The original line-up behind the G3 touring concept return with Reunion Live, to be released 31st January 2025, worldwide on earMUSIC. The album captures the guitar virtuosity of Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, and Steve Vai on their sold-out 2024 US tour. This was an electrifying reunion featuring the three guitar icons who first joined forces in 1996 with the record set to showcase those boundary-pushing performances that define G3.
Ahead of the album release comes a live rendition of Joe Satriani’s ‘Big Bad Moon’, as the lates single and video release from the parent album.
“Reuniting with Eric and Steve, commemorating the very first G3 tour of ’96, was nothing short of genius. They were the first two guitarists I called when planning G3’s maiden voyage, so this reunion was a confirmation of our special connection.” Satriani said of the event captured on Reunion Live.
You can stream the single here and watch the music video below.
Thwacking away in a hard rock boogie one minute with a rare throaty-voiced vocal, pinging away in sonic fusion blues mode the next, Joe Satriani’s ‘Big Bad Moon’ is very much a live melting-in-your-face big bad werewolf of a number.
The G3 single experience previously saw ‘Desert Rose’ from Eric Johnson’s platinum-selling, Grammy Award-winning album Ah Via Musicom as a standout moment to relive and cherish again. For those who weren’t, G3 Reunion Live has been described as “the full G3 live experience waiting to be discovered”.
You can access the ‘Desert Rose’ single here and check out the video to it below.
A rare vocal track from ever inventive Stateside guitarist Eric Johnson, ‘Desert Rose’ is both an ethereal highway rocker and a fiery but melodic fusion fest wherein Eric Johnson – probably the least known G3 originator to UK listeners – defies all reason, creating sounds and musical patterns that leap out at the listener without vainglorious ego but genuine joyous pride.
Eric Johnson’s ‘Desert Rose’ follows Steve Vai’s ‘Zeus In Chains’ single taken from the long player – That instrumental is empirical; glories in its inherent power while moving with a graceful lyrical elegance, and it’s only through its more profound slower tortured squeals of guitar that you take it’s full title, and meaning, into account. It’s also only with the last few notes and the raw of the crowd that you realise this number is being performed live.
The ‘Zeus In Chains’ single is available here and you can check out the video to it right here at RAMzine.
Reunion Live is much more than just a live album. It’s a full album-length from each artist, comprising their hits, plus a collaborative supergroup LP and the first G3 release in 20 years. Alongside each guitarist performing their fan favourite hits, there’s an encore where they jam on Hendrix, Clapton and Steppenwolf covers.
The deluxe edition features a different coloured vinyl for each artist, a special splatter LP for the encore jam, and a 64-page photo book, divided into artist and jam chapters, with the full program also on 2 CDs. It is also available in a 2CD digipack with a 16-page photo booklet and, 4 LP gatefold and digital download.
Satriani said, “This live album recorded at The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles captures all the energy of the live performances while shining a spotlight on the ever-evolving art of playing the electric guitar.”
Since its inception in 1996, the G3 tour has consistently brought together guitar legends for unforgettable performances. Each edition of the tour has featured guitar virtuosos performing solo sets that showcased their individual mastery, followed by electrifying jam sessions that highlighted their collaborative brilliance.
Over the years, G3 has seen guitarists like Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, and Paul Gilbert, among others, joining the ranks. Expanding beyond the U.S., the tour has evolved into a global celebration of guitar excellence, uniting fans and artists from different generations and genres, making it a must-see event for guitar aficionados worldwide. The G3 experience represents more than just a series of performances—it has become a platform for creative collaboration and a testament to the enduring power of guitar music.
“A G3 tour is always an electrifying experience, and this particular G3 tour with Eric and Joe was a career highlight for me,” said Steve Vai. “To be able to hit the road with old friends and be in that lit-up environment of the stage and communicate on the deepest musical levels with friends is a privilege and honour, especially with such incredible players as Eric and Joe, who delivered magnificently at these shows.”
While Eric Johnson commented: “Playing with Joe and Steve was an affirmation that while we all want to push the envelope of musical boundaries; we also want to share our heart experience and a soulful communication of the music that we have been allowed to partake of in our own lives.”Leaving the event’s originator, Satriani, having the final word, “Reuniting with Eric and Steve this year, commemorating the very first G3 tour of ’96, was nothing short of glorious. They were the first two guitarists I called when planning G3’s maiden voyage, so, this reunion was a confirmation of our special connection. Storming the stage with two of my favourite musical giants, celebrating our shared roots as well as our unique differences, once again proved to be a winning formula.”
Available digitally , as 2CD digipack, 4LP (Black) gatefold, deluxe slipcase with 4LPs (Coloured), 64-page coffee table book and 2CDs.
Tracks featured are: ‘Gravitas’, ‘Avalancha’), ‘Little Pretty Intro’, ‘Little Pretty’, ‘Tender Surrender’, ‘Zeus in Chains’, ‘Teeth Of The Hydra’ and ‘For The Love Of God’ (Vai); ‘Land Of 1000 Dances’, ‘Righteous’, ‘Trail of Tears’, ‘On-Ramp Improv’, ‘Freeway Jam’, ‘Desert Rose’ and ‘Venus Reprise’ (Johnson); ‘Raspberry Jam Delta-V’, ‘Surfing With The Alien’, ‘Satch Boogie’, ‘Sahara’, ‘Nineteen Eighty’, ‘Big Bad Moon’, ‘Always With Me, Always With You’ and ‘Summer Song’; ‘Introductions’, ‘Crossroads (Encore Jam)’, Spanish Castle Magic (Encore Jam)’ and ‘Born To Be Wild (Encore Jam)’.
You can order the album here and access the G3 single ‘Crossroads’ released in October here and check out the music video here at RAMzine.
Taking as starting point, the same live 1968 rendition of Robert Johnson’s old blues number that Cream committed to Side 3, Track 1 of their mega-selling Wheels Of Fire album, that so many have since, where Satriani, Vai and Johnson differ is that rather than mimic Clapton’s iconic solos, allow their individual guitar styles to mesh and individually explore other sonic extremities.
