When Joe Satriani and Steve Vai announced they were forming a new band together, the news came hot on the heels of a G3 reunion run alongside Eric Johnson, not to mention their own Satch/Vai tour. So, naturally, we were left wondering: just how different would this new project be?
As it turns out, it may end up sounding quite unlike any other performance the pair have been involved with throughout their lengthy careers, as the very first SatchVai Band rehearsal footage shows.
The one-minute clip, posted to Satriani’s YouTube channel and captioned “Something’s stirring behind closed doors…”, finds the pair not only performing their own classics, but taking on the leads and melodies of each other’s.
So, you can hear Vai soloing over Satriani’s If I Could Fly, before both guitarists tackle the iconic two-hand-tapped run in Always With Me, Always With You.
But the highlight has to be hearing the two guitar heroes harmonizing Vai opus For the Love of God’s legendary leads with pitch-perfect precision. It’s breathtaking stuff.
The clip ends with the duo busting out the main riff of Metallica’s Enter Sandman – a staple on the G3 reunion tour that carries extra nostalgia given Joe Satriani’s role as Kirk Hammett’s guitar teacher (as well as Vai’s, of course).
It’s also our first chance to see the band’s rhythm guitarist, Pete Thorn, in action. You can spot him deploying a Fender Acoustasonic Jazzmaster for the acoustic parts in If I Could Fly, while you know that Suhr backline is getting cranked for the higher-gain numbers.
Speaking of, Satch appears to have brought his 3rd Power DRGN 100 rig – which was specially designed to tackle Eddie Van Halen’s tone in Best of All Worlds – into the instrumental arena, rather than his typical Marshall JVM410HJS setup.
All of which is very exciting: it looks as if Satch and Vai – alongside Thorn, bassist Marco Mendoza and longtime Satch drummer Kenny Aronoff – could be trading solos for the entire show’s duration, as opposed to the separate sets and closing jams that typically feature in their live collaborations.
We’ll find out when the SatchVai Band tour kicks off in York, United Kingdom on June 13 – head over to SatchVaiBand.com for full dates.
