G3 - Live in Concert
Performance
Production
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G3 - Live in Concert
Performance
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This was the original incarnation of the G3 tour, which featured tour mastermind Joe Satriani along with fellow guitar gods Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson. This concert was recorded in 1996 during their U.S. tour. I was not lucky enough to have caught this tour in person, but I did see the 2001 G3 tour with Satriani, Vai, and John Petrucci of Dream Theater. I have also recently viewed the G3 Live In Denver DVD, which features Yngwie Malmsteen, so I have a couple of things to compare this version to. I think the 2001 G3 tour, with Petrucci, was the best of the three. That opinion is obviously a little biased since that was the only show I saw in person, and Petrucci is my favorite of the "new" crop of rock guitarists. The G3 tour was a brilliant concept dreamed up by Joe Satriani. For the most part, a two hour concert of just Satriani, or just Steve Vai tends to wear a little thin after the first hour or so, except to only the most die hard fans and guitar geeks. Instrumental guitar-rock is not the most accessible form of music in the world, and is mostly only really appreciated by fellow guitarists. I say this as a guitarist (wannabe) myself, who could listen to this stuff all day, but most people can't, and don't. That is why the G3 tours have been so successful. I doubt either of the individual guitarists could sell out the venues, that G3 does, by themselves, but put three of these axe masters under one bill, and you've got shredder heaven. You should get awarded three college music credits for showing a stamped ticket to one of these shows, because you will get SCHOOLED in the art of guitar! The format of the concerts works well. Each guitarist gets about an hour set, and then they jam together for another half hour for the encore. It gives the non-guitarist, non-fanatic, a chance to breath between the non-stop riff onslaught they are treated to by each guitarist. G3 Live In Concert is an excellent, although too short, documentation of the original 1996 tour. The performance order on the DVD is different from the actual concert, which always has Satriani closing, preceded by Vai, and with the guest guitarist opening. The DVD opens with three songs, "Cool #9", "Flying In A Blue Dream", and "Summer Song" from Satriani's set. He is an absolute wizard with the guitar, capable of playing any style and speed. "Flying In A Blue Dream" is a hypnotic song that showcases Satriani's lighter jazz-rock fusion side. It was a nice contrast to the two other heavier, faster songs. My only complaint is that his songs sounded a little thin compared to the studio version. This is because he went with the power trio format, guitar bass, drums. A rhythm guitarist, to fill out the sound more, would have been a nice complement to his band. Eric Johnson's set was second, and only included three songs, as well. His style is completely different to the somewhat similar styles of Vai and Satriani. Johnson plays with a very clean tone, and his jazz/rock/blues fusion style is much softer than Satriani and Vai. He is not nearly the showman as the other two - he my as well sit down while he plays, but the songs are fantastic. Steve Vai's three song set is last on this DVD, and his performance was my favorite of the three. He is the consummate, flamboyant showman; constantly interacting with the audience and his bandmates; always showing off; and simply playing the hell out of his seven-string. "For The Love Of God" is one of the best instrumental guitar songs ever, and this was the best I have ever seen him play it. It practically brought tears to my eyes - and I am an atheist. Vai brought along Mike Keneally to play guitar and keyboards on this tour, and he adds significantly to the excitement and sound of Vai's set. Watch the guitar dual they have during "The Attitude Song" and you will see that he is in the same league as Vai. Satriani should have borrowed him for his set. The encore jam session started with a killer version of the Jeff Beck classic "Going Down". Satriani handled the lead vocal duties on this song, as each guitarist traded solos that highlighted each of their unique styles. Johnson was wearing a huge set of studio headphones throughout the entire jam - I find it so annoying when a drummer or other musician wears headphones during a CONCERT! It is supposed to be live rock and roll you perfectionist geek! This, along with his clean tone and subdued style made him look severely out of place amongst the more flamboyant and heavy Vai and Satriani. Johnson is too much of a perfectionist, which explains why he takes about six years to release each new album. But damnit, he can play that guitar - so carry on! The second song, "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama", was a tribute to Vai's old mentor Frank Zappa. Vai and Keneally shared the vocal duties on this tune. G3 closed the show with a bluesy, extended version of Jimi Hendix's "Red House", which featured Johnson on lead vocals. None of these guitarists are particularly good singers, which explains why they stick mostly to the instrumentals on their albums. My biggest complaint about this DVD is the ridiculously short running time. Why in the hell do you only include 68 minutes (not 75 like the disk says) of what was a three hour concert. It is not like they filled up the DVD with tons of extras either. The bare-minimum should be 90 minutes. Live In Concert was originally filmed for and released on VHS. The transfer to DVD turned out very well, although the video is very grainy at times and is not as sharp as it could be. The excessive graininess only occurs in certain spots, notably during the first song, but the majority of the concert is reasonably clear. The camera work was excellent and concentrated mostly on medium range and close-up shots of the featured guitarists. There were also plenty of full stage performance shots to give the viewer a nice front row perspective. The Dolby 5.1 surround mix sounded outstanding and provided an adequate separation of the instruments. The bass was deep and loud and the drums were mixed perfectly. Every ring of the hihat and every cymbal crash was crisp and clear. The surround speakers were used primarily to provide ambience and some crowd noise. This first G3 tour was the start of something great. Now four or five tours and another DVD later, it is more popular than ever. This is a much welcomed and needed thing for all of us guitar fans out there. It would be great to see a new DVD released after each tour. There is a long list of guitarists that I would love to see them include in the next G3 tours, and as long as they continue to change up their set lists, these tours should never get tiresome. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - January 2004 |
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Audio Transfer |
Video Transfer |
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Set List |
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Running Time: 68 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - October 2002 |