Stevie Vai - Live at The Astoria captures a show Vai performed at the Astoria in London in December 2001. Aside from the fantastic G3 concerts, this is the only concert DVD I have found of legendary guitarist, Steve Vai. Steve Vai, if you don't know is an incredible guitarist. He has had a successful solo career, and he also used to play guitar for Frank Zappa and David Lee Roth. His teacher was Joe Satriani, an incredibly talented guitar player in his own right.

Steve Vai - Live at the Astoria is a two disc set with the first containing the concert, and the second containing backstage interviews and such. My review shall focus on the concert performance.

The Songs

Shyboy, Giant Balls of Gold, Erotic Nightmares, Blood and Glory, Dave's Party Piece, Blue Powder, The Crying Machine, The Animal, Bangkok, Tony's solo, Bad Horsie, Chameleon, Down Deep into the Pain, Fire, Little Wing, Whispering a Prayer, Incantation, Jibboom, For the Love of God, Liberty and The Attitude Song.

Performance

First of all, this is an hour and forty minutes of concert! This show is over 2 hours long, which I appreciate. So many live DVDs feature about 30 minutes to an hour of the bands music, then fluff is added, and its sold for 20 bucks. Not here, the first DVD is a full length show, and the extras are saved for the second disc. Vai is awesome! I have only seen him live once myself, and that was way back when David Lee Roth left Van Halen, and toured on his Eat 'Em and Smile Tour. Vai proved to be a just as worthy as Eddie Van Halen on guitar at the show. This show captures how well Vai masters the guitar, I would describe most of his songs as non stop guitar solos. If you are familiar with Vai's music, you know that he isn't famous for pop hits, he does complex instrumentals that appeal to music lovers (just like his teacher Satriani!). Vai does things with his collection of Ibanez's that just must be heard to be appreciated. For most of the show he uses his white Ibanez Jem. It has the word KONX taped next to the neck pickup, I was rather curious what that means. One of his guitar solo songs Whisper and a Prayer reminded me a lot of the melody of an old Buddy Holly song. Except for the Hendrix covers, most of these are Vai's own compositions, and it is melodic instrumental rock at its finest. I would say that Vai is a lot like his teacher Satriani, but a bit more emotional, and a bit more showy. (I would not say one is better than the other, I love them both).

Vai's band gets to shine too though, Billy Sheehans bass solo was a blast to watch. In addition, nne of the songs, performed, Chameleon, was a Sheehan composition. My whole living room shook as Sheehan performed on his double necked bass guitar. I was a bit disappointed only because the mix of Sheehans vocals was a bit muddy, and I had difficulty hearing him sing over the instruments. Virgil Donati was given the opportunity to do a great drum solo, Dave Weiner also got to do his guitar solo and Tony Macalpine got to do an extended keyboard solo. Vai's band is a very talented group of musicians.

The show is not all instrumental though, and Steve Vai himself sings on some songs, such as his excellent cover of both (let me stand next to your) Fire. and Little Wing. It seems that great guitar players cover the greatest guitar player Jimi Hendrix to show how well they play. Vai also shows his sense of humor as he asks the audience if they would like him to play a Britney Spears song. Billy Sheehan also helps out on vocals. Vai actually has a pretty good voice for rock n' roll, not all guitar virtuosos do.

Audio

The audio is in PCM stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. You may also select an audio commentary track with commentary by Vai and his band. I listened to the surround sound mix, which frankly is a little unusual. The sound is mixed for all 5 channels plus the sub using equal volume settings. The rear channels contain full music signals instead of ambient crowd noise and echo, giving you an almost on stage feel rather than in the audience. Sound was crisp and clear, but aside from the clapping, it didn't have an auditorium feel to it at all. The mix is actually very musical, and gives a live studio feel for lack of a better way to describe it. I watched it this way, and I have also watched it in PCM Stereo and used my amplifiers Digital Processing to get a live concert effect. I preferred my own choice of DSP sound over the straight surround sound mix on this concert. It sounded more "real".

Video

This concert was recorded in the year 2001. Psychedelic effects of the 60s or cheesy video effects of the 80s seem passe today. However, whoever choreographed this was either off their medication or on some unprescribed medicattion. The camera jumps around like a kid with ADHD. It doesn't stay focused on anything for more than a 30 seconds, and will zoom and twirl around without provocation. I don't believe I should have to take Dramamine in the privacy of my own living room to avoid getting sea sick! The show is shot in full frame, and although the video quality is good, the cinematography is too hyper kinetic for my tastes.

Summary

Stevie Vai is one incredible guitar player, there is no doubt about that here. However, I found his the video distracting enough to bring this concert from 5 stars to four. I listen to this concert much more often than I watch it.

I also have to admit that although the sound was clear, when I watch a concert DVD I want it to sound like a concert, it was weird to hear the rear channels at the same volume as the front channels. I finally watched the concert set to PCM stereo and then used my Amplifiers "Hall in Vienna" setting to achieve a concert like sound. Vai gets 5 stars, so does his band, especially the incredible Billy Sheehan on bass, but this concert DVD gets four stars.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD