Joe Satriani: Satriani Live!

This DVD was filmed on May 2, 2006 at the Grove in Anaheim California. I personally had the pleasure of witnessing a date earlier that same tour at a concert at the historic and vaunted Massey Hall in Toronto Canada on April 12, 2006. It was a night to remember!

As I mentioned in my review of that concert, never before had I personally seen a Joe so happy, confident and so much at ease and playful with his music. In fairness, the previous occasion I had seen Joe was in fact very near the very end of the 2003 G3 tour and Joe that particular evening was a little under the weather; either just sick and tired or perhaps sick and tired of YJM by that point LOL. In any case, a smiling and confident Joe strutted out no less than eight songs from his freshly minted and extremely popular “Super Colossal” album.

Of course these ears very much enjoyed that new CD with its general vibe and superb blues based riffing so eight new songs were not too much. To me that album was a drastic and much needed step up from the routine (for Joe anyway) “Is There Love In Space?” Heck, most of us have seen and heard the old classics enough times anyway.

As with Joe’s previous concert DVD “Live in San Francisco”, the production values are superb, camera work, sound quality and tone to die for. Joe had obviously spent a great deal of time ensuring the road show could and did match the tone and quality of the record. He succeeded in spades and of course takes the jammier tunes – “Just Like Lightnin’”, “One Robot’s Dream” and particularly “Made Of Tears” – to another level and space with his crisp riffing, and some searing fusiony lines. I for one would like to hear more Joe fusion work! He once mentioned to me that sometime prior to “Not Of This Earth” he had in fact toured a three piece instrumental fusion band through Europe. Man I would love to hear some of that stuff!

Joe’s band as always is crisp and precise, never intruding on his lyrical and melodic vocal solo style and presentation yet providing superb backbeat and support. Newcomer Dave LaRue in particular (ex Dregs, David Chastain etc) puts in a stellar performance causing chants of LaRue. Finally someone adequately replaces the chants of Stu and the long lost virtuosity of Stu Hamm! See, Matt Bissonnette is a great studio bass player and all but he just never clicked with me (and apparently with many other Satch fans either) live. Particularly when asked to perform and stack up against say a Billy Sheehan on a nightly basis!

Many may feel this DVD (what with all the Satch related product that has been issued in the past three or four years) is another cash grab while the iron is hot, but I implore you to get it. If you were fortunate enough to see this tour, the DVD will undoubtedly bring back a smile and great memories back to you. If you did not see that tour, you will wish you had and be very happy indeed to at least have this set that captures a Joe who was/is very pleased with himself and at a very upbeat and happy time in his life as he approached the big 5-0!

Rock on Joe!

Bonus Features include: Super Colossal In The Studio, In Rehearsal, On Tour and “The Video” as well as a second disk containing “Flying In A Blue Dream: Joe Satriani India Tour, May 2005,European tour footage, Pod casts and a slide show! A great value package to be sure!

DVD Track Listing

Disc One

1. Flying In A Blue Dream
2. The Extremist
3. Redshift Riders
4. Cool #9
5. A Cool New Way
6. Satch Boogie
7. Super Colossal
8. Just Like Lightnin’
9. Ice 9
10. One Robot’s Dream
11. Ten Words
12. The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing
13. The Meaning of Love
14. Made of Tears
15. Circles
16. Always With Me, Always With You
17. Surfing With The Alien
18. Crowd Chant
19. Summer Song

Bonus Features:

• Super Colossal: In The Studio (“Crowd Chant”)
• In Rehearsal
• On Tour (The Last US Show)
• Super Colossal Video

Disc Two (All Bonus Features)

• Flying In A Blue Dream: Joe Satriani India Tour
• 2006 Tour Podcasts #1 – #4
• European Tour Slide show