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Pair of Guitar Giants Soar to New Heights at New York's Nokia Theatre! A SoundPress.net Feature Article by Rich and Laura Lynch
It was the beginning of a religious holiday weekend as tourists and theater patrons flocked to New York City during Passover and Easter celebrations. Not to be outdone, throngs of pilgrims made their way to the Nokia Theatre in Times Square on April 13, 2006 to pay homage to two of the world's best-known guitar gods - Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson.
 Joe "Satch" Satriani onstage in New York City! The Nokia Theatre is a state of the art, high-tech venue with a capacity of 2100 fans that is an exceptionally fine place to see a concert. The auditorium features a lower pit, an elevated middle section, and rear stadium seating for comfort. What sets this place apart from the competition is its sleek design, superb sightlines and undulating acoustic walls. There are also upper and lower balcony sections on both sides of the stage that offer up close and personal views of the performance. The theatre also serves as an advertisement for Nokia products. The sound at Nokia is so crisp and clear, loud - but not overbearing and never distorted, that I would not hesitate to purchase their equipment. They are clearly at the top when it comes to concert sound and that serves as a ringing endorsement for their brand. The building also features a live-broadcast marquee with text-messaging capabilities, product placement in sponsor walls and the Nokia lounge featuring new items, along with phone chargers and download stations. Joe Satriani appeared promptly at 9:20 p.m. backed by a four-piece rock quartet and immediately took command as the headliner with his dominant stage presence, screaming licks and obvious confidence in his playing ability. Satriani was on-hand to promote his recent release, Super Colossal, his 12th solo record that is a 13-track collection of soaring instrumentals that reveal his enormous and eclectic talent on guitar. The New York born and raised Joe "Satch" Satriani began playing guitar at age 14 - touched by the death of Jimi Hendrix. After becoming proficient on the instrument he began teaching others what he had learned about the guitar. He went on to teach many of the biggest players in rock. One of his students was Steve Vai who rose to prominence in 1986 when he was chosen to handle axe duties in David Lee Roth's first solo band following his departure from Van Halen. Vai went on to praise his teacher as a master and soon the spotlight fell on Satriani as well. Since his discovery and early recordings Joe has become recognized as an influential virtuoso of the rock guitar. The multi Grammy-nominated Satriani, armed with his signature Ibanez, blazed through two hours of his hits and new songs that offered a clinic in his various techniques and playing styles. Satch is recognized as one of the most technically proficient guitarists in rock - he is a master of the whammy bar and is adept at a number of complex skills including two-handed tapping, sweep picking, volume swells, and harmonics manipulation. Satriani's live show was characterized by aggressive and passionate playing that was at times metalesque but more often lyrical, soulful and clean - a perfect performance seemingly without a missed note or beat. In a recent interview Satriani discussed how the title track allowed him to "think big sonically, emotionally and stylistically" and the evening's concert had a grandiose feel to it enhanced by the adoring crowd that was comprised of mostly male (approximately 75-80%) guitar aficionados. They were treated to a night's worth of Joe's explosive licks and volcanic swells that were presented with a crystal clarity via the Nokia's fine sound system. Highlights from the set and the new record were the title track, "Super Colossal". Joe wanted to convey the image of a 50 foot tall giant walking down a street while playing guitar and it is certainly a big sound that is contained in the CD opener. "Ten Words" was the most moving and melody filled number of the night. Upon reading the liner notes we learned that this was a song Satriani composed the day after the 9/11 attacks. His New York performance of this song was stunning and appreciated. "One Robot's Dream" was an instrumental inspired by Joe's thoughts about a robot's theoretical emotions. "The Meaning of Love" was filled with long, beautiful notes and proves that Joe writes about more than just robots, aliens and Mr. Potato Head!
 The Nokia Theatre's digital marquee! Opening the show was Satriani's G3 band mate Eric Johnson, an Austin-based Grammy Award winning guitarist, who rose to prominence in 1990 on the strength of his platinum selling 1990 recording Ah Via Musicom. Johnson played an hour long set with his power trio set-up that featured a Fender combo on bass and electric guitar which produced a signature crisp, clean and melodious sound for the duration of the performance. Johnson was on hand to promote his recent 2005 CD release, Bloom. Johnson is best known for his success in the instrumental rock format although he will also serve as singer for a number of his compositions. He regularly incorporates jazz, fusion, New Age, and even country and western elements into his recordings. Like Satriani, Johnson is also widely recognized as a virtuoso of the instrument, often praised for his stylistic diversity and technical proficiency. Johnson opened his set with three strong songs, two of which from the new record. "Summer Jam" set the pace and was performed flawlessly sounding much like the studio version. This was followed by a cover of Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages" which was barely recognizable but still stunning in its fervent delivery. Finishing off the trio was the crowd pleasing "Trademark", one of his two career-launching hits from Ah Via Musicom, that was highlighted by blazing runs up and down the neck of his classic red and white Fender. Other notable moments included the new country infused "Tribute to Jerry Reed" which featured a western vibe and guitar picking. "Intro/Cliffs of Dover" swelled as Johnson built to the enchanting set closer of his most recognizable composition to date. Whereas Satriani approaches his playing with a more aggressive style, Johnson's technique is highlighted with a cleaner and more artistic articulation of the instrument that emphasizes tone, melody and song craft. However, both artists provided a lesson in guitar virtuosity that explored many different styles and genres that left the fans we talked to satisfied and happy with the evening's double bill. Another highlight of the evening was meeting the energetic and knowledgeable Ken Pierce, the founder and managing editor of PiercingMetal.com - an online outpost devoted to covering metal shows in and around New York City. Ken's site also features CD reviews, artist interviews, tour dates and contests. We were in the photo trench together working hard and Ken promises to have an additional forty or so photos from this gig online soon. The Satriani-Johnson pairing was a musical nirvana - providing over three hours of sonically pleasing jams in New York City's premier music venue. The concert that kicked off a holiday weekend was indeed a triumphant night of electric guitar heaven for those in attendance!
 Eric Johnson and his Fender six-string blazed through an hour-long set! Related Links: For more information on Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links -- Satriani.com | Buy Super Colossal | EricJohnson.com | Buy Bloom | NokiaTheatreNYC.com | PiercingMetal.com
(Originally Published on April 19, 2006) |
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