So last night was the G3 concert, which was pretty damn amazing. The whole event was made more exciting because of the 'meet and greet' tickets Dan had won. So, we pitch up at the venue and pick of the special package, only to find there is one backstage ticket. Bummer. But, if crunch comes to crunch then Dan goes as he's the real fan, but we decide to see what can be done at th end of the concert. Dan has brought his guitar with him to be signed - he's got a whole raft of other sigs on it, but there's just enough space for a few more.
The concert started with Robert Fripp, who sat at the back corner of the stage in almost darkness, creating a strange set of sounds. I haven't really eard anything of his since the King Crimson stuff and wasn't aware of his use of looping, odds sounds and stuff - frippery it's called. It was almost Jean Michel Jarre like. Pretty good though, ambient, relaxing. An interesting way to lead into the next two acts.
Next on was Steve Vai, who I have to say is a huge show off. Massively talented, but still a show off. Lots of flashy stuff, licking the strings, swinging the guitar around, etc. He almost strangled himself with cable at one stage. I think the Society of Potection for Abused Tremelo Arms should have words with him.
Then Joe Satriani came on, which was my favourite set. I suppose it's because I've heard more of his stuff and can even play bits of one of his slow numbers. I think it's possibly that he's just not as showy as Steve. His set felt a little shorter, but that may have been subjective.
Finally all three on stage together, although Robert still stayed sitting in the background. He's obviously not a limelight kind of guy. Watching Steve and Joe play together is interesting because they have very different styles. It did turn into a bit of a twiddle fest though - those fingers move too fast to see sometimes.
All in all an awesome gig. So, now to collect Dan's guitar (which was in storage at the arena entrance - they wouldn't let us bring it in during the gig) and head to the backstage area, if they let us both in. There's a group of people waiting, all with their 'meet and greet' stickers, so we ask someone in charge about how we were supposed to get two. "I'm sure it'll be alright" she says. There's another couple in the same position. Eventually we're called through and she was right, we were let through. So we wait in a backstage area and eventually Steve and Joe (but not Robert), plus members of their bands come out. We do the obligatory fan photos and chat, I get my ticket signed and Dan gets his guitar signed. Joe and Steve were both great, taking time to talk to everyone, answer questions and signing things (several people had guitars). Steve is writing some music for, and will perform with, Sharon Isbin, which should be interesting.