Joe Satriani - home > show review

karlgg	Fri Aug 16 '02 123 NextStage, Grand Prairie,	Rank: 8	Posted: Sat Nov 15, '03 9:13 am
The sound at NextStage is terrible, but Joe worked with it. Just wish there was more Joe!
svp777	Fri Aug 16 '02 123 NextStage, Grand Prairie,	Rank: 10	Posted: Wed Jan 08, '03 11:34 pm
Satriani is the God Father of guitar, No one comes close in his choice of harmony and SATCHURATION of melodies. Joe inspires the very inner depths of my being as a musician and has blessed the subtle being of my soul with his music. I thank him every day for doing what he does. Sincerely Ed Carson
pc54	Fri Aug 16 '02 123 NextStage, Grand Prairie,	Rank: 10	Posted: Wed Jan 01, '03 10:07 am
Well, what can I say. Last Night we went to the satriani concert and man was it amazing! King's X was ok..(never really been a big fan of them). Now dream theater was a whole other ball o' wax. Those guys are tight in their rythyms and musicianship. They played a lot of great stuff. Satriani came on stage after DT and played a really great set. We had great seats. The best part was after the show. I went around back behind the Nextstage and waited around outside a huge chain link fence. The buses for Satriani and Dream Theater were right inside. There were only a few People back there with me. After a while Joe and the band came out of the building and we started yelling "Joe!" Joe came over with drummer Jeff Campetelli and backup guitarist Galen Hansen. they talked to us for a while and gladly signed all autographs we wanted them to. Joe and the gangs graciously spoke with us and chatted about the show and life in general, all the while posing for pictures. I was probably 1 of 7 people there, and seemed to be the oldest fan there. The other six were younger teens that were too star struck to really talk. Then I did something that i never thought I would ever have the nerve or the chance to ever do. I gave Joe Satriani a cd with four of my songs on it. I told him that "this wasnt to say , look at me! i can play." I let him know that I was giving this cd to him becuase for years I have been moved and inspired by his music in awesome and profoundly unspeakable ways. I told him that I just wanted to return the gift of inspiration. Even if it only brings a simple smile or a pleasant thought it was way worth it. Just the chance that Joe might even listen to it and hear me play is enough to completely thrill me and freak me out at the same time. Honestly I had second thoughts about giving him the cd becuase...I mean c'mon he is one of histories greatest guitar players. He is Joe Satriani. But, I knew I may never have this chance ever again. Now I do not have to live with regret. Becuase I know that I gave the cd to him and whether he listens to it or not, I know that I might possibly have had an slight impact or an breif fleeting audience with the great Joe Satriani.
louie	Fri Aug 16 '02 123 NextStage, Grand Prairie,	Rank: 10	Posted: Wed Sep 04, '02 8:01 pm
OK first let me say that Joe is my favorite over DT. Yes DT is incredible. The song "New Millenium" is one of the greatest works of Rock music of all time. And yes Patrucci is unreal. It was a good idea for those bands to tour together because alot of people dig Joe and DT and cross polenating the two audiences could expand the market for both. I would like to see Joe make more money, after all he is the greatest and my hero since 1986 and he has a family. But DT cannot choose notes like Joe can. He is the greatest guitar player of all time but it is the intervals between the notes he chooses that makes us all feel so great. I missed the communication between Campitellis right foot and Stu's right hand. Yes Bissonnett is great but he has not had the time with Jeff that Stu has had. Both Bissonetts might have been different. The rythm gutiar helped, but the facinating thing about seeing Joe and Stu is when they stand together and you cannot believe the huge wall of strange beautiful music that you are hearing from two guitars. Campitellis right foot lives on the same life pulse as Stu's right hand fingers. As the set warmed up it improved and was great. I was very disappointed in that my $65 seat the sound sucked. All I could hear was a thudding Bass and an Exploding kick Drum. I was in section 105 which is on the left wing. I slipped a bribe to a guard and ended up right in front of Joe and really enjoyed hearing those perfectly volumed Marshall cabs. The sound was perfect there. I thought Joe played his heart out at that show. It is hard to say that I have ever seen him play better one time than before. But I think a time or two in that show his toes were sticking out over the void between the worlds. At the end Jeff dropped a stick right in my hand. Now I have a Joe pick, a Stu pick that he threw to me at Trees (he doesnt play with a pick though) and a Jeff stick. I gave a presentation the next work day wearing the JS golf shirt. Way cool! LJ
jester11587	Fri Aug 16 '02 123 NextStage, Grand Prairie,	Rank: 10	Posted: Fri Aug 30, '02 5:20 pm
OMG! Joe is a shredder! Master Shredder! Awesome!
