Joe is the ultimate Pied Piper for guitar-worshipping fans! Guys are professing their love for Joe - LOUDLY. Before this concert, I would’ve sworn that it was impossible to take photos and have a real blast at a concert at the same time. Joe and his band’s performance was so incredibly top-notch - truly hypnotic! His Super Colossal selection was so right on that they were even more enjoyable to me than the tried & true favorites, albeit also excellent! Just Like Lightnin’ was intriguing seeing live, and I really dug One Robot’s Dream, Made of Tears, Redshift Riders, The Meaning of Love and A Cool New Way up close and personal. One thing for sure, when this tour’s DVD is available, it’s a must for all JS fans. Joe and his sound check people really know what his fans want, and each instrument was crystal.

Jeff is the epitome of contentment and he makes a lot of work look easy. Dave was hamming it up with his googly expressions and his bass playing was in the pocket. Galen was so far on the other side of the stage, he was practically out of sight. I hope he had as much fun as the other guys.

Thank you Joe for consistently entertaining us with your out-of-this world compositions and stage presence! With being almost front stage, the experience for me was a real rush, especially when you’d gesture to us just a few feet away and pose as you sustained a 20-second note. With all the picks you threw at us, the guys around me were like pigeons grabbing for bread scraps, which gave me the perfect opportunity to snap a few prime shots with only you in the frame and not a bunch of shoulders, ears and ball caps. I really appreciate that you allow and even encourage your fans to take photos to remember the most awesome times we always have with you.

Getting to this a little late, but I have to give a huge thank you to Joe, not only for the awesome show (the new songs rock!), but for being so kind to everyone that you met after the show. I have to agree with some people that I think that all of the new songs were the highlight of the show. Particularly A Cool New Way, The Meaning of Love, One Robot's Dream, and Redshift Riders. All of the songs were pulled of very well, as usual, but the new songs really made the show. The vibe from Robot's is just way too cool... I could have listened to Joe play that one again. I came away from the show very satisfied, but I'm still waiting to catch "Memories" live.

It is amazing to me that Joe can put so much energy into his set night after night, and still find the energy to meet some fans after the show, and make it meaningful to each person he meets.

Joe, my wife and I were thrilled to get the chance to meet you as we have been fans from the beginning. You were very kind, and interested in what we had to say, and I think the best part for us was that you signed my wife's copy of Flying on the page with the picture of you at the table. That very copy that you signed was the first gift I can every remember giving to my wife (my girlfriend back then), and that disc, and your music mean a great deal to us. Thanks again for taking the time to meet with all of us.

Not only did we get to meet Joe, and see a great set, we met a couple of people also along for the platinum package, and they turned out to be very cool people indeed. Jim and Amy, it was great to meet you, and yes, we will definitely hook up again.

From the new album we heard Super Colossal, Just Like Lightning, Redshift Riders, Ten Words, A Cool New Way, One Robot's Dream, The Meaning of Love, Made of Tears, and Crowd Chant. From previous albums he played Surfing With The Alien, Ice 9, Always With Me Always With You, Satch Boogie, Circles, Flying In A Blue Dream, The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing, The Extremist, Summer Song, and Cool #9.

It's interesting to note that no songs were played from his '98-'04 releases. Also with a total of nine new songs in the set, this is the most a new album has been supported since the Crystal Planet tour. (At least from what I understand. If someone knows/remembers differently please let us know.)

I don't need to say how amazingly incredible the show was. It was Joe. However, here are some of my favorite moments.

-opening with Flying in a Blue Dream (my favorite song)

-the harmonica moments during The Extemist (a great Joe trademark - in my opinion The Extremist or Big Bad Moon should always be in the set list- love the harmonica)

-A Cool New Way -even better then the album version, which is saying a lot.

-Ten Words-a great new melody-so glad Joe played it

-One Robot's Dream- this one created a great melancholy, thought provoking mood that I enjoyed very much. I also loved Joe's occaisional keyboard plinking during this one.

But really when it comes down to it, the whole show was one giant highlight. Thank you Joe!

I know it's a long shot but... Joe, if you happen to read this, with next year being the 20 year mark for Surfing with the Alien, what if there was a Surfing Anniversary Tour with the entire album in the set list along with a healthy dose of Not Of This Earth? Just for the "memories." :)

Having been to 50+ shows in the last few years, I can safely say that this, along with Steve Vai, was one of the best. Eric was awesome, but I could tell he was having amp troubles, and this was the second time I saw him when that happened. I have met both these guys and they are as good of people as they are players... Eric Played for probably an hour, maybe more, and Joe played for 2-2.5 hours... the Encore was about a half hour, and Johnny A. came out and played a few songs, along with E.J. ... I got there a couple hours early, ended up front & center, right behind the guy with the mohawkish thing in the white shirt, and tiedie, and the guy with the satch glasses and chrome dome... yeah great show, make it out if you can!

-Jason

PS- anybody remember the stick guy (satch's "punching") stick???? - Im sure you do if you were there, or just passing by...

