Author: Jernej Vene
Venue: Ljetna pozornica (Summer Stage), Opatija, Croatia
Concert date: July 12, 2006
Attendance: 1,200
Ticket price: 220 kuna = 7,425 SIT
Nice summer road trip, no doubt about it! The muggy weather didn’t put me off, and I even dodged the stretch of road between Pivka and Ilirska Bistrica by taking the route over Knežak. No trucks, no holiday caravans, and apart from five hairpin bends at the end it’s a really pleasant drive, not to mention the gorgeous Notranjska scenery. A few more minutes and across the border the motorway brings you right up close to the Kvarner (it costs 5 kuna, peanuts…). With the season at its peak, my buddy Tomaž Domicelj and I burned a full half hour finding a free parking spot. The walk to Ljetna pozornica (what we’d call the Summer Stage) was lovely. We even ran into a legend of Croatian jazz and pop, the renowned trombonist Drago Diklić, who was sitting on the terrace of Hotel Kvarner with his son. He mentioned he’s getting ready for a few shows with an orchestra. Hmmm, the sea air gets you so much that you’d love to just park yourself there and chat with the gentleman over a juice or a coffee (beer came later :-).
The Summer Stage sits on a promontory in the middle of Opatija and is a slightly wider amphitheater than our own Križanke. Too bad the audience area isn’t covered. We got really lucky with the weather.
It was almost nine o’clock and I rushed off to work to get you some photos. Adrian Legg had already won me over in Milan back in 1997, and this time he was in top form. He didn’t say much, but what we did hear was sparkling and friendly. In his half-hour set he blended in intriguing touches of folk, country, blues and improvisation. With a few electronic gadgets he colored some of the pieces and proved he’s a brilliant acoustic guitarist and an outstanding innovator. He played the first piece by changing the tuning with the tuning pegs on the guitar mid-song, and with remarkable accuracy at that, which takes a ton of practice.
This was my fifth time seeing Satriani. I’ll admit he surprises me every single time. Looks like he’s like wine. He turns fifty this year, and he tossed off the fifty thousand notes we heard with an ease few can match. He was relaxed on stage, jumping around, bending over and waving his arms (when he had the time, of course). He only addressed us after the third song, politely and warmly, because that’s just who he is, simple and unpretentious. The set list was put together very thoughtfully: lots of old tunes plus four from the current album Super Colossal. The quartet sounds really tight, and the sound was solid to very good. Maybe at times the slightly less prominent rhythm guitar of Galen Henson got in the way, but really, only at times. The flawless performance, the unbelievable command of the guitar and the fact that he didn’t sing a single note just dotted the i’s on the night’s musical excellence. Personally, I almost love his extended song endings best, where you never know what you’re going to get. At the end of one of them they slid into an instrumental section of With a little help from my friends (originally by The Beatles, made most famous by Joe Cocker). Personally, I was blown away by Circles, one of the best off his breakthrough album Surfing with the alien. If I’m not mistaken, I heard just two notes that weren’t played perfectly clean, or that he played too quietly. In the new songs, which are very melodic, he gave some room to the drummer and the bassist, whom I have to single out for praise. Dave La Rue is a capable sidekick in Satriani’s crew too. His career includes work with giants like Dixie Dregs (Steve Morse’s band), John Petrucci, Vinnie Moore and Derek Sherinian (Planet X, ex Dream Theater, now with Billy Idol). Before the song Super Colossal, Satriani strapped on the guitar with the cover art of that album, held it up and asked if anybody knew the guy on the guitar. Cue a roar of laughter, what else! Then he flung a few picks into the crowd and dug into the work. Satriani has total control over the guitar, and sometimes it seemed to me the two were fused into one body. He’s not tall, and as a result he has fairly short fingers. Look at Steve Vai, who’s like a spider, and you’d say Vai has it a lot easier. Yet Satriani has no trouble with that, gliding along the fretboard fluidly and at breakneck speed, showering us with bursts of all kinds of tones and ideas. The crowd even sang some of the best-known tunes along with him, going aaa aaa aaa and so on. In general, the song Crowd chant from the latest album is built for interaction with the people, since at its core it’s a football-terrace anthem, perfect for gigs or soccer matches. The venue wasn’t full, but we still enjoyed almost two hours of heartfelt, polished music-making. One remark for the organizers: they didn’t provide proper catering, and the overheated rockers waited far too long for all kinds of refreshing drinks. The day before, the blind balladeer Jose Feliciano played at the same venue, and my scouts told me they even had a free tasting of excellent local wines. At Satriani’s show we could only dream about that. Satriani and his bandmates were visibly having a blast on stage. And that, along with a happy crowd, is all it takes for a top grade. If you want to hear exceptional guitar rock built on blues, with influences from all over the world masterfully woven into his musical expression, you’ll have to catch him at one of his upcoming shows as soon as you can. Thanks to everyone who read this and who support honest music-making. Thanks also to the organizers for their goodwill in letting me cover Satriani’s concert.
Setlist
1. Flying In A Blue Dream
2. The Extremist
3. Redshift Riders
4. Cool #9
5. A Cool New Way
6. Satch Boogie
7. Super Colossal
8. Just Like Lightnin’
9. Ice 9
10. One Robot’s Dream
11. Ten Words
12. The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing
13. The Meaning Of Love
14. Made Of Tears
15. Circles
16. Always With Me, Always With You
17. Surfing With The Alien
—encore—
18. Crowd Chant
19. Summer Song
Photo Gallery
