Steve Vai - Bad Horsie Live

[mentoneman]

grow a beard, wear loose jeans and a leather jacket, and fix your vibrato steve.

So he needs to be more like Zakk???

i'd be way more inclined to learn a ZW lick or go see him that i would a vai lick/concert that's for sure.

ej is a little too light in the loafers but he burns and his tone is benchmark city.


hendrix stage antics were totally insane and alien for his time, but his playing made sense out of it.

vai looks like he's passing a kidney stone every time he does index finger vibrato, and it's way less impressive and dramatic
than his gestures indicate.

inappropriate.

 

[mentoneman]

Some of the best tone, stage moves, and playing around IMO!!!

 

[Digital Jams]

I thought that Vai's Crossroads opening was pretty damn solid for a rocker playing the blues myself

Yeah I do wish there was an DLR Eatem DVD out cause nobody in the 80s at that point touched Vai and I mean NOBODY Pat Vai was playing EVH solos with the green meanie on the floor like the solos were constructed by a pre schooler I do wish his vibrato was better though.

Ed can sit there and sell his NASA tollerance built Fenders all day long but when he is alone sitting there in his studio Vai haunts him for what he did with DLR.

Damn it Pat I have been so good with not getting into the knitting factory since speaking to Ed D. about that but damn it you bring out the worst in me I no longer get into the bashing threads but geez your boy on the alter could not hang with Vai on his worst day.

But the monsterous respect I have for your tone input and years of gathering all that is good with music I would love for you to build Vai a proper rig

Fuck that bassman stuff though

 

[Bob Savage]

i agree the guth was on a vai bender for his solo debut but for pete sake guth is elevendy billion times the player vai is.

and what if vai wanted to hump your guitar while you played it....


awkward.

Guthrie is a freak of a player, which is my point. Vai evidently has enough going on with his writing/playing that even a freako virtuoso like Guthrie thinks it's good enough to mimick on his debut release.

Anybody humping my guitar would pose a problem, even little Stevie Vai.

 

[70strathead]

dosent do a darn thing for me..., full on poser here and annoying vibrato or what vibrato?. But can't deny the guys success, and his musical abilities/backround. I loved Steve in the early years up into the second DLR record... and did love that Christmas thingy he did.

Blue Powder IMO was his best instrumental.

 

[JTyson]

how the hell was he playing stuff towards the end... amazing performance...

With a size 13 motocross boot!!!!! AAAAUUUURRRGG! I can't stand the whammy dives, But with him, you KNOW hes got so much more under the hood than he's laying on the table. Dont like the posing either, but dam!. He must have his sustainer turned on at the wierd part. Only he could pull off wearing the head mounted light....thing. Only solidifies his alien status. When the aliens finally show up, and tell us " we've been here all along" WE will be able to say " yes, we already knew this"

 

[JTyson]

Guthrie is a freak of a player, which is my point. Vai evidently has enough going on with his writing/playing that even a freako virtuoso like Guthrie thinks it's good enough to mimick on his debut release.

Anybody humping my guitar would pose a problem, even little Stevie Vai.

Vai can hump my guitar any day of the week, as long as I can take pics. That sucker would be on eBay so fast it's not even funny.

I forgot about that, that was............au......strange

 

[mentoneman]

I thought that Vai's Crossroads opening was pretty damn solid for a rocker playing the blues myself

Yeah I do wish there was an DLR Eatem DVD out cause nobody in the 80s at that point touched Vai and I mean NOBODY Pat Vai was playing EVH solos with the green meanie on the floor like the solos were constructed by a pre schooler I do wish his vibrato was better though.

Ed can sit there and sell his NASA tollerance built Fenders all day long but when he is alone sitting there in his studio Vai haunts him for what he did with DLR.

Damn it Pat I have been so good with not getting into the knitting factory since speaking to Ed D. about that but damn it you bring out the worst in me I no longer get into the bashing threads but geez your boy on the alter could not hang with Vai on his worst day.

But the monsterous respect I have for your tone input and years of gathering all that is good with music I would love for you to build Vai a proper rig

Fuck that bassman stuff though

listen bro bro--you will always be more than cool in my book and this vai stuff has come to be expected--we are the yin and yang of vai discussion

but i'll call it like i see it...i figure we got eddie to buy himself some new teeth with that pepi photoshop thread, maybe we can steer vai away from the creepy antics if we hit this long enough!

vai in the roth years was doing the right thing...going to see racer x and being humbled by the dynamic duo...playing within the confines of actual songs with vocals, and being appropriate..his whitesnake years was not a very good fit.
that was like whitesnake with an egyptian snake charmer soloing over the changes.

the bassman thing-
if vai sat down on a chair in the middle of his concert and took a strat and plugged straight in to a bassman, and just improvised some bluesy/clean hendrix meets SRV type music, with maybe some verb and a looper, that would be INFINITELY greater than his triple neck moment.

 

[mentoneman]

dosent do a darn thing for me..., full on poser here and annoying vibrato or what vibrato?. But can't deny the guys success, and his musical abilities/backround. I loved Steve in the early years up into the second DLR record... and did love that Christmas thingy he did.

Blue Powder IMO was his best instrumental.

+1

 

[mentoneman]

i agree the guth was on a vai bender for his solo debut but for pete sake guth is elevendy billion times the player vai is.

and what if vai wanted to hump your guitar while you played it....


awkward.

Guthrie is a freak of a player, which is my point. Vai evidently has enough going on with his writing/playing that even a freako virtuoso like Guthrie thinks it's good enough to mimick on his debut release.

