Shakenstir » Joe Satriani Live in Manchester

Joe Satriani Live in Manchester

A simple but very effective blue and white lighting backdrop shone brightly to welcome Satriani and his crew onto the large stage, and against a massive welcome the soaring, classic tones of ‘Ice 9′ rung out. More trad crowd pleasers followed in the shape of ‘Hordes Of Locusts’ and ‘Flying In A Blue Dream’ followed before Satriani ventured into brand new territory with ‘Light Years Away’. Now at that point I’d not heard the new album which is due through my letterbox any minute, but this song and its performance floored me! It also provided an ideal showcase for Satriani’s fabulous rhythm section of Jeff Campitelli on drums and Stu Hamm on bass.

In addition to Satriani’s obvious guitar prowess he has an uncanny sense of melody and it was this that came through loud and clear, especially with his latest work. ‘Premonition’, ‘Dream Song’, Pyrrhie Victoria’, ‘Littleworth Lane’, ‘Wormhole Wizards’, ‘Wind In The Trees’, and ‘God Is Crying’ are all from his new album which I suspected would become the favourite on this showing. For me, they take Satriani’s writing and playing skills to a new and more expansive/epic and lyrical level.

The set list was a fan’s delight and included some of the best tracks from THE EXTREMIST, SURFING WITH THE ALIEN, SUPER COLOSSAL, CRYSTLE PLANET and FLYING IN A BLUE DREAM. My only regret was that there was nothing played from JOE SATRIANI, however, Satriani and his band provided the finest instrumental rock performance I have witnessed, and one I shall remember for many years to come. For Satriani it all seemed so effortless, whether talking to his audience or playing those soaring, extended riffs. Meanwhile at the rear of the stage Satriani’s guitar tech proudly wore a Chickenfoot T-shirt as if to remind us that there’s another new and very interesting side to this great artist…

Set List:

Ice 9
Hordes of Locusts
Flying in a Blue Dream
Light Years Away
Memories
War
Premonition
Satch Boogie
Revelation
Pyrrhic Victoria
Crystal Planet
The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing
Dream Song
God is Crying
Andalusia
Littleworth Lane
Why
Wind in the Trees
Wormhole Wizards
Always with Me, Always with You
Big Bad Moon
Encore:
Crowd Chant
Summer Song