Music: Joe Satriani w/ Steve Vai at The Astro

On Sunday I went to The Astro, a relatively new music venue just five minutes from our home.  I was there to see Joe Satriani, a guitarist introduced to me by one of my coworkers, who I used to listen to back in the 90s.  It brought back a lot of memories.

The warm up was Steve Vai.  Vai, at the age of twelve or thirteen, knocked on Joe Satriani's door and asked him to teach him how to play guitar.  I'd never heard him play and his skill on the guitar was incredible.

Steve Vai playing a three neck guitar.

Vai's style is a bit chaotic, jamming, and improvisational.  Some people like this style.  I'm not a big fan but I have to acknowledge the skill he displayed.

Joe Satriani and his band.

Joe Satriani came on and I immediately recognized his style and I was pulled back to time when I listened to his CDs and rocked out.  His style is more 'orderly' and is infused with virtuoso guitar play. I really enjoyed it.

Joe Satriani and Steve Vai side by side jamming on their guitars.

Near the end Steve Vai joined Satriani on stage to play together and it was mind blowing.  They really did compliment each other and Satriani brought some order to vai's playing.  The only rough spot was when they did two covers - "You really got me" by the Kinks and "Enter Sandman" by Metallica.  The keyboardist sang the lyrics and he didn't quite get there vocally.  The guitar playing was incredible on both though.

This was my first concert in The Astro which opened up a year ago.  It's a medium sized venue with an attached outdoor amphitheater.  There were a few quirks like being able to enter a row of seats from only one end instead of both and only some of the seats are padded theater style seats with the rest being unpadded folding chairs.   A little more interior design planning would have been helpful.

Photos of the concert can be found in my "2024-04-28 Joe Satriani w/ Steve Vai, The Astro, La Vista, NE" Google Photos album.