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| Steve Vai (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
For me, it was Whitesnake when I was in the seventh grade. The band was on tour supporting the recent release of Slip of the Tongue (iTunes) and I got the chance to see them as they passed through Philadelphia on April 14th, 1990… I was 13 at the time. My memory of that show is still so vivid, and what I remember most, is that it was my first introduction to the extraordinary guitarist, Steve Vai. During the obligatory concert guitar solo, Vai's mirror encrusted guitar slowly lowered from (or did it rise to?) the rafters of the Spectrum, all while a single spotlight hit the body of the guitar creating a mirror ball effect throughout the arena. But the real brilliance happened while the guitar was in Steve’s hands as you’ll in the video below.
Vai was a relatively new addition to the band back then, originally filling in for Adrian Vandenberg who sustained a serious hand injury during the writing/recording of Slip of the Tongue (iTunes). Vai was officially added in 1990 while also wrapping up material for his soon to be solo-release, Passion and Warfare (iTunes), which was released in September of that year.
It’s hard to fathom that Passion & Warfare (iTunes) just hit 25 years old, and after Vai’s recent tour with Generation Axe earlier this year, Steve’s hit the road again to celebrate the 25th anniversary of that seminal album — still one of my favorites!
You won’t want to miss this concert at the Fillmore on October 13th. Tickets are still available (as of this writing) here.
Check back shortly after the show for a full review!
