American guitar legend Steve Vai is a wizard of the fretboard. His otherworldly, unique playing style has informed his solo career. He’s served time playing guitar for Frank Zappa, Whitesnake and David Lee Roth, to name but a few.
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He is currently on his ‘Inviolate World Tour’ in support of two current albums, Inviolate and Vai/Gash — the latter of which had been tucked away in his archives for nearly three decades. This month sees Vai in the country on the Australian leg of his world tour.
Vai is one of the prime innovators of the guitar, and the Australian shows will showcase much of his incredible guitar mastery and musicianship.
“My deep interest in the guitar and my music has continued through my 45-year career, and as such, my music continues to morph, and my relationship with the instrument continues to deepen,” Vai explained to me last week.
“Although our fans will be familiar with the form of the show, there is a more mature and refined dimension in my playing.
“I have always seen myself as a service provider, and I love my work.
“Musicians offer the opportunity for others to dream while they are awake.
“At our show, you can expect to experience a unique performer who is connected to his instrument and the audience for an engaging and uplifting experience.
“Concerts are an opportunity to leave the world outside and celebrate music as a family, and that’s what we do.”
Vai’s last tour here was in 2013, and he has many cherished memories of past visits.
“A night cruise in Sydney on Darling Harbour, feeding the quokkas on Rottnest Island and swimming the Great Barrier Reef,” he said.
“Also, I love perusing Melbourne’s fascinating art offerings, jogging the Royal Botanical Gardens, and I also once freed a joey that was caught in a fence.”
Being at the forefront of the evolution of the guitar, Vai believes the new generation of players is making a quantum leap forward with the instrument.
“Guitar playing continues to evolve, and the current run of young players has taken performance technique to a whole new level,” he said.
“New players come into the world, look around at what’s going on and take it from there.
“This is happening in all genres and all aspects of our creative world.
“The new crop of guitar players have refined the use of technique to an astonishing degree.
“But I will say, it’s very rare to hear a melodic revolution.
“That takes an avatar with real musical vision.
“Practising a lot can make you a virtuoso player, but reshaping the harmonic and melodic atmosphere is a different story.”
While this year is gradually coming to a close, for Vai, there is no slowing down.
In fact, his diary for next year is already looking full.
“I have the Vai Academy Guitar Camp happening between January 2 and 6 in Florida,” he said.
“There is also a G3 tour of Western USA in January and February.
“Then a full USA tour with another renowned guitar player that should be announced shortly, then another full tour as a member of another group that I believe fans will be thrilled about and will be announced next year.”
Steve Vai plays at the Palais Theatre, Melbourne, on Thursday, November 9.
For all Vai matters, go to: www.vai.com
News
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To tie in with Mötley Crüe’s Australian tour this month, which kicked off this week, a special 40th-anniversary deluxe edition of their landmark second album, Shout At The Devil, has been released. Eighties pop stars Nik Kershaw and Go West have announced an Australian tour for March 2024.
Music charts
On the Australian ARIA singles chart this week, Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift debuts at number one. It also debuts at the top of the UK singles charts, while another Swift song, Cruel Summer, is number one in the US.
The view from here
The lost Beatles song Now and Then finally saw release last week. The song’s creation is a remarkable feat of musical technology. AI was used to extract the original vocals from a John Lennon piano-based cassette recording Lennon made of the song back in the 1970s.
Then, during the 1995 Beatles Anthology project, it was worked on by the remaining three Beatles but later shelved. Recently, with only Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the sole remaining Beatles members — George Harrison passed away in 2001 — it was revisited and completed.
Using Harrison’s guitar parts recorded during those 1995 sessions, and with the new addition of McCartney’s bass and Starr’s drums, backed by an orchestra, it’s the final recording to feature all four Beatles.
And what’s my verdict? It’s an introspective and poignant number that pulls at the heartstrings. I also view it more as an artefact that fittingly affirms The Beatles’ importance in the development of popular music.
The official video for the song adds further poignancy to the track. It’s a wonderful and enjoyable nostalgic piece of musical gold. And with both McCartney and Starr now in their 80s, it is definitely the last word on The Beatles. So just let it be.
Fun fact
A university study conducted in 2001 in the UK found that playing soothing music to dairy cows lowered their stress levels and increased their milk production.
One particular song, Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge over Troubled Water, saw milk production increase by three per cent.
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