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Three-time Grammy Award-winning guitarist, producer, songwriter, and composer Steve Vai has spent decades playing solo and in some of the most influential rock groups of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Ranked among the 20 best guitarists of the decade by Guitar World magazine in 2019, Vai has played with rock legends like Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake and more, and sold more than 15 million records. He has also recorded with a wide range of artists such as Public Image Ltd, Mary J. Blige, Spinal Tap, and Alice Cooper, and toured with live-only acts like G3, Zappa Plays Zappa and the Experience Hendrix tour.
Born in Carle Place, New York, in 1960, Vai began playing guitar as a child and spent his high school years playing in local bands. He attended Berklee College Of Music and worked for Frank Zappa as a transcriptionist. Relocating to Los Angeles, Vai toured with Zappa, who nicknamed Vai "Stunt Guitarist" and "Little Italian Virtuoso," and played on Zappa albums such as 1981's Tinsel Town Rebellion and You Are What You Is, 1982's Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch, 1983's The Man From Utopia, and 1984's Them or Us and Thing-Fish.
In the mid-'80s, Vai set out on his own, recording two solo albums: 1984's Flex-Able and Flex-Able Leftovers. Also in the 1980s, Vai joined the Van Halen-inspired rock outfit Alcatrazz and made a cameo appearance in the movie Crossroads, where he played the Devil's guitarist. Soon, he landed a gig as the guitarist in David Lee Roth's newly formed solo band and played on the group's 1986 debut album Eat 'Em And Smile. Vai also played on the group's follow-up album, Skyscraper (1988). In 1988, Vai released his own line of guitars via Ibanez: the Jam 777 series.
After Skyscraper, Vai left Roth's band to work on another solo album (Passion And Warfare) and joined Whitesnake, with whom he recorded 1989's Slip Of The Tongue. He also released a seven-string guitar that eventually caught on with late-'90s nu-metal acts like Korn and Limp Bizkit.
In the early '90s, Vai formed a new band, VAI, and hired Devin Townsend on vocals, T.M. Stevens on bass, and Terry Bozzio on drums. The group released one album in 1993 called Sex & Religion. Two years later, he released an all-instrumental EP, Alien Love Secrets. Additional '90s solo projects included 1996's Fire Garden, 1998's Flex-Able Leftovers (a re-release of his out-of-print sophomore solo album with added tracks), and 1999's The Ultra Zone.
In the early 2000s, Vai released the compilation instrumental album The 7th Song: Enchanting Guitar Melodies - Archives Vol. 1 and a live record, Alive In An Ultra World. In 2001, Vai also released his career-spanning box set: the 10-disc The Secret Jewel Box. In 2002, Vai compiled a series of compositions he'd done for films such as Crossroads and the theme to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey and put them together on a 40-track collection dubbed The Elusive Light and Sound, Vol. 1.
In 2005, Vai returned after a hiatus with Real Illusions: Reflections and toured with the Metropole Orchestra, releasing a double live album, Sound Theories, Vols. 1 & 2 (2007). In 2010, Vai teamed with the North Netherlands Orchestra, marrying rock compositions with orchestral arrangements. He called the partnership his "Evo Era."
Also in 2010, Vai did a number of televised performances with contemporary artists like Mary J. Blige, Orianthi, Travis Barker, Ron Fair, and Randy Jackson. Two years later, he dropped his eighth studio album, The Story Of Light, which notably featured a duet with Aimee Mann.
In 2015, Vai released a recording of an October 2012 show, Stillness In Motion: Vai Live In L.A. He later released 2016's Modern Primitive, which featured updated material from the 1980s. In 2022, Vai released his 10th studio album, Inviolate, which debuted at No. 1 on the Current Hard Rock Albums chart.
Catch legendary guitar Steve Vai on tour when he comes to a city near you.
Steve Vai played for over 2 and a half hours, we definitely got our moneys worth Steve Morse played a song with Vai, that was like 2 of G3 for about 8 min. Wonderful show
While Vai is a master, this show was more about flash than substance. Leave the tech stuff alone and play guitar!
His guitar playing talent has gotten even better. He's got a very technical way of playing and has a great band behind him to enhance him even more. Our son, who will going to The Berklee College of Music, where Vai graduated from is really looking forward to his college career there and he has learned many of Vai's songs. He can play very well, so Vai is definitely his mentor.
This was a awesome show! not just a band up on stage playing music.Great players made Mr. Vai sound better than ever. A must see show if your a fan of Steve Vai.
Unbelievable event...unbelievable music...unbeliavle artist. Absolutely amazing!
Best Steve Vai concert I've been to. The new album and set list was incredible.
Very entertaining in continuing active entertainment through great showmanship and class of professional excellence.
Fantastic! Never saw this club packed like that before. Some trouble with the equipment,but Steve`s showmanship let us easily forget it.His interaction with public and his music will be long remembered.
If you love awesome guitar , this is the show for you. He shredded the guitars one after the other. I lost count on how many different guitars he played. They did some new songs from the new album to come out.. They were all good.. I can't wait till the album goes on sale!
Epic. Got to meet him for a Q&A session and Vai is a stand up guy.
Steve Vai was/is AMAZING, PHENOMENAL!!! The venue, not so much. Too many people for the venue.
Vai is one of my favorite guitarists, and he never disappoints. Instead of the female violinist who was on his live DVD, he brought along a harpist! Not your typical stodgy classical harpist, but an edgy, sort of goth woman with a flair for the dramatic. Vai delivered a lively, energetic, inventive and rocking set that will please even the non-Vai fans. One of the highlights was a jam with Steve on acoustic guitar, his second guitarist playing a Coral electric sitar, the drummer playing a strap on percussion set, upright bass and the harpist! Very "world music!" Unfortunately, the venue really sucked! See review below...
This guy is the man! If you've followed his career I already know you're buying a ticket. This guy shouldn't need a review at all. He lives up to his name as one of the best innovators in the biz. He's super nice and stayed to sign tons of autographs. Played longer and later than any show I've seen in years. Small intimate show with the soulless lackey of the devil himself. It was life changing!
This was the Steve's first solo tour in five years and his first Evo Experience as well. It was amazing to just sit down with him and talk about everything. So humble.
The musicians were great, but unfortunately the sound was terrible; the singer's microphone did not work properly, and she could not be heard for the only one song she sang with Vai's band; Vai's guitar sound level (main instrument) was in the background; bass was too loud; the sound in general was kind of noisy; the harp's amplification failed at the harpist only solo, they gave up on it.
Excellent. He played 2 hours. The drummer was fantastic.
I was privy to something truly amazing when one of my best buds suggested we go down to The Grove in Anaheim 09/09/07 to see of the great masters, Steve Vai. I had no idea what I was in for. I should have brought a heavy duty spatula to scrape my jaw up off the floor (or at least a pair of zircon-encrusted tweezers, thank you very much). Not only were the opening acts and the performers that surrounded Steve all amazing in their own right, but I was simply mesmerized by Vai's abilities. He is more fluid than water, and then all of a sudden, the distortion and the overdrive kick in, and he is crunchier than a bag full of tortilla chips and glass! The man of 173 faces blew my mind that night, and I am now a huge Steve Vai fan. I had always heard the name over the years by those "in the know," but there is nothing like being there. He is, hands down, one of the very best, a true musician, and one not to miss.
