Great evening! Granted, I wasn't as blown away as I was two years ago when I saw G3 with Petrucci, but this was definitely the place to be on Tuesday night in DC - Satch was even featured in Washington Post!

First off, Yngwie. The works, of course - smoke billows onto the stage, lights go down, and his band enters to a flurry of notes that only one man can produce. As Yngwie jumped onto the stage, he immediately spun the guitar around his neck and threw a pick out to the crowd right before he caught it. It took him a song or two to warm up (he was a bit sloppy at the beginning). But after that, his playing was supreme. Granted, the spinning guitar/kicking picks lost its sting after he started doing it every two minutes, but how unbelievable a player is he? A lot of his set was solo guitar, where he played with his harmonizer, delay, and various other processors (sick). Standard Yngwie instrumental material, and various segments from Bach and such. He also did a killer version of Red House - his singing was incredibly bluesy.

Vai's set was one thing most notably - short. Granted, his slower songs don't grab me as much as his faster ones, and I still don't recognize them by name. I guess his band was the sharpest of the three. I was surprised the confidence with which he approached Macalpine and gave him the, "What?!" look - quite a guitar duel. The four of them did some synchronized licks, split up riffs by two notes per person, fretted each others' notes, and all that stuff. Steve had some awesome solos, Billy had a great solo, drum solo was sweet. I was sort of disappointed because we were sitting very close to the front on the left side, and couldn't see Tony until he came out to do guitar. Ah well.

Satriani's set was great, too. His music appeals to the hardcore musician and the general public alike, which is what makes him so great to see in concert. He played many fan favorites, including one of mine - Crystal Planet. He was actually more inventive song-wise, and improvised on many passages that he normally plays note-for-note. But... no Stu.... I really don't like Matt's playing, Satch would do well to find a better bassist.

The encore was a lot of fun. People piled up to the front and no one could see sitting down anymore, so we all stood up. Yngwie was unbelievably drunk. I knew he would be, but I didn't realize he'd be THAT drunk. But his playing (when he actually played, and not ran around the stage) was par. His interaction with his sound guy was amusing as well... one time he stuck his guitar on top of a full stack with two heads - and the sound guy is 5'2" or so. No incidents though, which is always a good thing.

Vai and Satch seemed to take a step back. Yngwie, though he played well, didn't seem to follow them very well. He'd do one of his signature riffs, then Vai would do something and Yngwie would be like "Yeah that's cool!" Then Satch would play something, and Yngwie would forget what Vai had played, so he just did another riff. He seemed on top of his game, though he figured a lot of things out on the fly. The drinking took a toll on his voice, so he didn't sing as well as he did in his set. Vai's voice was probably the best, but unfortunately his range isn't very impressive. Joe's singing seemed uninspired... I was surprised. But hey, who goes to see G3 for the singing, right?

No Billy in the encore... I yelled for him, as did a few other people, but it didn't catch on. What an unspirited crowd we are.

Overall, good show, great time. Next year: Greg Howe with Victor Wooten and Dennis Chambers! (I can dream, right?)

I agree with the last review about Yngwie's stage mannerisms. He should have stayed with the group instead of running off all the time.

Yngwie rested on his laurels a bit. I thought he did a half-baked version of Far Beyond the Sun, sometimes duffing around instead of playing the licks. We guitar players want to see the licks we've come to know and love played live.

This was my first Malmsteen show and I'm glad I saw him. But Joe and Steve played their material more solidly and completely.

Question: Can someone please tell me what you 'get' for the $100 "Meet and Greet" experience, and does that differ from the backstage show passes given away here on the web site?

The show at the Warner was incredible . I took my 11 year old son to the show and we actually had front row seats . The show was amazing . All three guys were right on with the fret work and incredible . The bands were tight . Vai's band was super natural . WOW .. Jeff campitelli is the man . Remember to check out my website Jeff ( Us Italian drummers need to stick together ) .

Highlight of the show ( Thank you Steve Vai ) . At the end of Vai's set when he was playing For the Love of God , he noticed my son in the front row and during his solo part , he walked over to where we were sitting , directed my son to come to stage's edge , and handed his guitar pick right to him . That made the whole night for me . ( Steve , if you read this , I know you remember this and will remember my son always as he got to meet you after the show , THANKS ) .

We got backstage passes and everyone was really cool , especially my main man Jeff Campitelli ( Jeff , don't forget to check out www.molinarodrums.com ) . Thanks for getting me into the Keswick show the next night . Backstage was awesome meeting everyone and getting pictures . The only turn off for me was that I noticed there were a lot of parents there like me with early teenage children with me to meet the guys and Yngwie was well beyond toasted , way too much to drink . He's still living that rock n roll star lifestyle I can see . Check out my review for the next nights gig on Yngwie , you won't believe it , but it's true .

