On This Day in History

On this date in history, 10/28/2016, I saw the guitar virtuoso Steve Vai at the prestigious Honeywell Center in downtown Wabash, IN, courtesy of Pulse Music! Words will not possibly do justice to the talent Mr. Vai possesses, but I must make an attempt. The show began with a video clip from the movie Crossroads (not the Britney Spears flick!) in which Steve portrayed the devil’s hired hand and head-cutter supreme, a little guy by the name of Jack Butler. Steve and the band rocked part of the famous guitar duel from the movie. In other video segments, Steve “jammed” with Brian May of Queen, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci of Dream Theater, and even the late, great Frank Zappa! Oh yes, and he also played his landmark cd “Passion and Warfare” in its entirety, commemorating that album’s 25th anniversary. Throughout the entire concert, Steve made the impossible possible, consistently pulling sounds out of his guitar that seemingly come from outer space and beyond. In a word, Extraordinary! I had first seen Vai live when he was a relatively unknown guitarist with Frank Zappa. I saw him twice with David Lee Roth and once again with Whitesnake. Earlier in 2016 I was fortunate to see Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt, and Tosin Abbasi join forces on the Generation Axe tour. After a 27 year wait, I got to witness one of the finest guitarists on the planet play twice, and both shows were truly legendary, like the man himself. I’m sure all the guitar players who were in attendance that night are feeling good knowing we witnessed a musical genius at the top of his game!

Written By Braddon S. Williams aka The Concert Critic