Some sizeable queues have been queuing outside the Wolverhampton Civic Hall from an early hour I’m told, and entering the venue a good percentage have already taken their seats. This is my first here since it’s been renovated. Not so much an overall as the Wulfrun Hall that backs onto it, but the facades adorning the packed circles are obviously new.
A big screen hangs high over the back stage area bearing the logo of tonight’s main event, The SATCHVAI Band – featuring Stateside guitar virtuosos Joe Satriani and Steve Vai and their all-star band – before too long it’ll be pumping out videos non-stop, but first it changes to offer both a giant-sized photo and name check for tonight’s special guest, one Ned Evett.
The inventor of the fretless glass-necked guitar, Evett’s got some half-dozen solo albums to his name, and previous form with Satriani, both live and in other creative endeavours. He’s up on stage, just him, a variety of guitars, and a rhythm and music loop.
He’s walked on stage to a wall of sound created by his guitar, and the first thing you notice is that there’s a slide affixed to his fretboard that he moves up and down the neck, and tends to hammer with his thumb and pluck with his other right hand fingers as he produces a song that vaguely could be described as bluesy with a colourful drone to his playing and going under the handle of ‘Mississippi Ganges’. “This guitar is made from aluminium and plexi-glassand it’s light!” he tells us and will proceed to discuss each of his instruments, like a good-natured salesman. ‘Good News’ follows and is about live music, overall reminding one of Pete Townsend’s solo work, with some heavy soling and a good vocal delivery.
“This guitar’s made of titanium” he says of the semi-solid Nashville-styled instrument he holds up like a violin but backwards and proceeds to thump its back as ambient noise to what’s initially an Appalachian-derived number with yodelling going under the handle ‘Mars River Delta 2128’ and as he begins playing the guitar more orthodoxly the song’s sci-fi cowboy lyrics pull the listener in further and receives some huge applause upon conclusion. Next up, from his new record, ‘Message To You’, a rhythm builds and he plays clear noted melodies only to turn into something resembling an avant-garde Robert Palmer before getting rockier. Then, before his last number he asks “Do you want to see a glass guitar?” and proceeds to play an eerily enchanting solo, announces into the mic “My name is Neil Evett and this is my last number – Check me out on Instragram!” jovially he creates chopped-rhythms with waves of guitar echoing over the top, and it’s only about halfway through I realise it’s a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Are You Experienced?’. As he takes his leave with a Thankyou so much, good night” I make a note to check out his work, as aside from his novel guitar playing; he appears to write some interesting lyrics.
A short intermission, then lights go down and the crowd applauds as figures are just made out walking across the stage. The stage covered in purple light, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani walk out playing their guitars. Bass player Marco Mendoza walks up to the microphone and calls out into it: “Thank you, Wolverhampton!… Are you ready?” and not waiting for an answer the two lead guitarists begin playing in unison, a cartoon version of their recent single ‘I Wanna Play My Guitar’ with Mendoza taking Glenn Hughes’ studio recorded vocals for tonight’s live performance where the sunglasses playing pair extend the song’s format.
Both decked in black, Satriani in standard t-shirt, strides and big white boots, Vai wearing a long coat like the 80s never went out of fashion and sparkly striped shirt. The aforementioned Mendoza is tidily hirsute and masculine but doesn’t go looking for the spotlight, to his left moving about is third guitarist Pete Thorn, whose shaggy hair makes him reminiscent of late 70s Stateside guitarists like Pat Travers or Eddie Van Halen, his role being to hold the sound, colour it, and also take solos of his own. At the back, Kenny Aronoff sits behind the drums who’s precise with that American session sensibility but hits with a heck of a lot of power live. There’s already a lot of whammy bar action up on stage and a little fusion too before they head into their second number of the night, ‘The Sea Of Emotion Pt. 1’; their second collaborative recording with its very title implying there’s more to come.
Centre stage, Vai solos, his shifting movements heightened by the wind catching his coat tails and causing to dance adding to that whole techno wizard appeal of his. The number transmogrifies into something echoing Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’ with weightier dog’s testicles. Harmonics glisten, runs astound but even as one tries to appreciate what’s happening the music moves on a stage further. Again in unison, Vai and Satriani play together, but the band as a whole play as an ensemble – and they’ve not been together long – Mendoza now holding to the back in front of his amp leaving the main men to wander freely about the stage as the mood takes them.
With a change of guitars for Vai, he’s announced by Satriani who himself leaves the stage. ‘Zeus In Chains’ proves a monster, especially as it moves into double time, from elegiac touches to explosive trills where his guitar seems to change colour, in turn reciprocated by the house lights themselves. The guitar changes ensue as ‘Little Pretty’ explores chord shapes as much as it evokes 50s-gone-kaleidoscopic textures.
