G3 Satriani, Petrucci, Gilbert Dodge Theater AZ

I saw the opening show for the latest G3 tour featuring Joe Satriani, John Petrucci (Dream Theater) and Paul Gilbert (Racer X, Mr. Big) in Phoenix, AZ at the Dodge theater.

This was a stellar evening of fierce, commanding ripping guitar brilliance. Gilbert kicked off the show and rocked. The tall axeman played blues and rapic paced Racer X instrumentals. A solid performance.

I am a HUGE Dream Theater, and was psyched to see Mike Portnoy from DT on drums as they performed material from from Petrucci's Suspended Animation - a terrific CD. The night just got better. The scales, timings, off-timings and constant, relentless terrifying solos by Petrucci was simply jaw dropping.

Then Satriani's turn. Wow! He came out with such command from the second his fingers touched his guitar. The theater erupted and the Satch-man took over. This man is indeed a true-guitar-god. The man who gave lessons to Steve Vai surely holds up to the title of master.

To close his set and the show, Gilbert and Petrucci joined in with overwhelming mastering of their techniques, exchanging riff after riff to vintage Hendrix and Rollling Stones.

This is must see tour for hard rocking guitar fans. Check out Satriani's site for details:
http://www.satriani.com/G3/

Someone posted a short low-resolution video clip from that show on YouTube.com: