Finally got to see my first G3 tour. It was awesome! Great sets! The only negative thing about the concert was the loudness. Don't get me wrong..I love it loud but Malmsteen was so loud that I could not tell what songs he was playing. He even turned off three of his stacks and was still too loud. When it was just him playing, it was fine but when the band started up it was unintelligable.

Steve Vai was on the edge of being to loud when the whole band was playing but not nearly as bad as Malmsteen. Joe's sound was perfect! When the three of them go together it again got to loud and I had trouble trying to figure out two of the songs being played.

I don't know..maybe it is the acoustics in the Paramount. It was my first concert there.

If not for the loudness of Malmsteen and the togetherness set, I would give this gig a 10.

10 for Joe.Vai was ok, identical setlist and stage moves to the Reno show.Couldn't hear juice again.Malmsteen sucked, but much better than in Reno.

Joe's setlist was mindboggling.thank you Joe for mixing it up, graham and I were FLOORED.Weak audience, we were the only people in the upper row who were making any noise.We were screaming and jumping up and down, Joe was so on.Power cosmic man!!!

thank you Joe.Everytime you amaze me.

well, I traveled almost 2,000 miles to see this show... and it was worth it... well worth it...

Yngwie: Well, he's Yngwie, not much you can say about that. It was cool at first, but got old fast. After Trilogy Suite (which was pretty sloppy) he could have left and I would have been happy. Yngwie is the reason this got a 9 and not a 10.

Vai: My personal fav out of the 3. Words cannot describe the joy I felt when he played juice. That is my favorite Vai song ever... I felt like he played that just for me.... lol

Satriani: The first solo guitarist I ever got into... he is very true to his music... as many others have said, he's just "joe" thats really all you can say

How can anyone who attended this show NOT rate this at a 10!! Recently, I've been listening to The Extremist quite a bit. What I've discovered is that the tune "Why" has got this catchy feel, extreme lead solo, and a flavor of class that supercedes my ability to put into words!! What's more, I called my local guitar store, here in Yakima (Ted Brown's of course) and ordered The Extremist on tab. So far, I've only been able to play the opening theme that shuffles throughout that song. What's crazy is that when Jeff (*my friend and culprit to my experience of JS*) and I went to Seattle to see this show, we were both suprised to here Joe OPEN HIS SHOW with that song!!! Gorgeous flame-ass red Ibanez guitar from HELL! Joe's sound was monstrous that evening! After "Why", he performed "Crystal Planet" and of course "Crushing Day"! We were floored!! Oh.. this gets better. After the show and after waiting for about 2 hours, in the rain, and after meeting Ynwie (who was obviously still trapped in the 80's and too good to meet the fans -(don't get me wrong, he still put on a great show and I'm not bitchin'. In fact, this is what I expected)) AND after being blessed to meet Steve Vai, who was a totally gentleman and recieved his compliments well, signed autographs and was truly a cool dude...AND after waiting in line (towards the end of it) my bro, Jeff and I got to BS with CAMP-TOWN, J.Campitelli himself - WHAT A GUY! Ever watch the end of 'Live in SF"? Remember how Joe says "We'd love to play for a few more hours..." and you can see Campitelli in the back and if you read his lips it seems like he's sayin "yeah.. I'd do that!" ALL COOL AND STUFF? Man, he was totally like that in person! He even took the time to say "Hey, thanks for driving all the way out to LA just to see us.." Man, I couldn't believe that people with that much talent could be REAL enough to step out and say "Thank You!" Oh... but this gets way better!! As we're waiting in line to talk to Joe... the moment comes and he's standing at the foot of his (bad ass) tour bus, Joe's got the same hat on that he wore in one of the recent Ibanez catalogs for his JS series. As I shook hands with Joe and looked at JOE and realized I was talkin' to JOE, I almost felt stupid! Lost for words I simply said that I believe him to be one of the most intelligent guitar players I've ever been inspired by. He graciously said, "Thank you!" I introduced him to buddy, Jeff and told him how he's was the one that turned me on to 'you', JOE. And Joe's like, "oh.. it's his fault, huh?" My friend Jeff missed JOE's tour back in 1990 because he got called to Desert Storm. After he told Joe his story, Joe was like "NO WAY!" I'm watching my friend Jeff (who's about 100 x's the JOE nut that I am..) and I'm just thinking to myself - this is sureal! Joe - I want to personally thank you so much for taking the time from your busy schedule - the time after a scathing, melting-pot performance - taking the time no matter how tired you may have been just to meet ALL OF US and sign autographs and basically for just being completely cool and real person. Joe, not only are you my most favorite performing musician, you are most definitely my most RESPECTED artist as well!

