Joe Satriani London Palladium May 17 2023

It has been three long years since the guitar genius Joe Satriani flew in on his mothership from Alpha Centauri to grace the London Palladium with his virtuoso guitar licks and temporal Lydian mode mystical magic.

Joe gave guitar lessons to Steve Vai once…holy mackerel…if that is not a sign of wizardry, what is? With a great band behind him of equally virtuosic musicians holding the line, the blistering torrent of musical melodic assault is astounding. In fact, your ears can barely acknowledge the depth of mastery Joe exudes from the Devil’s Instrument. This guy certainly has touched the pick of destiny a la Tenacious D. The wide interval jumps, the whammy bar squeals, the distinctive Satch legato and harmonics are all there, almost a seasoned chef mixing up a dish of delicious gourmet melodies and striated runs intricately administered with each note perfectly placed to compliment the next. Joe does not just smash notes out with no thought, one can easily hear the purpose in each utterance with precise anatomical brilliance even at 1,000 miles an hour. Definitely amongst the myriad changes of signature Ibanez guitars, some or all of them had sustainiacs for sure.

The only slightly negative point one can add to Joe’s Mephistophelian performance is that he is playing with too many pedals these days. The purity of Satch should not be needlessly encumbered with pedal effects, sure sometimes an embellishment here or there, but too many pedals overlaid with each other can detract from the initial essence of Joe’s intricate playing.

Other than that, fucking hell, what an experience to make your ear holes melt with pleasure. A great thank you has to go to the London Palladium staff, who were amazing as well.

These are the last of the great guitar masters still standing.