Posts Tagged Steve Vai
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November 2, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
RNZ Feature: What’s The Buzz With Guitar Solos?
I’m usually on RNZ once a month to have a chat about some new albums. But now and then I present features on the show too. Last year I had nearly an hour to explore the music of George Harrison. I followed that up with a chat about Ringo Starr and played some of his best Beatles drum bits […]Archive
September 18, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
Vai is Zen: Watching Steve Vai Live
Vai is zen. Vai was amazing. Beautifully intense with a cool charm; he had the rock-star look and strut but this was no shred-guitar goon. Let me just break off here and say I had expected to find a live set by Steve Vai in 2012 to be quite ridiculous, possibly painful.Archive
May 27, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 299
David Lee Roth, Eat ‘Em And Smile (1986) I’ve been all about the Van Halen and David Lee Roth lately. Roth – easy to laugh at the madness, now but what a frontman. And at the height of his powers what a singer! Here he had the killer band too – Billy Sheehan on bass, Steve Vai on guitars, Gregg Bissonette on drums. Man oh man. You could listen to […]Archive
February 14, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Gat This: My Top 10 ‘Guitar’ Albums
A while ago I described something/someone as “guitar music” and was chortled at from all directions; there’s no such thing as guitar music. This is not a genre. This is no way to explain or define music. Andres Segovia and Derek Bailey and Jimi Hendrix and Django Reinhardt and Eddie Van Halen have all made amazing music by approaching the same instrument (or versions of […]Archive
August 10, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Steve Vai: Modern Primitive
Steve Vai Modern Primitive Favored Nations Originally released last year as part of the 25th Anniversary package of Passion and Warfare this collection of outtakes and off-cuts, Modern Primitive, now receives the standalone-release treatment, perfect for Vai/guitar fans that didn’t want to fork for “just another copy of Passion and Warfare”.Archive
February 23, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
This Album Is Awful! – I Love It!
Recently someone told me that they found it a lot easier to agree with me about the music I didn’t like. The much tougher thing was agreeing with what I liked. And I liked that. Not because I’m any sort of contrarian or – as you might put it – troll but because I think […]Archive
November 29, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
Steve Vai: Stillness in Motion – Vai Live in LA
Steve Vai Stillness in Motion: Vai Live in LA Legacy It’s a double-live album, a new release, but the show is from 2012. And that’s probably all you really need to know, you’re now at one end of the other: the very prospect of this is simply far too much Steve Vai for you to […]Archive
August 2, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
The Best Guitarist in The World # 6 – Steve Vai
No, no, hear me out – Steve Vai is one of the very few from the “Shred Shed” that transcends that silly notion. For a start, he knows when he’s being a ham. I don’t think Joe Satriani has that awareness. The movie Crossroads was so important to me growing up. Not the Britney Spears […]Archive
May 18, 2014 by Simon Sweetman
Movies of My Life # 6: Crossroads
The movie Crossroads (and no, I don’t mean the Britney Spears vehicle, which I have watched, I even kinda liked it truth be told) is one of my all-tie favourites. I like Crossroads for the memory of growing up with it. I watched this film so many times. And it meant a lot to me. […]Archive
July 18, 2013 by Simon Sweetman
Gig Review: Steve Vai (July 18; Wgtn)
Steve Vai Wellington Town Hall Thursday, July 18 Steve Vai made his first Wellington appearance just last year as part of the G3 tour – it was a virtuoso performance. He must have enjoyed it too as here he is again, so soon, back with his own show; a two and a half hour set, […]Archive
July 11, 2013 by Simon Sweetman