jtthern4	Fri Aug 16 '02 123 NextStage, Grand Prairie,	Rank: 9	Posted: Wed Aug 21, '02 3:03 pm
Great show,King's X showcased several of thier popular tunes(kicked my butt!)Dream theatre was phomemonal,one of the most progressive rock bands around.John Pretrucci rock!!.Joe was spectacular as always.Saw G3 twice(once with Eric and John)Hope to see next year!!
kencampbell	Fri Aug 16 '02 123 NextStage, Grand Prairie,	Rank: 6	Posted: Sun Aug 18, '02 3:02 pm
Ok....first things first. I'm fairly disappointed for a couple of reasons. $32 for a $6 T-Shirt? Com'on man. That's freaking rediculous! I know that Joe might not have much imput into the whole pricing thing, but don't you think an 800% markup is a bit much? I really wanted a shirt from this tour, but I wasn't about to pay that much. The people that did are sending the bad message that its OK to gouge prices like that.....its just not right. Next gripe.......sound quality. I don't think you guys do an adaquate sound check when you play decent venues. Oh it may sound good on stage from the monitors....but do you ever send anyone out into the seats and hear how it'll sound to the audience? This is the second time I've seen Joe live in two years and each time the sound quality was horrible unless you were wearing ear plugs (Which muffle the sound anyway, so why even bother). Its like the sound guys don't realize that they need to take into account the natural acoustics of the venue. On all three sets, the bass was over powering and even though you could tell the the guitarists were playing something, you couldn't hear WHAT they were playing. If I didn't know Joe's tunes note for note like I do, I would have been completely lost listing to him play. Every note he played just got lost because Bissonette's Bass was clipping so bad. That sucks because part of the marvel of watching and hearing Joe play is to whitness the clarity he puts into each note. We just haven't gotten that in the last couple of shows he's done here. Next gripe....DT is great and all, but their last album.....well, I just don't get it. I personally think John Petrucci should leave and go solo. His stuff on the G3 last year was awesome. Their set was too long and I personally enjoyed Kings X's tune better than the set DT played. Finally......Joe, I love ya man.....your music speaks to me in ways no one else can.......but, while sitting in the audience I came to a horrible revelation.......I'm getting sick of Joe playing "Summer Song", "Satch Boogie", "Flying in a Blue Dream" and "Always..." every show. Those tunes need to be retired. Hearing "Chrushing Day" live for the first time was cool......but Joe seemed like he was struggling to get through the tune. You can tell he really hates playing it. I guess it should remain on disc where it belongs. I was also disappointed that he played "Seven String" instead of one of the (IMHO) better tunes off of SBM like "The Traveller", "The Journey", "Oriental melody", or "Mountain Song". I was also really sad that he dropped "Why" from the set list. I saw him play that during the last live webcast and it was AWESOME! Oh well....I definitely prefer the "Evening with Joe Satriani" format. I actually would like to see Joe start playing smaller venues and clubs next time out. Makes for a much more intimate show. Anyway, we had a good time, but we didn't have a GREAT time like we could have. So this show gets a "6". Peace KenC.
clancarte	Fri Aug 16 '02 123 NextStage, Grand Prairie,	Rank: 10	Posted: Sat Aug 17, '02 7:11 pm
This was the first time I had ever been to a Satriani concert, and was one of the best shows of my life. Joe was smok'n on his leads, as always, and was truly an inspiration. The sound quality of this show was awsome. Rock on Joe.
