G3 - April 5, 2007

[SilverSpoon]

So I went to a G3 concert last night, and it was possibly the best show I've ever been to. What can top a night of Satch, Paul Gilbert and John Petrucci? NOTHING! I'm not even really familiar with Satch and Gilbert's stuff, but seeing them play live is incredible. Gilbert played a mix of his own solo material, stuff from Racer and stuff from Mr. Big. Petrucci of course played songs off his solo album Suspended Animation, and Satch's set included a bunch of classics like Circles, Satch Boogie, Surfing With the Alien, and to top if off, Always With You, Always With Me, which was the lead in to the big jam with all three at the end. They extended AWYAWM with solos, first Petrucci walking out unexpectedly, and then Gilbert. The rest of the jam was filled with Hendrix songs and some others I wasn't familiar with, but man, it's just all about great guitar work! Gilbert even brought out his power drill! YES!

Exhilarating.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G3_(tour)

[Captain Beefheart]

Watching G3 live is probably an experience in itself which probably can't be replicated by watching it on DVD. Not to mention how much it pisses me off that Satriani/Vai would always pick out the same setlists, I mean serious as a Satriani fan who wants to hear Satch Boogie or Cool #9 for the 5,000 time and don't get me started on camera angles, but hey i'm a geek what can I say).

From the 3 amigos and this may surprise you I think you'd enjoy Paul Gilbert the most on stage. His humour is great, and his technique has attitude even when he's shredding the simplest patterns in a fiery and elastic sense of phrasing than most 80's guitarists playing stock licks (who would play straight diatonic scale groups of 6, for example, rather than mix the note groupings up and what not)

For a special bonus here's a video of Gilbert from a Beatles tribute band Yellow Matter Custard(Portnoy on drums, Bissonnette on bass and Neal Morse on vocals) playing "While My Guitar Gentley Wheeps":

[SilverSpoon]

That was seriously awesome.

Gilbert was definitely the most fun to watch on stage, but of the three I'm a much bigger Petrucci fan, and I was really happy to hear more than just Glasgow Kiss and Damange Control. Satch...he's good, but I don't listen to him that much. I guess with Gilbert it was a bit more interesting since I had never seen him live in any form, and it was nice to have someone else in there to break up the Satch/Vai duo during the jam that I've seen many times already. Gilbert has an awesome voice as well.

[darko.]

what the **** man?! how could you not tell me you were going?! THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN A PM WHEN YOU FIRST GOT THE TICKETS!

**** YOU!

[SilverSpoon]

Well it's not like you could've tagged along or anything. I made a thread here when I first found out about the tour.

[Captain Beefheart]

Gilbert played lead for every tribute band Portnoy has put to gether in the past 3 years. Hammer of the Gods(Zeppelin), Amazing Journey(The Who) and Cygnus and the Sea Monsters(Rush).

What songs is JP incorporating to his repertoire on this tour: DT, LTE or Suspended Animation. I'm abit on the fence about his solo writing, because his strength as a composer fit more with a band mentality than solo efforts. I think when writing solo, you really got to keep a strong connection with the listener, since it's not really coming from a full band aspect anyway. That is one thing, I always thought Satch was great at, even though he is not as technically sound as some other players.

[SilverSpoon]

Petrucci only played his solo material. Jaws of Life, Glasgow Kiss, Lost Without You, Curve (I think), Wishful Thinking and Damage Control.