Live Review: Joe Satriani - Symphony Hall, Birmingham
12th May 2023
Words: Matt Noble
I'm off to the Symphony Hall tonight for a serious treat for shred fans. As soon as the lights go down, there's a big cheer as a certain Mr Satriani takes to the stage with a big grin on his face, along with the three other musicians in his band. He wastes no time in dazzling the audience, launching immediately into the lightning fast introductory pull-off lick to 'Nineteen Eighty'. Its mind-blowing fretboard work, driving 80s rock rhythms and tasteful musicianship largely sets the tone for the night. It's not all about bamboozling the crowd with shredding, though, as made clear very early on. Satch really makes the guitar sing with some whammy bar wizardry over second track 'Sahara', making the hairs stand up on the back of our necks. The ballad 'Faceless' is also very moving, with emotion painstakingly wrung out of every note.
Moreover, it's supposed to be a lot of good fun for everyone involved. Satch is a great frontman and bandleader, getting the audience to clap along for an excellent bass solo from Bryan Beller during 'Ice 9', famously also of The Aristocrats and Dethklok, before a really cool call-and-response section between Satch and keys player Rai Thistlethwayte. Rai is a talented and assured keyboard wizard, with some wonderfully jazzy licks in his arsenal. I'm sure many musicians might feel intimidated by the thought of a shred-off with Satriani, but he delivers each phrase like a pro and with a big smile. There is indeed a real feel-good factor to tonight's showcase.
After twelve songs, Satch lets the crowd know they're taking a short break, before launching into their second (!) set of the night. Kenny Aronoff strolls onstage first to begin proceedings with a drum solo. It's exceptionally good, with a chance for him to really show off and let loose. You wouldn't have known he had this kind of ability in him, as his restraint over the first set was just sublime. He's very much faithful to the rhythms and grooves of the songs, never over-playing when the material doesn't need it. The keyboard solo from Rai is also very impressive, with elements of jazz, prog and blues - he really demonstrates his versatility well and even doubles up as second guitarist on a few numbers tonight.
It's the kind of performance where you can just let the music and performance wash over you. There are some really cool individual moments, which musically could include the exotic-sounding Lydian runs over 'Flying in a Blue Dream', or the visual cue to 'The Elephants of Mars', where it does what it says on the tin in a very spacey way. There are no silent gaps between songs, unless Joe is speaking to the crowd, and the stage presence from the other supporting musicians is confident and charismatic, who conduct the audience and make us feel like true participants in the show. At the very start of the encore, Satch plays a few lines on the guitar and gets the hall to sing them all back at him. It's excellent entertainment and allows for everyone in the grandiose hall to be a part of the night.
Towards the end of the night, the likes of 'Teardrops', a soft, gut-wrenching ballad, 'If I Could Fly', notorious for a copyright infringement suit against Coldplay, and 'Satch Boogie', one of his most recognisable tracks, raise the bar even higher. It's virtually a flawless technical performance from the whole band, but the overarching theme really is one of fun and entertainment value. As much as you might sit there in pure astonishment at the razor-sharp arpeggios, whammy bar wizardry, or the warm tones emanating out of Bryan Beller's occasional fretless bass, if that was your overall impression of the night I couldn't help but feel you'd missed the point. 'Surfing With The Alien' finally brings over two and a half hours of live music to a close, ending on a glorious blues jam with a beautifully sustained whammy bar squeal before they take their final bow.
Nothing less than a masterclass.
