Written by:	Ivor
Published:	28.10.2015
Galleries:	Joe Satriani - Rock Café, Tallinn, Estonia, 19.10.2015 by Ivor (25)

For many, Joe Satriani is an idol to look up to, a teacher to learn from, and an example to follow. The hands of this guitar god are so nimble that you wouldn't believe it unless you saw him play. His influence in guitar music is unquestionable whether you like his music or not. You have to see him play at least once in your life. So, when this man is in town, you really should go out to a show.




I somewhat underestimated the interest in Joe Satriani. When I hit the venue, the line was stretching far outside the doors. When I stepped inside with not a moment to spare, Dan Patlansky, a talented South African blues guitarist, was already on stage finishing what I suppose was his first song. Patlansky looks like a man of considerable guitar skills himself, but was unfortunately not given much time to showcase his prowess. By my estimation he was allotted maybe a 20-minute time-slot, a window way too short by any reasonable convention.

Having debated reasons for going to the show until almost the very last moment, I frankly knew nothing of who was in Satriani's backing band. It was safe to assume that they were no less than very skilled and seasoned musicians. You have to be, if you're laying musical foundations for the guitar master. Turns out the band consisted of Mike Keneally on second guitar and keyboards, Bryan Beller on bass, and no less than Marco Minnemann on drums.

While Satriani was running his nimble fingers up and down the guitar neck effortlessly right from the very first notes, it did look like the whole band took a while to really get going. It was also apparent that the show would naturally be very heavily centred on Satriani despite the incredible backing band. It was, however, somewhat humorous to look at Marco drumming out fours with a look clearly saying he could do this in his sleep all night long and still be fresh as daisies in the morning.




The initial impression left something to be desired, especially since I love Marco's drumming and have seen what he does live before. Thinking that the other guys would play second fiddle for the whole show was a little disheartening. As the show went on, however, they all got their say at one point or another, be that as a fence-off with Satriani or a complete solo spot when Satch stepped into shadows and observed his partners appreciatively.

Having seen a couple of other guitar guys play, like Richie Kotzen, Paul Gilbert, and Steve Vai, I have to say that Joe Satriani shares one common trait with them. I feel their music as well as live performances tend to be more of a show-case of various playing techniques and skills rather than a musical, compositional journey. I'm not a musician, though, just a listener who doesn't know how to play any instrument, so my opinion in this regard is probably void anyway. Not to downplay the skills and the compositions, but to me it does get somewhat tiresome when it tends to be the amount of notes that matters, song-in and song-out, regardless of how they fit into the bigger picture. Which is probably the reason why I don't tend to listen to the albums from guys like Satriani.

I also get a bit put off by the mannerisms and smug looks that ask the audience every moment if they saw that last bit, all those notes and all, and that other bit they just did. Yes, Satch as well as other guys know that, with a rare exception, they're probably good beyond anyone in the audience, but praise is not really something you demand while you play. You earn it. Which shouldn't really be too hard for them. In his bearing Marco is probably the exception to this rule, as he looked somewhat humbly ashamed for his skilful drum solo.




As good as Satch is on guitar, and as good as his compositions are, what rubs me the wrong way is that the whole show is staged as a huge ego-trip. Admittedly, it's primarily an ego trip of a man whose skills are unquestionably deserving of praise, but rubbing it in for the duration of the whole performance is something I feel alienated by. I wouldn't have ever thought it possible that I'd say this, but as a show I liked Europe's recent performance far more than Satriani's. They had this something that Satch lacked. I still love to see Marco play the drums, though.