Last year, I drove more than 24 hours 1 way just to see your show in LA!! I didn't get to meet you and frankly, my seat kind of sucked! The crowd down there also blew some serious ass. But Seattle was all for you!

2nd JS show and 1st G3, probably the best Show I've seen since Black Sabbath performed in '99!

Cheers from both myself and my good friend Jeff!

YOU ARE THE MAN!

I saw Yngwie back in the days of the debut, Marching Out, and Trilogy. Although many seem to have been turned off by his performance, I enjoyed it. The guy was an egomaniac back in the 80's and he still is today. But, you know what? That's Yngwie for ya. He's very much a love or hate kinda gtr player.///

I've never been a fan of Vai's and although he's obviously a tremendous talent, my opinion of his playing hasn't changed after seeing him play live. Just not for me.///

Joe's set was great! Really enjoyed his choice of set list and his very non chalant attitude toward his playing and interaction with the crowd.

Overall, a good show!

this was my first g3 show and overall it was awesome. where else are you gonna hear people shredding like that without apologies. as far as indiividual performances go, yngwie was soso. i've seen him before with his band performing songs and he was much better then. His highlight was the orchestral suite from his conerto. that was great, otherwise he was kind of playing the same runs over and over again, plus either his sound sucks or the mix was bad. his bottom end is so muddy, the mid range tone is beautiful. he's still overall entertaining, but needs to chill with throwing picks, kicking in the air, and spinning his guitar around his neck. A few times is cool, but every 2 minutes is ridiculous.

vai was great, his tone was much better, but not loud enough. His midrange didn't cut in the mix and thus his soloing was hard to hear. his band was by far the best, the drummer being incredible and of course you can't sasy enough about billy sheenan or tony macalpine. i think its ironic that macalpine is in the backing band, overall i like his instrumentals much better then vai. vai was entertaining and for the Love of god was a highlight. Overall i had such high expectations and he met them just wish he would play more songs and less flash.

joe was great, I've never seen him before and he may not play as fast as Vai or Yngwie but he is 20 times more musical then those guys. ii enjoyed him the most and seeinig him play live increasedd my respect for him. He just has great songs, he is less of an entertainer then Vai and Yngwie, but I prefer musicianship over showmanship. he really impressed me, his sound by far was the cleanest and crispest. i don't know if that is because of the mix or something else, but he sounded the best, you could every single note clearly.

The jam was soso, pretty much all of the guys were playing the same runs over and over again, especially yngwie. i would have rather they get rid of that and each play 1-2 more songs or let macalpine play 1. I don't think it is that great. Yngwie was an egomaniac and distracted from the performance at the end.

i went to the meet and greet afterwards and got to meet Steve and Joe. Steve was nice enough and signed my guitar and took pics, but Joe really seemed down to earth and really appreciative of the fact we were there. Everyone can have a bad night, but Steve seemed more like a rock star and Joe like a regular dude. both were very personable though, moreso then Yngwie who didn't even show up.

Overall it was worth the money and I would go again ini a heartbeat. I wish I had the chance to hear eric johnson or Petrucci. Next time bring on macalpine, that dude is really awesome. You can't much better then edge of insanity and premonition.

What an awesome show! Aside from the fact that I waited outside in the rain for three hours for an autograph on my guitar (well past when the sound checks were due), only to get called back to work, and missing all three guys as a result, it was second only to the first G3 show.

While I think Yngwie is extremely talented, he spent more time skipping around the stage, throwing his guitar around his shoulder, up in the air, to the stage hand, throwing picks, than he did actually playing. During the 3-man-jam, while Joe and Steve are doing what they do best, Y was running around playing WITH his guitar, instead of actually playing it. On one song, he threw his guitar to his tech, strolled over (as the song is obviously wrapping up), casually takes a drink of water while his stage hand is holding his fresh guitar out, finally taking the guitar and hitting the final chord ONE BEAT LATER THAN THE REST OF THE BAND! It is purely because of Y that I rated this concert a 9 instead of a 10.

I'm sorry, but this isn't the 70's anymore people. We don't need tricks on stage ... we were there to witness chops. Period.

In comparison, Joe and Steve did what they do best, and it was pure magic to watch them.

Overall, well worth every penny!

