On the large stage of the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia, Steve Vai gives as good as he gets to a capacity crowd filling the hall.
shooting the moon
At a select point in the Vai set, Mike Keneally, armed with an axe of his own to grind, strides onto the stage in a purposeful manner.
here come the warm jets
Meanwhile, backstage, Mick Brigden delivers to Joe copies of the Satchurated concert DVD and CD. A carefully recorded, filmed (hi-def! 3D!) and mixed live show from Montreal, Canada, in December 2010, the film is already in limited release in several hundred 3D theaters worldwide. This release is a watershed moment for this author. Joe knows a moment when he sees one. Look Ma! Top of the world!!!
one of these things is not like the other
Steve Vai and band have left a smoking crater in front of the stage and now it’s our turn to mop up. This we do with enjoyment. Following quickly on our raucous and enthusiastic set, the G3 guitarists grab notes and squeeze.
one note open string bass line makes this photo possible
After the set we are all energized. This was an especially good one, it had the magic. The guitar players animatedly and happily discuss their notes (they do this!) and Joe demonstrates a peak moment as Vai and Luke laugh in recognition.
air guitar (L to R: Luke, Joe & Vai)
Outside, out back of the venue a wild rabid horde of fans presses dangerously up against steel retaining bars eager to catch a glimpse, a word, a signature, a guitar pick….ahh…actually, no. It was an appreciative and polite bunch, bless them, and they asked nicely.
Steve Lukather signs autographs
The next day is a travel day, to Melbourne and beyond. I think 8am is early but the crew has already left the hotel.
where is your cruise ship now Herr Frankenstein?
There isn’t enough coffee in the world.
Really enjoying your posts, Allen, and hope on on the whole you’re enjoying your tour here. Looking forward to seeing you all play in Brisbane on Thursday night. We’re having a beer beforehand at The Fox across the street. Come on down and have one with us.
all the best
Steve
beer….before the show? yow!
Hi Allen, great diary…lots of fun to read, thanks for sharing.. I just happened to be of of the guys outside the back of the Horden pavillion, Sydney on that night!! I had been there earlier and had a brief chat with Mike Keneally giving him a copy of a friends CD which was just released – 1st time to put anything out since making gold records and winning arias in the 70′s.!
I was also the guy that noticed your photo which has now been fixed – sorry to post that to Mike’s facebook page but wasn’t sure how to get the message across – hope it didn’t pose too many problems!!
Not sure if you know but the Hordern has quite a history of bands for Sydney – Zappa recording there in the ’70s, so it’s a cool venue for you guys to play…I assume the sound up on stage was great – unfortunately the PA’s were being driven way too hard and were distorting for most of the night – I had a quite word with the guy mixing and heard back he upped the limiters earlier on & was assured it would be fixed…they improved things but not quite enough……(reminds me of the show a friend did where the PA was actually off – the fallbacks sounded great but the audience was dead quiet!)..Most of the guys in the audience just appreciate the fact that that such a show is brought over to Aus (we don’t get many!!) so I guess the reaction would be good no matter what but one of the crew having a walk about to check the sound during the show wouldn’t have gone amiss!!
Hope you have enjoyed your stay downunder…back home soon I guess….
All the best for the rest of the tour…
Mark..
hooray! very glad to be here and have enjoyed it immensely! hope to return sooner than later. thanks for being there!