Gig review: JOE SATRIANI – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 11 June 2013

Up in the circle of the ornate Philharmonic Hall there was a distinct whiff of charity shop. This was a slightly bizarre change from the whiff of bowel disorder that one often encounters at gigs where the audience is of a certain age. But pungent aromas apart, the ‘Phil’ was perhaps too civilised a venue for heavy rock and controlled guitar feedback.

I spoke to Joe Satriani at the start of his European tour and at that time he was wrestling with how to condense four guitar parts into one. He shouldn’t have worried. When in doubt send for Keneally.

Satriani’s long standing keyboard player doubled up on guitar and, even if he looked like a Liberal councillor canvassing for your vote, he acted as an excellent foil for his leader and his sparring in songs like ‘Satch Boogie’ was laudable.

However, this gig – a wonderful and energising two hours – did reveal strengths and weaknesses in the Satriani set-up. The classics – among them the superb opener ‘Cool #9 ’, ’Ice 9′, ‘Flying In A Blue Dream’, and ‘Cryin” – were truly classic but the heavily featured new material was a bit patchy.

Satch’s last couple of albums have been less structured than of old. Songs like ‘The Weight Of The World’ and ‘Jumpin In’ rambled a bit whilst ‘Shine On American Dreamer’, ‘A Celebration’ and ’Three Sheets To The Wind’ seemed a little perfunctory. And I don’t think that is purely a lack of familiarity. Among the new pieces the title track and ‘Lies And Truths’ came over very well. But, strangely, one of the album’s other highlights ‘Can’t Go Back’ wasn’t played.

The real highlight tonight – apart from Mike Keneally’s dual duties – was definitely a supercharged version of ‘The Crush Of Love’ (from ‘Dreaming #11′) which Joe announced as a song he wrote whilst waiting for his wife to come home for dinner. Like the songs ‘Memories’ and ‘Why’ on the last tour (both sadly omitted from the current set) this is a melodic and infectious tour de force.

Throughout, there was great support from Bryan Beller on bass and Marco Minnemann on drums. However, the whiff of charity shop was never far away and sadly perhaps almost as overpowering as Satriani’s immaculate performance. I must remember to rinse my T-shirt more thoroughly in future.

Review by David Randall
Photos by Steve Goudie

David Randall presents ‘Assume The Position’ on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio every Sunday at 22:00 GMT.

Set-list: 1. Cool #9 2. Devil’s Slide 3. Flying in a Blue Dream 4.Unstoppable Momentum 5. The Weight of the World 6. Ice 9 7. The Crush of Love 8. I’ll Put A Stone On Your Cairn 9. A Door into Summer 10. Lies and Truths 11.Satch Boogie 12. Shine On American Dreamer 13.Three Sheets To The Wind 14. Cryin’ 15. Jumpin’ In 16. A Celebration 17. Always With Me, Always With You 19.Surfing with the Alien Encore: 20. Crowd Chant 21. Summer Song 22. Rubina

Album review (and interview edit)

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

Next session: Sunday 19 January

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 24 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 26 November 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)