An added visual bonus tonight are the videos overhead of the band, old official footage and works presumably created by Satriani’s son, ZZ, for these live performances. Vai explains the tag-team nature that some of this evening will entail and proceeds to leave as Satriani returns. One worries this might become a bit hit and miss with such changes, but it doesn’t prove to be the case – Much as neither is going to play one note when several will do, they play the right notes, and seem aware which songs don’t need overplaying. However, this isn’t happening quite yet, as Vai returns having removed his coat. A mashup of ‘Ice 9’/’The Crying Machine’ is next and while very much performers as much as extravagant soloists the observer will note both the manner in which they each move about the stage is different as is the way their hands move across their guitars – even when playing in harmony, and yet there’s a symbiotic nature to their work, and they’re not competing but egging each other on, expressively appreciative of each other’s talents. That or damned good actors.
With a “take it away, Joe!” Vai exits the stage for a while long and we’re entreated to ‘Flying In A Blue Dream’ the sci-fi video overhead working particularly well on sections where Satriani sustains exquisitely before tearing up his fretboard as a rocket avoid hitting asteroids. ‘Surfing With The Alien’ is next and it comes about right in the set to offer a welcome more mainstream rock strut to proceedings, the video screening suitably blurring out the Silver Surfer-styled character to avoid any heavy Disney copyright concerns, while the stretch of Satriani’s left hand from a singular holding position has us questioning if the man himself possesses Mr. Fantastic’s superpowers.
Satriani numbers continue with ‘Sahara’ but Vai’s now back on stage, an empirical march within which the fluidity of their musicianship is apparent, with clear noted runs you barely have time to appreciate before they’ve moved on. Satriani leaves and his tag-team partner plays ‘Tender Surrender’ as again I’m enamoured of the brushed chordal strokes he emits here. Lights go down and what could be a hearse is brought on stage, as Vai lifts the black shawl covering it is his hydra guitar featuring seven and 12 string guitar necks, a bass neck, harp strings and a whole lot more besides – He does not hold this hefty beast rather it rests on a stand. Opening with suitably fiendish horror movie sounds, ‘Teeth Of The Hydra’ commences, slithering into life with much drama, a sea of lights changing colour and Vai himself extravagantly moving his hands across each of the instruments sections akin to some Easter hand dance. When Satriani returns he remarks it’s only ever used for the one number, and asks each of the band members if they’ve ever had a go at playing it, at which they all reply not – Musically these talented musicians have lofty ideals, but the impression is that they’ve not lost their sense of humour. One more, Satriani takes us to the heart of what counts with a rollicking ‘Satch Boogie’ where the hard-driving interplay between the guitarist and Aronoff is noted, but it’s the concluding section where Satriani moves from a double-handed orchestral tap to playing his guitar with his teeth, holding down his whammy bar for a hefty sonic sustain and wearing a big smile on his face as the number reaches its crashing conclusion where she equals Vai’s visual showmanship.
Expressive but wild notes emit from his guitar while overhead aerial views of the American countryside brush past on ‘If I Could Fly’. Thorn also solos on this number, standing beside Satriani, with Vai latterly joining them, and so too Mendoza moving forward with everyone in front of the drum riser smiling as the numbers soars towards its conclusion.
‘For The Love Of God’ and ‘Always With Me, Always With You’ seem to merge effortlessly, with them pirouetting between ballet music and heavier fusion, with the crowd rising in applause as The Beatles’ ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’ is inserted into its final moments. There are bows and they leave to the ongoing applause before returning to encore, initially with a call and response of “Whoah- whoah” between band and audience, then a couple of heavy hitting cover tunes.
Metallica hit ‘Enter Sandman’ is – dare one say it – funkier, yet also more sonically explosive and eerie, the audience singing along with Mendoza and more easterly instrumental solo sections added, while bounding around the stage. Thereafter, they’re straight into that evergreen classic, Steppenwolf’s ‘Born To Be Wild’ where here the number’s appeached as a bright shiny space-trucking singalong and some long far from boring solos prior to Mendoza shouting out “Sing it one last time!” and the audience responding in the affirmative, as they race to the song’s end.
With thanks offered from Satriani, both circles and stalls are standing and applauding as the band take another final bow, Aronoff shakes hands with fans, and they’re off.
Quite a show, some really impressive music while being visually entertained. I rather suspect no one left tonight feeling anything other than having got good value for their hard-earned money.
Photographs (c) Chud Photography.
