DVD Review
This review was originally written by Jose Bernardo for www.theweeklyriff.com between 2008 and 2010.
These were Jose’s first impressions:
Artist : Joe Satriani
DVD : Live In Paris: I Just Wanna Rock (2010 Epic/Sony Music)
Type : Concert
Discs : 1
Artist website : http://www.satriani.com
OVERVIEW
Overall, this was an incredibly cool DVD to watch. This DVD probably won’t convert you into a Satriani fan if you are not familiar with the music already.
HIGHLIGHTS :
Cryin’ / Crowd Chant / Always With You, Always With Me
MAIN FEATURE
I’ve seen Mr. Satriani many times in concert. I have the G3 DVDs and a bunch of his albums. I’ve even had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Satriani a few times. I wouldn’t call myself a huge fan of Satriani, but I certainly appreciate what he has done for the art of guitar playing and I do enjoy his music a ton.
For the longest time, I felt as though I’d seen the same Satriani show over and over again so I was hesitant when I picked up this DVD, thinking that I would probably see an elongated G3 performance. I was wrong!
I do have to make the following disclaimer: I haven’t seen a live Satriani show since 2004 with the exception of G3 stuff.
This is the first really visually stunning presentation of Satriani’s material in my opinion. The opening segment with the song I Just Wanna Rock was just stunning and pulled me in. The visuals behind the band really brought the music to life! Overdriver was equally stunning.
Satch Boogie
Satch Boogie is one of my favorite tunes of all time! Unfortunately, I feel the performance is tarnished by the busy visual antics, some of which could probably cause seizures.
For the most part Ice 9 and Diddle-Y-A-Doo-Dat managed to stay in the normal concert DVD presentation mode. There were some cool visual effects applied through out that only enhanced the viewing experience. Very cool stuff.
Flying In A Blue Dream, Ghosts, Revelations
Flying In A Blue Dream was cool with all the blue lights in the background. Even bassist, Stu Hamm, got in to a very zen like mode while playing this track. I wish they did more with those blue lights.
Ghosts is presented in a very visually pleasing way, though some of the effects were a bit too busy at times. It’s a really cool song.
Revelations is nice. It captures some audience footage in slow motion and is visually very pleasing to watch. Interesting was also the intercutting of the music video for Super Colossal during its performance. It took me a second to realize that it was being mixed in. The guitars are different between the two videos. I always liked the melodies in Super Colossal. I’m glad it was included in the DVD.
One Big Rush and Musterion
I honestly felt like I was watching a Japanese anime during One Big Rush. Musterion also felt a lot like an anime.
Jeff Campitelli
On another note worth mentioning at this point of the review is that I am really disappointed that none of drummer, Jeff Campitelli’s big fills are featured (until the very end). The camera is always pointed at his face during those big fills. Also of equal disappointment is the little camera time that Galen Henson is given on the DVD.
Out Of The Sunrise and Andalusia
Out Of The Sunrise is absolutely stunning! The visuals on this song are warm and delightful. Time Machine and Cool #9 are equally on par in this respect too. Cool #9 reminded me visually of some stuff from the 60’s and 70’s.
Andalusia is next and is a very pretty song just as I had written in my review of Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock. The visuals on this song are pretty good.
BASS SOLO and Cryin’ and the rest
Stuart Hamm’s bass solo spot is next up. What an absolutely delightful musician he is! His command of the instrument is breathtaking. How many bassists can get a crowd to their feet during their solo? Not many and it’s no wonder that he’s playing with Satriani.
In my opinion, what comes next is worth the price of this DVD, the absolutely sublime rendition of Cryin’. What a treat! Even the visual effects are pretty cool, though I have a hard time understanding what turning gears have to do with crying.
After something as delicate as Cryin’ the audience needs to be reminded that they’re still attending a rock show and the band jump right into Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing. After that they go into Satriani’s most emotional ballad Always With You, Always With Me. This stunning nine-minute rendition is great; however, I think it should have followed Cryin’. I’m so glad that they didn’t over cram complicated visual effects into the performance of Always With You, Always With Me.
Surfing With The Alien is probably Satriani’s best known song because it was the song that catapulted him into stardom and is also the title of the album that the song came from. This rendition is pretty cool.
For an encore they got the audience involved in Crowd Chant and then played Summer Song. The crowd participation is awesome and totally electrifies the crowd. Pumped by Crowd Chant the audience is ready to engage when Summer Song starts. What a great way to close a show!
EXTRA FEATURES :
The 40-minute interview with Joe Satriani is very revealing. It’s really great to hear him speak about things that are central to him as a musician and guitarist.