Joe put on another great show. Dave LaRue has replaced Matt Bissonette, who has left to study some eastern meditation with some monks (or something like that). Dave has pled with Steve Morse and, despite his Spinal Tap looks, plays a mean bass. Joe gave him ample space to showcase himself during the beginning of Cool#9 and during the jam in Circles. They opened with the customary Flying in a Blue Dream followed by, to my delight, The Extremist. That tune got me jamming in my seat (didn’t want to obstruct people upstairs). Red Shift Riders reminded me of music from Not of this Earth with a more human, Jeff Campitelli-powered backbeat. Cool #9 has grown on me steadily and is now one of my favorite live tunes. They did a generous, couple minute intro before getting down to it. A Cool New Way was just that; a spacey, comfortable jam from the new album. Much of the remainder of the set toggled between Super Colossal and Surfing with the Alien songs, which was good, but Crystal Planet material was glaringly absent, less the Raspberry Jam riffs and Crystal Planet runs during the crescendo in Always With Me. I was happy he included Mystical Potato head Groove Thing and, oddly, I commented to Sweetie that he should play that just before the lights went down. Circles had a cool, open feeling jam at the end that also delved into some N.O.T.E. Satch noodlings toward the end. The 17 song set felt generous after the 12 song set by EJ, plus Surfing with the Alien is often an encore song, so I was horrified that they took a bow after it. I thought there was a possibility they’d skip the encore. Fortunately they returned for a couple songs. Again, Summer Song has been used a show-ender so I once again thought the show was over but we were treated to a little more. Joe brought out Eric Johnson and Johnny A for a couple tunes. Johnny A. is a Massachusetts-born guitarist who’s worked with Bobby Whitlock and Peter Wolf and even appeared at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Fest. He was playing in San Jose and agreed to come up for a couple tunes after his set. They did the predictable Going Down, which is one of my favorite oldies. That brought back memories of the 1996 G3 show with Joe, Eric & Steve. These guys had a lot of fun with that number, with Joe directing lead-traffic amongst them. I thought Eric did a great job soloing to the tune. Johnny also soloed competently and fluently. They first traded 16’s, then traded 4’s before all joining together in a three-for-all. I thought it was great that they tried to riff for each other rather than masturbate in cacophony. Joe & Johnny actually ran down a scale-like melody together. It was a fun song to watch and it looked like a fun song to play. Later, Joe told Sweetie that He and Eric “like to play together”. I would’ve fallen over if I had caught that right away, but it’s just as well because I wouldn’t have wanted to make Joe feel uncomfortable after he was so gracious and generous with his time after the show. Anyway, they followed that with Red House. Once again, I just love to hear EJ do Hendrix. I could listen to a full set of that. Like I said, My earliest memory of EJ live was playing this unbelievable, Hendrix-inspired music that was, at once, tributary and avant garde. When he sings Hendrix, his voice gets fuller and more soulful. He plays Hendrix inspired and his sound was never better that night. I could even see Joe smiling and watching intently as he watched EJ take the front for that number. Anyway, this was one of the better shows by Joe & Co, with some great memories. They played:

Flying in a Blue Dream Extremist Red Shift Riders Cool #9 A Cool New Way Satch Boogie Super Colossal Just Like Lightnin’ Ice 9 One Robot’s Dream A Love Eternal Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing The Meaning of Love Made of Tears Circles (end cool jam into old) Always With Me, Always With You Surfing with the Alien

<encore> Crowd Chant Summer Song <Eric Johnson & Johnny A join in> I’m Going Down Red House

After the show, we remained in our seats for nearly an hour while Joe iced his arm, showered and decompressed from the show. We watched the road crew tear down the stage. I had seen this in fast-motion in a concert video but it was cool to watch the disassembly in real time. One of the roadies threw a tantrum as he threw all of the cables (which had been coiled and packed) from a giant case all across the floor. We weren’t sure who pissed in his Corn Flakes, but it must’ve been pretty bad because he even threw some electronic units across the floor. Soon enough, they brought us out to the upper lobby, where Joe was there to greet us. He was very cordial and talkative, and made everybody feel comfortable. He joked and talked liberally, not making anybody feel rushed. I was impressed that he wasn’t watching his watch or being dismissive of anyone. The way that he treated each of us with appreciation gave me respect for him on a human level. Our waivers specifically stipulated that he would only sign one item per person but he took it upon himself to sign at least two items per person (including the laminates). I knew he wasn’t tall, but on stage he seems taller because of his big presence and motions. Face to face, he’s shorter than me. He had a smile the whole time and I think I saw some sincerity in his eyes as he engaged everyone. His hands are soft. Not just his skin, which I’m sure he takes diligent care of. His hands are fleshy, kinda like Sammy Hagar, whom I’ve also had the pleasure of shaking hands with. I was geekin’ when our turn came for pictures. I bumbled at first but Sweetie jumped right in with questions about G3. She’s a monstrous EJ fan and queried about next year. Joe said they are planning a G3 tour for next spring, but wasn’t sure if EJ would be there. Soon enough, the experience was over. Everyone else was gone so we thanked Joe again, as well as John for the great time and we talked with Jennifer and Brian a little more on our way out. As it turns out, not only do we share similar music tastes and sports interest, they also like to do a lot of hiking in the Eastern Sierra. We’re sure to hook up in the future.

Excellent show, and long too. Nice encore with Eric and the other guy,(what was his name?). It's always awesome when you are in the front row like I always am! I got a ton of great pictures from my vantage point. Joe was perfect as usual, and Eric sounded great last night too. Jeff "Campo" performed flawlesslly on drums, and the new bass player and rythm guitarist did a nice job also. Overall, I give it a nine out of ten. The crowd was really well behaved too which is always cool.

A couple of people were going to give me email addresses for my awesome pictures, if you read this, and still want them, my name on the site is Anton Shred. Write to me on "talk to Joe" or send me an email at shred4u2000@yahoo.com. Later everyone, Tony, (with the streaked hair). left of center baby!