Anybody humping my guitar would pose a problem, even little Stevie Vai.

to be honest i was totally disappointed that guth nicked so much of vai's vibe on his cd.
what i wanted to hear was guth playing his own unique way, playing fretless, and all the other amazing and untouchable stuff he does.
but he too like vai suffers a little when he is left to his own song writing skills.

because let's face it, in order to be that good at guitar, they are plain weird, and maybe don't have those particular song writing gifts that measure up to their technical facility. john sykes, dann huff, eddie, eric jonson..those guys had the ability to write powerful hooks and blaze on top of it.

 

[mentoneman]

the bassman thing-
if vai sat down on a chair in the middle of his concert and took a strat and plugged straight in to a bassman, and just improvised some bluesy/clean hendrix meets SRV type music, with maybe some verb and a looper, that would be INFINITELY greater than his triple neck moment.

I doubt he'd have much trouble.

i'm not saying he couldn't i'm saying he should calm down and bring more meat and potatoes to the gig.

 

[mentoneman]

I think Vai has gotten a bit further than selling out Tone Merchants

it's not his success i question, and you of all people know what i'm saying.
yngwie mopped the floor with vai and satch on the G3 jam, and guthrie is better than the 3 combined.

 

[mentoneman]

I think Vai has gotten a bit further than selling out Tone Merchants

it's not his success i question, and you of all people know what i'm saying.
yngwie mopped the floor with vai and satch on the G3 jam, and guthrie is better than the 3 combined.

As far as what? Songwriting?

Incorporating guitar tricks into mediocre tunes only guitar wannabe's enjoy?

Selling out 25 seaters?

guthrie is kinda like the landau thing...his recorded stuff is good, but once you see him live and witness the guy playing and how the tone comes across, you get a better perspective and respect for the guy.

 

[Digital Jams]

I thought that Vai's Crossroads opening was pretty damn solid for a rocker playing the blues myself

Yeah I do wish there was an DLR Eatem DVD out cause nobody in the 80s at that point touched Vai and I mean NOBODY Pat Vai was playing EVH solos with the green meanie on the floor like the solos were constructed by a pre schooler I do wish his vibrato was better though.

Ed can sit there and sell his NASA tollerance built Fenders all day long but when he is alone sitting there in his studio Vai haunts him for what he did with DLR.

Damn it Pat I have been so good with not getting into the knitting factory since speaking to Ed D. about that but damn it you bring out the worst in me I no longer get into the bashing threads but geez your boy on the alter could not hang with Vai on his worst day.

But the monsterous respect I have for your tone input and years of gathering all that is good with music I would love for you to build Vai a proper rig

Fuck that bassman stuff though

listen bro bro--you will always be more than cool in my book and this vai stuff has come to be expected--we are the yin and yang of vai discussion

but i'll call it like i see it...i figure we got eddie to buy himself some new teeth with that pepi photoshop thread, maybe we can steer vai away from the creepy antics if we hit this long enough!

vai in the roth years was doing the right thing...going to see racer x and being humbled by the dynamic duo...playing within the confines of actual songs with vocals, and being appropriate..his whitesnake years was not a very good fit.
that was like whitesnake with an egyptian snake charmer soloing over the changes.

the bassman thing-
if vai sat down on a chair in the middle of his concert and took a strat and plugged straight in to a bassman, and just improvised some bluesy/clean hendrix meets SRV type music, with maybe some verb and a looper, that would be INFINITELY greater than his triple neck moment.

The problem with Vaisnake was that he was replacing a different player in Sykes, I will admit that Sykessnake owned HARD and Vai never had that slaved mesa magic going on. If Vai had that tone holy shit the earth as we know it would have shifted axis. Sykes has this unchained fury while Vai is more precise and technical. I know most WS fans hate Vai's solo on Deeper the Love but I love it.

I am sure that Vai could do just fine with a bassman and strat and he could just use his digi whammy anyways

I agree with Ant, Blue Powder is a monsterous instrumental and one of my favs

 

[Digital Jams]

it's not his success i question, and you of all people know what i'm saying...

His playing style, tone, showmanship, clothes, etc... (overall persona) is what made him successful IMO. He's unique in the world of copycat '80s shredders. But I'm a sucker for good playing AND showmanship. I like to be entertained, now just wow'ed by skill of the instrument.

EDIT - And BTW, that's also why I like Jake E. Lee so much. He was "different" than most of the other folks with big hair and his showmanship was great.

Vai has also branched off with other projects like the Halo Video game sound track, playing with Nelle, and of course his record label Favored Nations which allows other freak guitarists to be produced. Vai did not allow himself to be forever trapped in the 80s like others have.

I cant wait for the Legacy II amp to come out, word is that Fargen had big input with that amp.

 

[Shiny_Surface]

I cant wait for the Legacy II amp to come out, word is that Fargen had big input with that amp.

I heard about that too, he said in an interview it will sound different than the current legacy.

 

[redrol]

I fucking hate poser rock, hair metal, etc. In the 80s I was firmly in the Thrash and Heavy Metal trenches... BUT. When it comes to Vai I am just awestruck by his uniqueness. When I first saw him play for the Love of God I was pretty amazed and honestly he is still pretty amazing.

 

[peaveyT60]

he's amazing, but i just want to reinforce that i could do without all the homoerotocism

 

[Bob Savage]

he's amazing, but i just want to reinforce that i could do without all the homoerotocism

I believe his guitars are female, so it can't be homoeroticism, although it's some other strange thing... guitaroeroticism?

 

[Atropos_Project]

Lots said here that I agree with. A portion of what he writes is actually really really good. Despite my appreciation for folks who try to push limits, there's just way too much flamboyant nonsense attached to his playing for me.