Audiophileoholic

2 min read

Joe Satriani with Steve Vai at The Murat Theatre at Old National Centre on April 21, 2024

INDIANAPOLIS

Photos and Review by Hadyn Mayes (Photography by Halo)

The lights go down in the Murat Theatre at Old National Centre with a loud guitar strum. Cheering is heard all through the crowd and a beat starts on the drums. The lights come up on Steve Vai and his band, and the concert starts with a bang!

Vai does an hour-long set, filled with cries from the guitar and screams from the crowd. Everyone is enthralled to be seeing this legend in the flesh. Vai starts the show with a blue LED guitar, motioning for the crowd to get on their feet. There's dancing, head bopping, and big smiles seen all through the house. The crowd is enjoying his unique riffs and fascinated by his mastery of this instrument. His next guitar is a mirrored guitar which shoots out lights to the crowd.

After Vai finishes his set, there is a brief intermission. After a few minutes, the lights go down and the crowd starts shuffling quickly to their seats, cheering and yelling all the way. We hear three clicks of the drumsticks and the lights kick on, revealing Joe Satriani (Satch) and his band. Everyone in the crowd is drinking beers and enjoying the music.

I notice a lot of old band tees from previous Vai or Satrioni tours; avid groupies who are enjoying seeing their favorite guitarists again. Satriani is calm, cool, and collected through his set. He demands attention from the audience and clearly knows how to control the crowd. One clever technique he uses is to draw out the endings of songs until the audience stands and cheers for him.

The show finishes with a jam sesh featuring both Vai and Satriani. Satriani tells a heartfelt story of how they met; Vai was 12 years old with only a guitar and guitar strings asking for lessons from Satriani. After they started working together the rest is history. This dynamic duo harmonize their guitars, feeding off each other's energies and sending it out into the crowd. At the end of the jam session, they reveal a new song that will be released this year. Overall, this was a night of mastery and love for an awesome craft!