Putting these three shred masters on the same stage together was more than a dream come true for guitar aficionados, especially since these three axemen are the guys that brought this style into the complete forefront of fretboard virtuosity.

With a tour that burned across the U.S. in the fall of 2003, offering a large scale performance in smaller venues, shedding some light on the current U.S. hard rock scene, with these guys showing the poseurs who's the boss when it comes to "Guitar God" status, and why not capture that performance.

Within this DVD, most of the highlights from each artists performance are showcased here, all being totally different entities, performance wise. Satriani, who had the most "band" oriented performance, who tended to work with the band as one, letting his guitar act as a vocalist, offering his complete balls to the wall performance, jamming with a discrete style and playing for the sake of rocking the house.

Vai's performance includes two notable musicians, bassist Billy Sheehan and guitarist/keyboardist Tony Macalpine, which are among his five piece band that offers interesting performances. Included is the guitar jam session on "I'm the Hell Outta Here," where they all share this solo, being a "chain" so to speak, playing each others guitars at the same time, being the most "musician" oriented performance, not to mention that his performance with the triple-neck on "I Know You're Here" is pretty fucking cool, especially for a ballad.

For Malmsteen, he brings all his styles to the table, playing his acoustic guitar solo as well as the Rising Force classic "Far Beyond the Sun," with his performance being the most "virtuoso" oriented.
The Jam session at the end includes Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" as well as Hendrix's "Little Wing" and "Voodoo Child" played out with no less of a perfect performance. The stage presence is nothing short of phenomenal; proving that the current MTV pop culture wuss guitarists couldn't hold a note to these guys. Among the bonuses included is the "fretcam" feature for the multiangle portions, giving you a close up of the guitar work in progress, Bios, a lighting plot diagram, and a virtual tour book.

After seeing this show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville (Yes, the "Grand Old Opry") back in November, I have to admit that this is fairly close as it gets as far as seeing them in person, not to mention that the camera work in general here is exceptional, with picture and sound being a defiant match for quality. Mandatory for all guitarists and fans alike.


Rating: 9/10

Written by Hashman
Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Login to RevelationZ member section to comment

Comment by Yoni - Staff (Anonymous) - Wednesday, April 14, 2004

I laughed when i saw this on the main page as i was going to write my own review for this tonight! anyway, you basically echoed my sentiments about the dvd. The only thing i would have to challenge this review is that i was not that impressed by YJ Malmsteen's performance, i thought it was total trash and he was a total contrast to Vai and Satch's shows which were of much more class and sophistication.. just my 2 cents though - otherwise, everything you said i nodded my head with haha yoni.

Comment by Yoni - Staff (Anonymous) - Wednesday, April 14, 2004

I laughed when i saw this on the main page as i was going to write my own review for this tonight! anyway, you basically echoed my sentiments about the dvd. The only thing i would have to challenge this review is that i was not that impressed by YJ Malmsteen's performance, i thought it was total trash and he was a total contrast to Vai and Satch's shows which were of much more class and sophistication.. just my 2 cents though - otherwise, everything you said i nodded my head with haha yoni.

Comment by Hashman (Tommy Hash) (Anonymous) - Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Yeah, Although I really enjoyed Yngwie's performance, on the DVD and seeing him live in Nashville on this tour (not to mention he is one of my favorite axemen), I have to say he definatly acted arrogant on stage back in the fall. When the big jam session occured at the end, Neal Schon from Journey, was in Nashville at the time, joined them on stage, creating a "G4" performace. When ever Yngwie soloed, he would go off alone to a side of the stage, and when Vai, Satch, or Schon would solo, he would get close to them, just making sure he could be as visible as they were. At one point when Schon was soloing, Yngwie threw out a pick and it hit Schon on the forehead (how fucking rude is that). But Regardless, he is Yngwie "Fucking" Malmsteen, so in my case all is forgiven, somewhat. -Hashman

Comment by Yoni (Anonymous) - Thursday, April 15, 2004

that's crazy about the pick throwing because recently i read an interview with 'someone' who is a bass player (not sure if 'schon' is a bass player or not) but he basically explained an incident on tour with yngwie where he was doing a really difficult bass-run and pulled it off and was all proud until he felt something hit him in the head (a guitar pick from yngwie).. .who then threw down his guitar, ran over to this b.player and basically said something like "outshine ME??" ..something like that... apparently, the bass player spoke to YJM after and they straightened it all out, but i think that kind of attitude is inexcusable - I don't want this to turn into an YJM flame war like Michael's interview - i respect the guy, but he doesn't really do it for me; diversity is sometimes important for a musician.

Comment by Morten (Anonymous) - Thursday, April 15, 2004

How can you say that Satch is a shredder??? I mean he's an above decent rock guitarist, but not a shredder not like Vai or YJM. Love him or hate him YJM delivers a show like no other. Personally I must give credit to Satch for consistently picking guitarist that outplays him in every aspect. The ego he must have, I mean if that was me, I would running to my mum crying, but no Satch get one that's higher up the latter every time. First we had Eric Johnson, tone to die for, style and class that Satch only could prey for. Steve Vai, has been on every G3 tour and even his keyboard guys are monsters compared to Satch (Mike Keneally and Tony Macalpine), Vai is out of this world, a true artist. Then we had the man John Petrucci, one of my all time fave's!! Well there's not much to say about JP, only that he get's better and better, the sky must be his limit. And now YJM, well no one dos what he dos, and no one do it better. Perhaps he's an ass, I don't know, I've only spoken to him twice and he was so wasted that I really did'nt care. But his wife April sure is a nasty one, well back to his playing style. I don't care what he's like if he want's the spotlight or not, he's an solo artist; It's his stage, his band, his tunes. But still man can this guy play and shred. I guess the next natural pick for Satch would have been the late great Shawn Lane, RIP. Sadly that is one truely gifted artists I never got to experrience live. May you be well where ever you are Mr Lane. G3 has also had a European leg, this time around it's going to be Satch, Vai and Robert Fripp, though Fripp rocks, shred like a man possed, and then there's the Frippo Tronics, G3 Europe has never really been the same grandiose shredfest as the US. Well I'll end my little speach here... I guess I'll get flamed for this, for some reason Satch fans can never see past the fact that he's a very good guitarist but he's nothing like the names mentioned above.;-) Enjoy

