder, or similar device, and then did the editing. Each podcast shows the different locations that the band happened to be at during various segments of the European leg of the tour. Besides all of the funny antics that went on, there was some serious stuff on there, as well. Podcast 1 had the band in several locations throughout England. Podcast 2 has the band in Germany, Copenhagen, and Poland. Podcast 3 had the band in France and Hungary. Podcast 4 had the band in Spain and France. It was there at the Arenes de Nimes, France where the last show of the European tour happened. That particular venue was a sight to behold; it was absolutely breathtaking. That is a must see if this DVD is purchased. You have to picture yourself at the very top looking down on to the stage. The last item on Disc 2 was a slide show of the European Tour of June and July 2006.

Hardly anything was said about the concert on Disc 1. Here are some facts:
There are 19 songs in all. Seventeen were part of the original set, while the last two were part of the encore. Joe played nine songs from his Super Colossal CD. Next in line with the most songs played from a single album would be his Surfing With The Alien CD, released in 1987 — Joe played five songs from that CD. Two songs came from Flying In A Blue Dream (1989), and two from The Extremist (1992). One song was from his self-titled CD, Joe Satriani released in 1995.
The band members are as follows: Joe Satriani (guitar/harmonica/keyboard), Dave LaRue (bass), Jeff Campitelli (drums), and Galen Henson (rhythm guitar and tour manager).

The DVD and the CD have identical songs in the same order, but what you get to see from the concert is a very talented band with equally impressive musicians having the time of their lives onstage, trying to push the envelope each night while performing for their fans. Joe begins making some of his songs slightly longer with improvisational material, and the jams become more frequent and longer in time. If you are familiar with Joe’s material, this will come through on the video. This is one video that any fan of good music will appreciate, and make it one of their top 10 without a doubt!