jrbenham	Fri Aug 16 '02 123 NextStage, Grand Prairie,	Rank: 9	Posted: Sat Aug 17, '02 3:10 pm
I would rate the venue as a 10, and I would like to comment on the bands separately. Kings X were extremely tight, very strong for an opening band. Their set wasn't long enough to really showcase their talents, especially Ty's. I saw them in Little Rock a month ago, and Ty can hang w/ anyone around. Ranking it 8.5 for shortness of set. Dream Theatre were awesome, the extreme thinking band. Doing the whole 6 degrees was interesting, eclectic, and unusual. I did lose focus w/ the set half way through 6 degrees, but am very impressed. I was dissapointed Pull Me Under was pulled from the show. I was also dissapointed w/ the lack of an encore. Rank 9 for impressiveness, but lack of an encore. Joe was as usual right on. He is as much an inspiration to me as Hendrix is to him. I was a little dissapointed that more new material was not played. Starry Night, Mindstorm, New Last Jam, Devil's Slide, Raspberry Jam, all that was played from the last 3 studio efforts. I understand the reasoning behind trademark classics, and squeezing 3 bands into one night. All in all, the sets were too short all around, for me personally, not enough Joe, not enough new material. I was real dissapointed Time was not in the set as opposed to say, potato head? (A lot of press in guitar world about Time) I personally think in the future, Joe is strong enough to stand on his own, without a co headliner, not meaning to disrespect DT or Kings X, but this is the Joe site, so there is my opinion, for what it's worth. ranking 9 for shortness of set, and more new stuff! As a side, I saw Andy Timmons outside by the T-shirts, and wish he could have played also. I highly recommend his latest effort, if you like Joe's "Crystal Planet". I drove to see these guys from Little Rock, and it was worth it. Just wish there were a big enough following in Little Rock to make it worth the effort. GREAT SHOW!!!
bryceallen13	Fri Aug 16 '02 123 NextStage, Grand Prairie,	Rank: 9	Posted: Sat Aug 17, '02 9:50 am
First off, the sound wasn't as great as it should have been. The snare drums for all 3 bands were too low unless you were right up on the stage. The venue itself was great. The lighting rigs were awesome, and of course the music was superb! King's X started and although I am not a big fan, they put on a good show. Ty Tabor (X's guitarist) might be one of the best up and coming guitarist with smooth transistions and never looking at his guitar the whole show! Dream Theater put on a great show, mixing up the setlist that I had heard rumors about. I have seen them once before and I feel that LaBrie's vocals were much better and the band played very tight. Portnoy is a little arrogant and missed what I counted 8 sticks he threw in the air, lol! They really put on a great show though, playing all of Six Degrees title track durring the last half of their show! Awesome surprise. No encore though which made many fans very mad. But what an encore to Dream Theater to have Joe come out in his shades, red/orange/black stripe pants, bald head, and silver blinding guitar! Outstanding lighting to make a simple stage setup appear to be a digitally enhanced movie that George Lucas would put together! The drummer might have even Portnoy beat on some of his hand techniques. Bass player was not as good as Stu, but he definitely was nothing to whine about as other Satriani fans have, and the other guitarist (although low and not in most of the show) seemed solid and to be having a good time up there. Come on guys, if they are playing with Joe they can't suck. Again, not much of an encore, 1 song. Made me a little mad because the house had no curfew and I didn't want to go home! Being only 18, this show is one of the best I could have gone to and one that will help me grow as a musician. I can't wait for RUSH monday night. I hate to say it, but they 'might' just beat even this show out! Hard to beat Neil Peart on drums! Catch you later!
crimsonsunrise	Fri Aug 16 '02 123 NextStage, Grand Prairie,	Rank: 8	Posted: Sat Aug 17, '02 12:22 pm
I thought this show was pretty sweet. First time I've seen King's X, and I thought they were pretty good. Great for an opening band. Dream Theater then came on and blew everyone away. As they came on stage, they got a bunch of love from the crowd. As always, they put on an incredible show. Their set seemed to go by fairly quick though...but, I think it was actually an hour and a half. James Labrie (singer) was really on and got the crowd going. It was then Satch's turn to take the stage. He played great thru-out his set as well. Although, the crowd didn't seem as much into his set as DT's. Some people left before he came out, or during his set. Still, he impressed a good portion of the crowd, but definitely less standing cheers....it was just more of a DT-crowd. I like DT more myself. Although, I've been a Satch fan longer than a DT one...and have his entire catalog. So, I enjoyed most of his set. I loved hearing his new stuff. Starry Night sounded great. He performed a lot of his old classics effortlessly. It was quite a treat for me to hear him play "Crushing Day". He really did good job with the hard solo in it. He sounded great with his 7-string as well when playing "Mindstorm". I really think the crowd grew a little bored of some of his other stuff. I've seen him 5 or 6 times now myself. He got great reactions from the crowd after playing his new stuff though. From listening to the crowd, (that what I heard) ...many people thought DT should have closed the show. I'd have to agree, they were a hard act to follow...at least at this show. Still, everyone did a good job.
triaxis2020	Fri Aug 16 '02 123 NextStage, Grand Prairie,	Rank: 10	Posted: Sat Aug 17, '02 12:04 pm
Wonderfull show. I just wish Joe could have kept playing for a few more hours. I didn't want the show to end!!!!