Seattle.... Satch , Vai and Yngwie playing Jimi's original Little Wing solo in unison, ...butterflies in my stomach ...riding on moonbeams ... a fairy tale come true...all I've ever thought about..... Let me restate that; It was the most powerful emotional orgasm I have ever experienced. Tony MacAlpine has to find his own G3-spot...he deserves it... Who cares if the vocals are bad??? or the bass is muddy ? ... Satch's disciplined perfection, Steve's emotional tone, and Yngwie's raw expression... a perfect blend of everything that rock music can do to you... humble you , inspire you , bring you to tears, set you free ... and more....

On behalf of all the Iranians who have kept their senses and emotions alive throughout these dark years with the help of your music , and on behalf of the underground generation of musicians in Iran...who would have given anything to experience what we did last night at the Paramount... thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the experience. Hope to see you rockin' in a free Iran soon !!!!

Babak & Sepanta

My life is now complete... I got to see 4 guitar gods!!! Too much for my puny little mind to comprehend. All i know is that it ROCKED!!!

First of all yngwie comes out, Now ive been a fan for 7 years and this is the first time ive ever seen him! Right from the start i can tell he is drunk! So he put on quite an entertaining show, I just wish he concentrated on his guitar playing instead of throwing his guitar around and failing to throw 90% of his picks to the crowd. His guitar tone sucked untill i plugged my ears and cut out all the treble. After that it was SMOOTH! I think out of all 3 yngwie got the best crowd reaction. After yngwie was done with us i know my vocal cords where shot and my neck was hurting from headbanging so much so i couldnt give the others all the noise they deserved. Yngwies setlist consisted of i think 3 songs only and then alot of soloing. All his band members got to do a short solo each while yngwie was backstage drinking more. Overall i dont think yngwie was sober enough to play anything right or to do a real setlist like vai and satriani. But im more than happy even to be in the same building as the shred god!

Vai enters with a 3 neck guitar... Ive never been a vai fan, always thought he was boring.. Well ive changed my mind now. He put on the best performance by far. He hade the most soul and accuracy, Plus he was backed up by BILLY SHEENAN AND TONY MACALPINE!!!! Wow!! How could he go wrong then? Most of the songs i didnt know but i liked them all. For The Love Of God was amazing, He pulled it off flawlessly. Well im gonna go get every cd he's made so far...

Last Satriani enters. Wearing a tshirt and jeans and the UGLIEST glasses ive ever seen in my life. Orange and black.. Well thank god he playing was better than the choice of glasses. Satriani put on a good show but hade almost no crowd interaction or stage performance. He plays guitar like i do, looking down at the fretboard.. I have never been a fan of joes, not to say that hes a bad player its just i dont like the style he plays. BUT i will say that i LOVED the song Crystal Planet that he played. An amazing performance that i thought wasnt possible to do live. Ohh... That solo he did with both hands was out of this world. I think joes problem was the selection of songs he played.. Stary Night was just boring.

All three of them on stage was too much to handle. First of all yngwie hade almost 2 more hours to drink so he was WAISTED when he entered the stage for the second time. I found it very amusing though. Such a huge ego on stage, poor vai and satriani.. They tried to keep to themselfs in one corner while yngwie was taking up most of the stage doing his own thing. Combining all 3 of them at once realy doesnt work, there styles are so far apart. Except for when they played the same lead, Then there guitars blended together to make an amazingly sweet tone. Watching yngwie upclose was insane, Ofcourse i got acouple chucles because he is so stuck in the eightys. But if it wasnt for yngwies HUGE ego on stage i think it wouldnt be as entertaining. When they where tradeing solos back and forward yngwie wouldnt play rythm... He would walk off to the side of the stage and drink more. Then come back out and throw his guitar in the air, catch it, stand there trying to figure out what the others where doing and then ignoring them for the most.

All i can say is that i can now die a happy man.

I'm not reviewing ANYONE'S show except for Joe's, hence the 10...

He had, hands down, the most AMAZING set I've ever seen him play. Me and my buddy were caught off guard by FIVE consecutive surprises... it was a completely different set from different shows. Opened w/ Why, then Crushing Day, Crystal Planet, Midnight, Starry Night, then Flying... we thought this was gonna be the start of the "usual Satch stuff" but then he kicked us all back on our asses and played Power Cosmic, followed by MPHGT! He finished off w/ Summer Song and AWMAWY (not the exact order, but very close). His tone ruled. His new amps really make a difference. All in all, I think this was also the CLEANEST I've ever seen Joe play a concert. Very impressive considering his usual high standard!