It was so awesome , that I drove up to PA to see the next show and Jeff Campitelli got me in , thanks Jeff . You are so nice . Thanks for appreciating the efforts that your fans go to come and see you . I went backstage again that night and everyone signed the pictures that I took the night before in DC .

What a great first concert this was for my son ... I wished it was longer . It seemed like Yngwie played longer then Joe and Steve .

The ending jam blew away the entire DC area I bet .. WOW WOW WOW

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME SHOW ..

Thanks , Eric Molinaro

Very good playing and good show altogether. Let's analyze the details...

Yngwie Malmsteen - I loved the whole throw the guitar around your neck and keep playing thing...I loved it the first time...I liked it the second time...but it should have stopped there. This also applies to the kicking the picks and the throw the guitar to the techy.

Vai - well what can I say, the man is a showman...awesome and the band was goddam tight.

Satch - so Joe is Joe and he'll always be Joe - not Joe the showman, but Joe the musician. I have one complaint - he didn't play Secret Prayer.

Overall the Jam was good except that Yngwie could not stand having the share a stage with anyone. Yngwie does have a half-decent voice though and did a great job on the hendrix songs though I would have liked for him to have emulated Hendrix's style on the fretboard as well as vocally. Vai and Satch were up there having fun as usual and even Yngwie seemed to have fun. Good show fellas!

Great show.. Joe and Steve rocked the house. Yngwie was over the top as everyone has said before, it was good to see him but his stage antics got old quick. It looked like he was trying to kick field goals with his picks. The funny thing was watching his stage hand we named "pick boy" running on and off the stage to refill Yngwie's pick tape on his mic stand. Yngwie does a good Elvis too with his pointing and shaking of his hands.

Next G3 line up should be G2.. just Joe and Steve

Followup to AquariusWB: As for paying attention to Yngwies sound, he blows his musical WAD in 5 minutes after that its a replay of this first 5 minutes an so on. You know its true.

Great show, great sound! Quickly got tired of Yngwie's "Kick the Pick" routine. Granted, he is a total monster on the fretboard, but I think he forgot the type of audience that he is playing to on this tour...guitar heads and their wives/girlfriends (if they are forced to take them). We could care less about the prancing, toe-pointing, guitar-flipping, etc. If I had seen a front row full of screaming, scantily clad, looking for backstage pass groupies, I would be saying "Go for it Yngwie, show 'em what you got"! But, most of his theatrics were lost on this crowd and made him look downright silly...plus the way he treated his tech solidified his rep as being an ass! All of that being said, he still proved that he is the master the harmonic minor scale and showed us that he has a few blues licks too. One final comment on Yngwie...Dude, get somebody to fix your tone! As long as he was playing on the high E, B, and G, everything sounded great. The sound on the lower strings were unrecognizable...basically we heard the pick attack on the strings and that was it. It sounded like he palm-muted the E, A, and D strings all night.

Now, Steve's set was beyond unbelievable! A true showman without getting campy! He's a master of technique and his tone almost made me jizz myself! I think I might take a look at getting a Carvin Legacy and a Jem...and I'm a diehard Gibson man! Also, this tour should have been call "G4" with Tony McAlpine on the stage. With what litte guitar he played he proved that he can still shred with the best of them.

Joe once again proved why he is the best in the world. I sat there totally mesmerized by the one thing that makes Joe stand out from all other pickers...his incredible sense of melody and phrasing! He doesn't have to run sweeps up and down the neck (even though he can). He can "say" more with a simple pentatonic run than most shredders can with a thousand notes from every scale and mode imaginable.

I loved the Jam, but once again Yngwie kind of made it difficult. He couldn't be bothered to finish up the songs with Joe and Steve...he had to camp it up and run off the stage and get another guitar or drink of water and then run back in to stike the last note with the guys...one time he almost nocked Steve to the floor while trying to do one of his David Lee Roth spins!

All in all, it was a great show! Maybe for next years tour, Joe could contact local Washington DC guitar god, Michael Fath, and have him on the stage. If anyone could match licks with Joe and Steve, it would be Michael!

The show was awesome. Many have said that Yngwie is "too over the top." There's no doubt about it, the man DEFINES over the top. However, that's just his niche. If his stage antics bothered you that much, you obviously weren't paying enough attention to the sounds coming out of his guitar. The guy, as Steve said himself last night, is "a freak of nature". It was a privelage for me to see such an amazing guitarist join forces with Steve and Satch. Maybe I'm biased because I'm a guitarist and have no problem sitting through 45 minutes of shred, but last night was the first time I've seen Yngwie play live and the guy simply has MAD SKILL. This G3 was just as good as the last one with Petrucci...

More to the point, Steve was unbelievable (no Mike Keneally, but luckily Tony MacAlpine, a "G" in his own right, took his place), Joe was unbelievable, as always, and Yngwie was unbelievable. They were having fun, we were having fun, it was one of the best nights I've had in a while. Thanks guys, you are all awesome.