{"id":54114,"date":"2024-04-21T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T13:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/?p=54114"},"modified":"2024-04-21T11:37:04","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T16:37:04","slug":"guitar-legends-bring-50-years-of-friendship-and-music-together-for-a-mega-combined-tour-showcase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/?p=54114","title":{"rendered":"Guitar Legends Bring 50 Years Of Friendship And Music Together For A Mega Combined Tour Showcase Dubbed Satch Vai"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Christopher David<\/span><\/p>\n

As the great figures in hard rock reach the three, four, five decade marks, the opportunities to see the creative fruits of those years of nonstop touring and fine-tuning one<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s craft become fewer and farther between. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Which was why the <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Satch Vai<\/span>\u201d <\/span>tour of 2024 was such a vital entry in this year<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s list of top shows thus far. \u00a0Joe Satriani and Steve Vai<\/span>\u2014<\/span>two of the giants in all of guitar history<\/span>\u2014<\/span>crossed the three-hour mark on Thursday at the Chicago Theatre, showing off every trick in the book and clearly having a blast while doing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vai<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s set led the night, accompanied by esoteric, spacey visuals as the instrumentalist, now into his fifth decade of guitar work, played material from his most recent record, Inviolate, as well as classics like <\/span>\u201c<\/span>For the Love of God<\/span>\u201d <\/span>(his breakthrough solo single from 1990), the angular, melodic hook of <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Zeus in Chains<\/span>\u201d <\/span>and the show-stopping <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Teeth of the Hydra,<\/span>\u201d <\/span>which saw his mounted, triple-neck guitar working overtime as Vai played different tones on all three necks at the same time<\/span>\u2014<\/span>it would have been a impressive feat just for show, made even more spectacular by the extent to which the song was built around the use of the titular <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Hydra.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Satriani<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s vibe was more groove, with a lighter, bouncier touch to his material versus the more brooding, introspective tone of Vai<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s set. \u00a0Backed by drummer extraordinaire Kenny Aronoff, bassist Bryan Beller and guitarist\/keyboardist\/vocalist <\/span>Rai Thistlethwayte<\/span>, Satch took the crowd through a set that felt conceptual at a times, with themes of flying and transcendence at the fore. \u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>Flying in a Blue Dream<\/span>\u201d <\/span>encapsulated the best of Satriani<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s work in the <\/span>\u2018<\/span>80s, and the romantic, sad melody of <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Always With Me, Always With You<\/span>\u201d <\/span>was a beautiful accompaniment to the grandeur of the space. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But it was the encore that saw the eye of the hurricane, as Vai returned to the stage, backed by Satriani<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s band, for a three-song encore that lasted nearly thirty minutes. \u00a0Leading with their new co-single <\/span>\u201c<\/span>The Sea of Emotion, Pt. 1,<\/span>\u201d <\/span>Satch and Vai traded lick after lick for covers of the Kinks<\/span>\u2019 \u201c<\/span>You Really Got Me<\/span>\u201d <\/span>and a thundering rendition of Metallica<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Enter Sandman<\/span>\u201d <\/span>(for which <\/span>Thistlethwayte<\/span> provided vocals). \u00a0Both songs moved from their standard arrangements into an extended jam that featured both guitarists<\/span>\u2019 <\/span>playing off of each other with smiles on their faces from start to finish, the extent and ability of which can<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t even be summed up here. \u00a0If ever there was a case for the phrase <\/span>\u2018<\/span>you had to be there,<\/span>\u2019 <\/span>well<\/span>\u2026<\/span>if you weren<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t, you should have been. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s one thing to be a master of one<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s craft. \u00a0It<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s another to have had one<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s craft mastered for so long that the instrument is simply part of you, an extension of your body and mind. \u00a0And it<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s another entirely to see two such greats demonstrate that on the same stage<\/span>\u2014<\/span>a truly priceless experience for guitar enthusiasts. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For more on this tour, click here<\/a><\/p>\n

For photos from the show at Chicago Theatre, click here<\/a><\/p>\n

———————————————————————————————————————<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Satch\/Vai<\/span>\u201d <\/span>– Chicago Theatre, Chicago, IL, 4\/18\/24 (setlist)<\/span><\/p>\n

[Steve Vai]<\/span><\/p>\n

Avalancha<\/span><\/p>\n

Building the Church<\/span><\/p>\n

Little Pretty<\/span><\/p>\n

Tender Surrender <\/span><\/p>\n

Lights Are On<\/span><\/p>\n

Zeus in Chains<\/span><\/p>\n

Teeth of the Hydra<\/span><\/p>\n

For the Love of God<\/span><\/p>\n

[Joe Satriani]<\/span><\/p>\n

The Extremist<\/span><\/p>\n

Surfing With the Alien<\/span><\/p>\n

Satch Boogie<\/span><\/p>\n

Sahara<\/span><\/p>\n

Nineteen Eighty<\/span><\/p>\n

Big Bad Moon<\/span><\/p>\n

Flying in a Blue Dream<\/span><\/p>\n

Blue Foot Groovy<\/span><\/p>\n

Always With Me, Always With You<\/span><\/p>\n

If I Could Fly<\/span><\/p>\n

Ice 9<\/span><\/p>\n

[Vai and Satriani]<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sea of Emotion, Pt. 1<\/span><\/p>\n

You Really Got Me (Kinks cover, extended jam)<\/span><\/p>\n

Enter Sandman (Metallica cover, extended jam)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christopher David As the great figures in hard rock reach the three, four, five decade marks, the opportunities to see the creative fruits of those years of nonstop touring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,41,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-news","category-features","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}