JOE SATRIANI, JOHN PETRUCCI AND PAUL GILBERT
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN THEATER
The 5th North American go around for the G3 tour which started in 1996 came through New York City with the stellar line up of Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci and Joe Stariani. This is a guitar player’s Super Bowl as three of the best players in the world take the stage and just simply play the hell out of the electric guitar. Paul Gilbert gets things started by walking onto the stage while the house lights are still on. He gets his set into gear with a mix of his solo stuff and Racer X material which was just incredible. What often happens at these shows is that guys like Paul Gilbert win over some new fans with their brilliant playing.
Speaking of brilliant guitar playing, John Petrucci was up second and he played every song off of his 2005 release “Suspended Animation”. Petrucci is a local guy who grew up in Long Island and he looks the part as he takes the stage in jeans and a black t-shirt. It’s obvious that his main focus is playing the guitar because in my opinion he was the best of the night. His set was very melodic and heavy at the same time and his 45 minutes went to over an hour instead.
The headliner Joe Satriani is just a machine. His hour long set is always top notch and puts everybody in awe at how effortless he plays guitar. Fellow musicians in the audience are just blown away by this guy every time I see him. He’s also a local product out of the Long Island area as well. Joe said “I can’t believe the song I’m about to play is off of an album that’s twenty years old” as he kicked into “Satch Boogie”. Well if you weren't blown away with talent at this point your head nearly exploded as all three took the stage for a jam that ended the show. The G3 tour is only a month long here in the states unfortunately so if you missed it you’ll have to wait until next year to catch it again. Go to www.satriani.com for updated info.
