12 hours ago2 min read

G3 - 'Reunion Live'

Needless to say, unless you like guitar virtuoso music, you probably won’t buy this.

G3 is a concept started in 1996 by virtuoso guitarist Joe Satriani, in which he joined forces with other renowned guitarists to mesmerise fans worldwide. The first line-up contained Steve Vai and Eric Johnson and, I don’t believe they ever toured the UK, and it would appear the same is re-occurring; so, the only chance you get at finding out how it all sounds is by buying this 2CD set... at least for the moment.

On the two discs (three with the vinyl edition), recorded at The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, you get twenty-seven tracks, starting with eight from Vai. Of the three guitarists, Vai is the most experimental, and the one who, despite my seeing him numerous times and owning all his albums, sometimes leaves me cold, with such tracks as ‘Avalancha, ‘Little Pretty’ and ‘Teeth Of The Hydra’ having that effect. I understand it’s maybe clever, technical and suchlike, but I like to hear something where the notes fit nicely together to produce something that I can remember, rather than leaving me scratching my head. ‘Tender Surrender’ and ‘For The Love Of God’ makes up for it though.

Johnson is up next with his seven offerings, and we’re on much firmer footing here, as it’s considerably easier to follow. ‘Land Of 1000 Dances’ even has vocals (sort of), and ‘Trail Of Tears’ and ‘Desert Rose’ are actual songs, so differ from the main focus of the night, and maybe add a nice contrast. ‘Righteous’ is simply heads down, no-nonsense, while ‘On-Ramp Improv’ is comparatively quite gentle beside that and ‘Freeway Jam’, gathers a little steam, while ‘Venus Reprise’ mellows things out a little.

The last “solo set” is Satriani’s and, while still a guitar frenzy, it is easier to follow. ‘Raspberry Jam Delta’ has weird noises, but it’s followed by ‘Surfing With The Alien’, an old favourite which is much more familiar territory. ‘Big Bad Moon’, from the album ‘Flying In A Blue Dream’, again varies by including vocals, while ‘Always With Me, Always With You’ is an old, all-time favourite, for which I assume the audience microphones were cut at the start, as every time I have seen this performed it always gets a loud cheer at the beginning, but not here. ‘Summer Song’ sees the introduction of Joe’s son ZZ Satriani, who Satriani senior reveals is filming a documentary about the tour, and who plays alongside his dad.

The last three tracks are the “G3 Jam”, where all three play together, and which always happens at these events. Eric Clapton’s ‘Crossroads’, Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Spanish Castle Magic’ and Steppenwolf’s ‘Born To Be Wild’ are those in question and, as you can imagine, they last longer than the originals. Needless to say, unless you like guitar virtuoso music, you probably won’t buy this. Those who do will be in seventh heaven, although most will come back to earth quickly after realising they can’t play along.

Reviewer: Andy Brailsford

Label: earMUSIC

Genre: Instrumental

Issue Reviewed In: 109

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