Comment by Eddi Viehman (Anonymous) - Sunday, January 2, 2005

I think by far that Vai is the best guitarist and artist out there. But satriani isnt far behind and yngwie is the astest ive ever seen and he works the crowd. In the jam session yngwie was an arrogant asshole and kept taking long solos, flicking picks, and hogging the spotlight.

Comment by rabin (Anonymous) - Thursday, September 15, 2005

who gives a damn about SHRED man I fuckin' bet any money whoever scream and shout Shred Shred Shred they can't even listen to it more than a minute. these are sort of guy, they actually are fake and sick as well.Having said that i believe they do have good taste in music but as i said earlier on they are fucking sick they've got to stick with shred somehow, COME ON BE YOURSELF FUCK THE MALMSTEEN alwyas sound same and can do nothing but shred horribly

Comment by DIPEN (Anonymous) - Thursday, September 15, 2005

Joe satriani musical and technical wizardry is beyond reach,the most lyrical and soulful of contemporary virtuosos, with an ear for a good tune and, more recently, an emphasis on emotion over technique, IN SHORT joe satriani is the most precious treasure in the music world

Comment by Daniel (Anonymous) - Sunday, October 30, 2005

I agree yngwie's appearance isn't that great, i quite often skip it.. joe's and steve's performances are great the tripple neck ahh! and mystical potatoe head groove thing! he goes off! yeh i love the dvd but i think eric johnson did a better job he fits right in with the blues theme on the g3 jam. and yes you are right ^^^ joe satriani is simply THE BEST

Comment by freeman (Anonymous) - Tuesday, December 13, 2005

satch is an amazing guitarplayer but is cold as ice you can saw him make any kind of illusions on guitar and nothing happens... vai is maybe the greatest guitarplayer over the world but... too much tricks on his style and always the same... take off vai from rock history and nothing happens... malmsteen is god straight down from the cross the guy rules the stage as simply as it is on the jam only yngwie shines yngwie is a cornerstone on rock history

Comment by Gregg Orange (Anonymous) - Wednesday, January 18, 2006

This "guitar hero" mentality is for pretentious spandex wearing idiots and prima donnas that approach guitar playing from a purely egotistical and competitive nature. Gong!Personally, these "day at the races" shred matches bore me to tears after just a couple of minutes. Malmsteen should be forced to take injections of liquid humility for the rest of his life. Generally, most good rock and roll songs consist of about a three or four chord structure. Putting endless and gratuitous guitar solos on record usually results in shrinking your audience down to successively smaller and smaller proportions as well. I guess there is a contingent of fans that want to watch extremely technically competent guitar players masturbate onstage repetitively but, there is a much much larger contingent of fans that just want to hear a good band play good 3-5 minute rock songs.

Comment by Jimmy Dean (Anonymous) - Monday, February 6, 2006

Malmsteen needs to stay solo. It's not fun masturbating with other guys.

Comment by Roodah (Anonymous) - Monday, May 1, 2006

Dude, Ynwie Malmsteen is amazing, he trem picks really fast yet still randomly improvises insane solo's but i don't like his glam rock apperance and stage act smashing the guitar. It;s just to far when he throughs it in to the audiance. Yeah, I could'nt believe the neck swapping part where even the keyboard player joined in, and then the insane strumming riff thing that was cool. Satriani is like the little kid out of the bunch(he looks so small next to them, lol). Bassicaly: G3 rock, (good review)

Comment by RG (Anonymous) - Saturday, October 21, 2006

While G3 was great and I love Vai and Malmsteen, Satriani never did much for me since Surfing With The Alien. I am sure he is great and all that, but I just don't hear it. He takes too much of a backseat, and I think he should step forth a little more. But I will bet he is a great fellow to work with. At least Hartley Peavey says so. Says Joe is a complete gentleman and easy to work with as an endorser. Not a prima donna and that has to be a plus. Yngwie does what he does and is awesome, but I don't think I could ever get past the obvious arrogance factor. He seems like a real shit, and the alcohol and severe weight trouble he has sort of tells that tale. I'd be ashamed to show up on a DVD acting like a dweeb, all drunk like I was "the shit." Vai makes me laugh, cry, jump up and down with the guitar and it always seems as if he wants it to be fresh, even when playing older well known stuff. The biggest thing though is his personality. You can tell that he has a lot of respect for others, and in interviews we are constantly reminded how he was without cash for gear etc, so that lets me know he remembers where he came from. Malmsteen has been doing his thing since he was a child, and had all the advantages of a classical training, obviously his folks had enough money to train him. While he is very very good and has no equal, I get tired of listening to it after about 10 minutes, just like I get tired of listening to Bach after about 10 minutes. Anyone with enough right and left hand coordination can shred, but it takes a special "something" to be able to play melodically where someone else gives a damn and wants to hear it again and again. These guys all three definitely have that special something.