For the first time in their nearly 50-year musical careers, legendary guitar icons Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have united to form The SATCHVAI Band. What’s more, the iconic guitarists will embark on an electrifying summer tour together across the UK and Europe.
The UK leg of the tour will kick off at the York Barbican (13th June) followed by dates at London Eventim Apollo (14th June), Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (17th June), Wolverhampton Civic Hall (18th June), and Manchester O2 Apollo (19th June).
An exclusive 48-hour ticket pre-sale starts today, Wednesday 11th December 11 at 10am, via the link here (Using the code: surfingwiththehydra). Thereafter, tickets will go on general sale at 10am on Friday 13th December via this link and here. You can watch the official announcement of the tour by Joe Satriani and Steve Vai via the video below.
Satriani and Vai, along with each of their respective bands, initially joined forces for their first-ever tour together, outside of the G3 format, the past spring (2024) across select U.S. cities. They decided it was finally time to form a band together and bring that winning formula to the live stage, beginning in Europe.
Celebrating nearly five decades of musical friendship, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai made their first musical collaboration debut in March 2024. ‘The Sea Of Emotion, Pt. 1’ highlights the synergy between these two legendary guitarists as they seamlessly trade solo sections throughout the six-minute opus. Their second collaboration is set to be released just before the European tour, adding even more anticipation for this epic run.
The pairs musical careers have been intertwined since their very early days. Satriani served as Vai’s guitar teacher during their teenage years on Long Island, New York. Their connection has continued to evolve over the years, even sharing record labels, starting at Relativity Records in the late 80s, to both calling Sony/Epic Records home for a significant portion of the 90s. Together, they have also frequently teamed up with a third guitarist on multiple occasions throughout the span of three decades, participating in the semi-annual G3 Tours, both in the U.S. and abroad.
“The SATCHVAI Band tour is happening! I’m so looking forward to sharing the stage with Steve again,” said Satriani. “Every time we play together, it takes me back to when we were teenagers, eating and breathing music every second of the day, pushing, challenging, and helping each other to be the best we could be. I guess we’ve never stopped!”
Vai added, “Touring with Joe is always a pleasure and an honour. He is my favourite guitarist to jam with, and now we have another opportunity to take it to the stage. I feel as though we are both at the top of our game, and the show will be a powerful celebration of the coolest instrument in the world, the electric guitar!”
Joe Satriani himself has had a packed schedule recently having concluded the Sammy Hagar-led Best Of All Worlds Tour, that was met with much fanfare and critical acclaim. While Steve Vai has been playing shows across the U.S. as part of the BEAT tour following the conclusion of the Satch/Vai tour earlier this year.
For more about the guitarists’ involvement with G3 at RAMzine click here.
Stay tuned for more details on this unprecedented collaboration and the release of their highly anticipated new music.
