Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Jernej Vene
Location: Trieste / Teatro Politeama Rossetti / Italy
Concert date: 14.06.2013
Attendance: 3000
Ticket price: 34,00€ / 40,00€ / 60,00€
In the fall of 2012, Steve Vai toured Europe in support of his latest studio album »The Story Of Light«. That brought him to Ljubljana, believe it or not, for the fourth time in his career. The memories are still fresh of the incredible show he left behind last time at Cvetličarna, and nobody in their wildest dreams figured this one-of-a-kind guitar virtuoso would swing by somewhere near Slovenia again so soon. This time it’s part of a tour where he’s backed all the way by a 45-piece Romanian orchestra called the Evolution Tempo Orchestra, led with a conductor’s baton by George Natsis.
Anyone familiar with Vai’s 2007 release »The Sound Theories Vol. 1 & 2« will tell you that “Vai dressed up in orchestral arrangements” is no longer a revolutionary move for this guitar wizard. He’s already tested how his music works when it’s wrapped in orchestral arrangements. On this tour, though, the guy is even thriftier than ever. The Romanians are surely cheaper than the Dutch and no less versed in their classical training. In the show itself, they’re maybe even more agile.
The prestigious venue of Trieste’s Politeama Rossetti theater was filled by a solid crowd of the curious. The stalls weren’t sold out, but they were properly packed. All eyes were on the hero of planet-wide guitar excess. Where is he? When’s he going to stumble onto the stage? Not right away. The opening part belonged to the orchestra. This few-minute weave was cut in such a way that the legendary Frank Zappa, Vai’s famous mentor, could easily have strolled onto the stage instead of Vai. And then “little Stevie” finally shows up and introduces his guitar language in an awfully rough way! Through the opening Racing The World, a new track from »The Story Of Light«. The coinage »flex-able«, which has fatefully accompanied Vai’s artistic character since forever, couldn’t have worked more aptly than in the artist’s opening act. Right from the start, Vai went all in on combining incredible left-hand fretboard grips that were anything but chord shapes with the use of the tremolo arm, which he twisted and bent in every possible direction. Right off the bat he was theatrically chasing feedback around the room. And as mentioned, Vai came across as a very rough user of the guitar. Then again, his roughness toward his guitars is well known from the past. Over the history of his stage appearances, Vai has already smashed a good number of guitars in his famous stage shock-theater.
The opening part of the concert suggested that Vai was a little buried in the sound mix. The drums, tuned decisively too loud, were what cut through the most. And when the orchestra’s accompaniment built toward a crescendo, Vai’s lead guitar “ducked” even further into the mix! But Vai’s “super-alertness” wasn’t fooled by this time’s glitches from the sound crew. Right in the opening song he started whipping his left hand around, index finger stretched toward the ceiling, alarmingly signaling that the tech should please bring him up to a “normal” audible level.
This time the experience with Vai was once again outstanding. Nothing new, right? The guy tailored the setlist. He brought back older songs. It’s worth hinting that he leaned on the setlist presented on the aforementioned »The Sound Theories Vol. 1 & 2«. There was Murder, Gentle Ways, in the second encore the only track from the EP »Alien Love Secrets« (1994), the utterly “smashing” Kill the Guy with the Ball, and the ancient The Attitude Song. The superbly re-arranged »Passion And Warfare« classics Answers and, in the encore, Liberty, followed by the ultimate treat of Vai’s catalog, For The Love Of God, couldn’t be left out either. All of these songs went through an almost eerie metamorphosis thanks to the orchestral arrangements. Plenty of this kind of fuel on the fire was of course poured on by Steve Vai himself, who added extended outros and experimental solo sections to the songs throughout the concert, creating the elementary sense of a new musical quality in the room, one only he can repeat. As we’re used to from him. No inhibitions, in the glow of “American” mastery of shock-theater treatment, and in the already familiar axiom “the impossible is possible”. Or in other words: nothing is impossible until you see what Vai does. In short, the miracle worker of 6- to 7-string theory was fully expressive in his stage sprawl. Like a crunchy-hot fresh bread roll. Except Vai simply doesn’t know how to cool off, let alone “oxidize” and turn into a “dulled” rusk.
