AUGUST 15th, 2023
STEVE VAI INVIOLATE TOUR 2023
Review by Metallic Barbie
Photos by Peter Ruttan

http://www.metaltitans.com/concertpics/steve-vai-inviolate-tour/

Guitar nerds of the world united and bore witness to the Guitar God that is Steve Vai at the Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver, BC, on August 15.  Touring his latest album, Inviolate, Vai with bandmates Dante Frisiello (rhythm guitar, keys), Philip Bynoe (bass), and Jeremy Colson (drums), delivered just over two and a half hours of heavy shred with a 21 song setlist (including one encore), absolutely massacring all expectations.  Vai made time to introduce the band, gave them some solo space, and doubled with jokes and commentary about the music.

The band unapologetically launched into “Avalancha” and bled musical mastery via favourites “Tender Surrender”, “I’m Becoming”, “Zeus in Chains”, and “Taurus Bulba”, among others that span his 45-year career.  Vai also played off his January release Vai/Gash, explaining how he wanted a soundtrack for freedom while he rode his motorcycle, having crafted most of it almost 30 years prior.

How to perform as a rhythm guitarist to one of the top ten guitarists in the world (2016), I cannot imagine.  But Frisiello did not shy away, and delivered pointed, oddly-timed, delicate arpeggios as only a former law student-turned-pro-guitar-player can.  Bynoe oozed energy, grooving and supporting with rich basslines and impeccable instinct.  Colson, endlessly taunted on stage by Vai, kept up, octopussing his way around, dispensing technical punk-inspired pandemonium from behind the kit.  Everyone had a personality and everyone was given an opportunity to show it.

Being at the show was an immersive experience.  Watching Vai execute these complicated riffs, hand-over-hand tapping, trem gargling, alien legato patented joint shifting monstrosities, I was completely enthralled.  Vai uses a guitar the way singers use voice and lyrics, emoting through his face, body, and hands, producing phrasing through the strings that as a writer, I cannot imagine being able to accomplish with anything but words.  More than that: Vai was engaged.  He was present with his music, present with the crowd, and shamelessly demonstrated this through his performance.  I’ve had the privilege of seeing many solo guitarists live, including Vai’s mentor, Joe Satriani, but never have I felt so a part of the experience.

Vai verbally articulated this, asking us all to set aside work, and politics, and to experience and enjoy music as a family.  He also joked about how it should feel good, like dancing naked in the mirror at home.  To me, this was exactly what he was doing on stage tonight: dancing naked at home, in all his glory, and we just got so lucky as to be invited.