It’s been some time since Joe Satriani last graced the Symphony Hall in Birmingham, a wonderful venue known for its great sound and friendly staff, and the place is packed to the rafters for his return. As always, the audience is impressively diverse, ranging from serious-looking musos to leather clad metallers, and there’s a really good-natured atmosphere, reflecting the easy attitude of Satch, whose obvious and geeky love of music is always an absolute pleasure to witness. Following a quick trip to the bar (which some wonderful person has stocked with Purity beers), we enter the hall to find that the enthusiastic buzz in the bar has given way to an air of hushed expectation, the stage already awash with blue lighting, and we take our seats, waiting for the alien to surf into view.
Set 1
It starts with an ominous rumble, Joe’s white-hot band arriving to a huge cheer from the audience, before the man himself arrives and the volume doubles. Ever the ebullient host, he gives a cheeky smile before launching into the opening riff-fest of 1980, his fingers blazing over his custom, lava lamp decorated guitar as the video for the track is projected onto the giant screens behind him. It is one hell of a start, and the loud cheers of the audience all but drown out the closing notes. Next up, the arid atmospherics of Sahara offer a nice juxtaposition to the fast-paced opener and, as smoke pours on to the stage, Joe’s guitar soars over it all, throwing out sublime melodies as it goes. The riffs are back, along with an epic stomp for early set highlight Elephants of Mars, an utterly ridiculous jam that delights in its own absurdity as the video screens project a comic book come to life. It’s a brilliant piece, full of life and humour, and it has a vitality that is wholly irresistible.
It’s time for another change and, having introduced the band, Ice 9 offers cleaner tones and throbbing bass, which transforms into a full-blown bass solo from the wonderfully energetic and extremely talented Bryan Beller, while the audience gamely clap along. As if that weren’t enough, the final stages of the song see a stunning, jazz-infused battle between guitar and keys, that sees Joe and Rai Thistlethwayte combine virtuosity with a goofy sense of humour that keeps the audience hooked. In keeping with its name, Thunder Clap has an epic tom beat and suitably humongous riffs, while One Big Rush is a fast–paced track, with Rai switching to guitar for added weight.
With the set flying past, we get both a change of guitar and a change of pace for the bluesy weirdness of Blue Foot Groovy and then Spirits, Ghosts and Outlaws emerges from a groovy bass riff to get the crowd clapping all over again. With Kenny shooting off the grid with all sorts of interesting tempo shifts, Joe and Rai go head-to-head once more, the guitars screaming as Rai runs his fingers across the keys. In stark contrast, Faceless offers a moment of simple sincerity – a serious number in a silly set – before Joe brings it home with the one-two punch of Crystal Planet and Summer Song, the latter seeing the whole band rocking out as the screens project images of race cars smashing in to one another in an apt metaphor for the shockwaves Joe emits.
Set 2
Opening the second set, the audience is treated to a short, technically astonishing solo from master drummer Kenny Aronoff, which perfectly paves the way for the well-named Energy, a storming track that is all whipcrack riffs and explosive lead. Changing down a gear, Satch takes us to E104th St NYC 1973 which, with is seventies groove, proves to be a slow-burning, jazz-infused number filled with loving nostalgia. Better still, as the piece ends in droning feedback, the lights land on Rai for an insane, heavily distorted keyboard solo that sounds like Jon Lord on a sabbath trip. Keeping things varied, Joe channels the late Jeff Beck on Cool #9, a bluesy number with jazz underpinnings that has the crowd shouting along as Bryan takes a walk on the wild side, high kicking across the stage in time to the music.
The set arguably reaches a furious peak with a monstrous Shapeshifting, which moves from fast-paced rocker to art rock bruiser, complete with dizzying, Floyd-esque guitar work and awkward time signature shifts. Similarly engaging is the bizarrely titled Luminous Flesh Giants which, with its thunderous drums, driving bass riff and crushing riffs, has the audience roaring their approval. It all leads up to Satch Boogie of course, the screen showing a nimble Joe (complete with hair) blazing away on his fretboard, while his beaming, present-day incarnation proves no less energetic. It gains a standing ovation, and deservedly so, bringing Joe and his band back to the stage for one last blast, in the form of the evergreen Surfing The Alien, bringing this very special evening to a suitably raucous close.
Joe Satriani is a rare and wonderful musician. While he is undoubtedly a virtuoso, and one of the finest exponents on the guitar in the rock world, his gift is to never make you feel that way. He never takes himself too seriously, he always serves the song and, while it’s clearly his show, he never overshadows his awesome band, all of whom are fantastic musicians in their own right, and clearly having a ball on stage. The camaraderie on stage is remarkable and it translates to the audience, who clap, cheer and shout throughout a performance that just whizzes past. We leave feeling elated, the soaring leads still ringing in our ears and a sense that we have just seen something that is not only awe inspiring on a musical level, but also possessed of that wonderful sense of community evoked only by the best musical events. It is a night to treasure, and we cannot wait for Joe to return.
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