What felt especially good was realizing that Vai’s genius radiates a different character than the one we’re used to from his “rock”-sharpened live shows. This time the emotions responded in a totally different way. The softness and delicacy of those extremely controlled movements of the left and right hand quickly washed all the opening gestures of roughness into oblivion. Above all there’s the combination of the spidery grip of his left wrist and the breathtaking drill of his control over the tremolo, which makes it clear that nobody on this planet has ever explored the workings of the tremolo as thoroughly as Steve. The obligatory solo bit played with his tongue at the end of For The Love Of God. Priceless. Every single time! Vai once again drew all the boundaries of the universe in guitar playing. Actually, he blurred them and somehow redrew them anew over the course of the show. The gentle songs worked especially well, like Whispering A Prayer, later Lotus Feet, and the almost gypsy-style arranged, lightly seductive Salamanders In The Sun. But Vai saved the greatest bliss for the very end of the regular set.
Two pieces from the album »Fire Garden« (1996) followed. First, Bangkok. Let me stretch this report a bit. The track Bangkok is actually the overture to the well-known song “One Night in Bangkok”, performed as a duet by British actor and pop dance vocalist Murray Head and Swedish singer-songwriter Anders Glenmark. The tune is from a 1984 concept album that served as the music for the musical film »Chess«. The music for that album was created by ABBA members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. On that album, the intro to the song starts with an oriental instrumental called Bangkok, which Steve Vai adapted for his album »Fire Garden«, except that his version then flows into the epic creation »The Fire Garden Suite«. The bliss we’d been waiting for all night. An exceptional composition that really demands a whole orchestra beside it in order to ring out as truly and authentically as possible in its musical and artistic message.
Maestro Vai, who strummed the opening Bangkok on an electric sitar, later had to swap it for an acoustic guitar (and of course an electric one) because of the suite’s special demands. He had no small amount of trouble with it, since the sitar was once again set too quietly, which visibly threw him off on stage! Later, when he picked up the acoustic guitar, he had to swap that for another one too, because he instantly realized the tech had tuned it badly. Vai had a different guitar tech beside him, not the seasoned gray-haired veteran who has survived every age since the era of Atlantis, the master Thomas Nordegg. That was also the price of his “penny-pinching”. Fire Garden Suite came out superbly despite a few hiccups, but you could feel that the guitar guru wasn’t happy with how the show was going. At one point during a pause you could even hear from the stage: “Get rid of this!!!”. Vai was aiming that at the tech, telling him to immediately eliminate a sound detail that was warping the picture on stage. After the tech finally did bring the acoustic guitar to Vai, he forgot to adjust the mic stand, which should have been set to the height of “seated Steve Vai”. The artist fixed that himself too. While the tech walked back and forth between Vai and backstage, the orchestra routinely covered the gap with its playing. Vai covered his discomfort with a few theatrical shrugs toward the audience and the conductor! Maybe the sound tech was also a little tired and especially confused by all of Vai’s demands during the concert. But Vai deserves a flawless sound picture. Because he’s pushed his genius to the maximum like few other members of the human race in the galaxy.
The crowd didn’t mind, though. They carried Vai on their hands, and despite a few sonic mishaps, the guy fully enjoyed playing the repertoire. His adapted For The Love Of God just refused to end, with so many embellishments and bits of improvisation the artist pinned onto its extended outro.
A master remains a master. He follows in the footsteps of the great guru Frank Zappa. He doesn’t copy him. He just picks the best from Zappa and pours it, idea-wise, into his own musical and expressive character. So Vai keeps offering a one-of-a-kind musical adventure tailor-made for the most demanding music gourmets. Steve Vai in the best possible glow this time on the stages of Trieste’s Politeama Rossetti theater too. Unforgettable! Where the limits of musical expression lie, only he knows. And that’s exactly what always draws us to Vai the most. A progressive blend of musical excess and the unpredictable evolution of his one-of-a-kind artistic character. Two hours spun by in the blink of an eye. Vai once again created his famous world of singular musical magic, which he carries, free-spirited and elusive, in his enchanted palms!
Setlist
1. Racing the World
2. Murder
3. Velorum
4. Gentle Ways
5. Answers
6. Whispering a Prayer
7. The Attitude Song
8. I’m Becoming
9. Salamanders in the Sun
10. Crying Machine
11. Lotus Feet
12. Bangkok
13. Fire Garden Suite
—encore—
14. Liberty
15. For the Love of God
—encore II—
16. Kill the Guy with the Ball
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