Satriani's Sheer Brilliance on Display in Kelowna

From the opening strains of Ice 9, through to the final fills of Big Bad Moon, Joe Satriani burned his way through a mixture of older hits and new songs from his more recent releases.

All the songs that established him as the leading proponent of instrumental rock guitar were there; Ice 9, Satch Boogie, Flying in a Blue Dream, Crystal Planet, Always with Me... And they were done with a fearful combination of reckless abandon and laser sharp precision which wouldn’t be possible by mere mortals. But Joe Satriani is a guitar god, so there are no real limits.

Also featured prominently in this set were pieces from his brilliant new CD, Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards. Premonition, Dream Song, Wind in the Trees, Light Years Away and Littleworth Lane were all played and brought with them to the live stage much of the newness and spacious arrangements from the album.

Backed on his current tour by the band from his latest CD, including Mike Keneally on keyboards, Allen Whitman on bass guitar, and long-time collaborator Jeff Campitelli on drums, and with the additional guitar of Galen Henson, Satriani had the rock solid foundation underneath him to allow him to soar through and play around with time in ways that left his audience awe struck. Every acrobatic, mind blowing, death defying, virtuosic, beyond advanced and beyond the imagination of most guitarists, technique that has long been associated with Satriani was on full display as he gave a brilliant performance in front of a sold-out KCT crowd.

The crowd took to their feet before the main set ended, and continued to stand throughout the entire encore as Satriani and band mates closed with Crowd Chant and Summer Song. The call and response between his guitar and the audience’s combined voices as they tried to echo his trademark quirky lines ensured that everyone was warmed up before they bundled up and headed home, fully satisfied and once again reminded just how good Joe Satriani is.

Satriani continues to tour with this line-up in support of Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards.

(As we tweeted last night, this show started late due to his tour bus getting stranded for 10 hours due to really bad weather in the mountains between Calgary and Kelowna. His crew, and the whole Live Nation team, did an unbelievable job of making this event happen at all. It is indeed situations like this where you get to see the real level of professionalism of everyone involved.)