words and photos by joe zorzi…
Steve Vai’s live performance isn’t just your average rock concert. It’s an experience. It’s an opportunity to see one of the best guitarists in the game play his heart out. The State Theatre in New Brunswick, N.J., was a great place to witness such a performance. It was an intimate, entertaining show and no matter where you sat in the theatre you had a great view of the stage.
This wasn’t a show for the casual music listener, it was for fans of true musical expression. There were moments throughout the set where people would stand up and literally bow down to Vai. He doesn’t need to sing to keep people interested. There was no need for a vocalist because his guitar conveyed so much emotion by itself. Vai is incredibly innovative; half the sounds he makes don’t even sound like they’re coming from a guitar.
Steve Vai’s band was also very impressive and brought a lot to the show. His backup guitarist, Dave Weiner was given the spotlight to play a song off his new acoustic album, A Collection of Short Stories: Vol. 1. It was one of the highlights of the show for me. It gave Vai and the rest of the band a break while the audience got to enjoy some great acoustic skills. As a whole, Steve Vai and company killed it at the State Theatre.
