PhrygDom - maybe the only thing that I can put it down to is that either my tastes are changing or I am a great deal harder to impress now... most likely a little of each....

I'll not write off Satch right away - as I pointed out, I've been a loyal fan for a long long time.... SBM and particularly the gig at the Bush did not 'do it for me'.... The band was loose and I've seen better performances before by far... However I am an experienced enough musician to know that it was early in the tour and that the band don't fire on all cylinders every night - a 'human thing'

There is something about SBM though that I can't put my finger on that is a little odd.... compared to the self titled album, Extremist etc it sounds and looks somehow 'quick and dirty'..

Before I reach for my kevlar body armour and fire resistant suit I point out that:

I may need to listen to it a few more times to see if it sticks or dies....

I hope I'm not p1ss1ng y'all off in here.. that is most definately not my intention....

I feal that I can be honest among friends and that anything less would be wrong and cheap to both y'all and Satch....

# : )

Clarky - It's good to be REAL. I'd rather people be honest about things. It's not all that difficult to voice an opinion w/o coming across as a jerk. You have proven that with your post.

Don't be afraid to be who you are. Joe does this in interviews all the time.

Dodin - Toronto? See you there. http://www.satriani.com/2000/road/2000-04-25/3joes.jpg

Clarky - I understand what you mean by all the things you said. The album does sound a little more rushed when compared to a masterpiece like Crystal Planet but there still are some top tunes on the album. I mean come on, Joe with a 7-string. Mind Storm. Joe using the pick a little more on this tour. That's gotta ignite some new interest in you.

JSC1 - I can't recall the year or the tour but I saw Satch in the mid - to late 90's at the Royal Albert Hall in London... I had a 'box seat' [and therefore a superb view]...

That gig was absolutely breathtaking...

Although I'm not to fond of EOC, I saw Satch in Ghent, Belgium and London, UK last year. The Belgian gig was particularly good.. It looked like that whole band was really having a lot of fun.. the gig really kicked.. the band was real tight and solid - Satch's playing was very very nice icing on what was a very very nice cake - if you know what I mean.. the whole thing was tremendous.... I had an aftershow pass at that one - I only said a quick 'hi' to Satch ['cos he was busy signing stuff for some younger fans and I didn't want to get in the way] and I chatted to Stu and Eric for quite a while.. very nice guys indeed..

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! I GET THE FIRST SHOW REVIEW!!!

Uhh.... anyway... yeah...

Concord: a very cool show last night... King's X was playing well, though I'm not a fan of that vocal style; for those that haven't heard them, I would compare them a mix between Silverchair and Alice in Chains...

Maaaaaan, Dream Theatre KICKED MY ASS last night!!! The sound was well balanced/mixed, everybody looked like they were having fun, and Portnoy has three friggin bass drums!! I can't comment much on their setlist, since I haven't really been a big fan... I can say that the singer sure surprised me, though... Even though I usually hate that vocal style, I have to admit, he really carried it well...

Joe, an excellent concert, an EXCELLENT CONCERT, keep that in mind everyone while I say this next part: I was pretty disappointed by the setlist. I would've really liked to hear more off of SBM, but there was just Mindstorm, 7-string, and Starry Night (no "The Journey" ?????). In exchange for that, though, we got retooled versions of our older favorites. Now that I've seen what that guy was talking about when he said "watch Jeff during Mystical Potato..." that was an awesome addition, that added a lot, despite the amount of material it actually included. It was also nice to hear an extended "Memories" jam after Crush of Love...

I had one other problem besides than the setlist... the sound. Everyone sounded waaaaay over mic'ed. Thing was, though, this was only during Joe's set, which is the time that I snuck up to the closer sections, so I have to assume that my greed and unethical practices are the culprit here :-)

Joe,

wingnut so the strings aren't breaking AT the bridge or AT the nut. Is it the same string every time or is it a different one? Seems to me you might consider a different brand of string. I use D'Addario strings, another good brand would be the Dean Markley Blue Steel. I hate breaking in new strings and have been able to beat the hell out of the D'Addario and Blue Steel strings for about 4 to 5 weeks before a restring. And even then it's not always because of a broken string. I HATE breaking in new strings. Of course I put new strings on about a week before a gig so that they are broke in and have the warm tone instead of the bright new tone. If you continually have trouble breaking strings and it's not at the bridge or the nut I would recommend a change of brands. Something you can do to relieve some of the stress on the strings is to take a mechanical pencil lead and rub some of that into the nut. The carbon from the pencil lead has much less friction than the nut and can help relieve some stress on the strings.

Joe,

Hei Joe Im one of your many portuguese fan's. I have known your site exist's a short while ago but i already love it. Me and other fan's of yours here in Portugal are ansiously waiting for your coming to bring down the house with your fabulous mood's. I know you'l come, when you come you'll see how we can receive well excepcional artist's such as your self.

Hope your carreer go's straight up And a big congratulations to your New great album that i still d'ont have but will soon,

Clarky - You brave, brave, man... lol

Good to see IUMA back in business. Sort of...

I'm sitting here at work contemplating my computer and the tasks ahead of me for the day. HAHAHAH!!! Yeah right! I can't think about anything but the fact that I will be seeing Joe for the first time tomorrow in Denver. I can't wait, it's tormenting me! If I get chosen for the aftershow thing with Joe I will definitely be at the highest point in life. Nothing could be better. Of course if that does happen I'll have to ask Joe to let me play an original for him, get his opinion and critique of it. Wouldn't that be something? Play for Joe? As a music lover, guitarist and Satch Fan what could ever top it? Oh well, I can dream can't I?

Anyone else attending the show in Dever at the City Lights Pavillion? I'll be in Section E Seat 14 or 15. I'm going with a friend so I'm not sure what seat I'll be in. If you're going look for me. I'll be wearing a Dark Red Texas A&M cap and will have a smile on my face that looks like it could do permanent damage to the muscles in my cheeks.

2 TON TESSIE: Thanks for the reminder that we don't have to be blindingly fast to be good. I needed that. And you're right on target.

By the way, I'll take tips from anyone. Doesn't have to be Joe, but I'm sure his will be of great value. I figure anyone can teach me something.