Review: Joe Satriani, Colston Hall

Young South African blues guitar hotshot Dan Patlansky can barely believe his luck in bagging a Joe Satriani support slot and is clearly determined that this receptive audience should not forget his name. It’s spanned across three giant banners above his three-piece band’s heads. Before they start to play, the unwitting might have feared that hip-hoppers D-Pat and N-Sky had formed a trio with their mate Alan. He eases us in gently with the instrumental Drone, which earns ripples of applause from the packed crowd. But as the set picks up pace, you can feel punters being won over.

Patlansky is already a confident performer with a strong voice and great guitar tone, and by dodging those Sterile Purist Bore Blues that keep the genre in its ghetto he could be poised for Joe Bonamassa-style crossover success. Crisp, riff-driven Planet Rock radio faves Fetch Your Spade and Backbite set out his stall superbly, while newie Run could well prove to be the hardest-rockin’ song he’s recorded. This being a gig packed with guitar enthusiasts, Patlansky naturally ends with an extended instrumental showcase that has everyone paying attention. If his management are on the ball, they’ll send him back pronto for a headlining club tour to consolidate these newfound fans.

There’s always been something vaguely other-worldy about Joe Satriani. It’s not just the cosmic song titles and album cover artwork. With his thin frame, shaven head and huge wraparound shades that look like giant eyes from a distance, he resembles one of those fabled ‘greys’ of UFOlogical mythology. It’s only when he speaks, which isn’t often, that you’re reminded he’s actually an amiable New Yorker. If it wasn’t such a terrible cliché, the temptation would be to describe his guitar playing as out of this world too. Backed by the same band he brought to the Colston in 2013, he opens with the title track of new album Shockwave Supernova. This is as strong a piece as he’s ever written, setting up an epic two-hour show of extraordinary technical wizardry augmented by a highly effective light show. Flying in a Blue Dream is as soaringly beautiful as ever, Satch Boogie celebrates its proud roots in ’80s metal, and If I Could Fly (the song Coldplay ripped off for Viva la Vida – they settled out of court) concludes with a jaw-dropping twin guitar duel between Satch and Zappa’s one-time ‘stunt guitarist’ Mike Keneally (no slouch himself – this guy plays guitar and keyboards simultaneously), which recalls the latter’s former employer facing off against Steve Vai on the Allmans’ Whippin’ Post. And who could ask for a better rhythm section than Aristocrats duo (catch ’em at the Bierkeller next month) Bryan Beller and Marco Minnemann?

The kneejerk response of snooty critics hidebound by punk ideology to playing of this calibre is to dismiss it as empty and self-indulgent. Satch gives the lie to that lazy argument with instrumentals of real soulfulness, notably Butterfly and Zebra and the crowd favourite Always With Me, Always With You. Quibbles? Only a couple. It’s a shame that his previous album, Unstoppable Momentum, was completely overlooked in a set dominated by the new one and his breakthrough second release from 1987, Surfing with the Alien. And a drum solo is rarely welcome, even from someone as talented as Minnemann – though he did at least contrive to make it funny rather than purely bombastic.

The encore brings a surprise in the form of the atypical Big Bad Moon from Satch’s short-lived experiment with vocals back in 1989. It remains a fine song, but he seems a tad ill-at-ease as a singer even if he nails the harmonica solo perfectly. The screens, meanwhile, show the song’s original video with the guitarist sporting somewhat alarming eighties hair. Then it’s time for a rapturously received Surfing with the Alien, with an animation adapted from the album’s cover, recasting Satch as Marvel’s Silver Surfer. There’s something strangely apt about seeing him glide serenely through the interstellar space on his cosmic guitar voyage. Let’s hope he navigates his way back to Earth for more stunning shows like this one.

Pic credits: Sakura Henderson & Syd Wall (main pic of Joe Satriani above)

Go here for our other metal and prog picks for November.