"Watching all of these legends on stage one last time was the perfect way to wrap up an incredible night of rock n' roll, and felt it put an exclamation point on what turned out to be a masterclass by five of the most talented guitarists on the planet today." 

I remember seeing Crossroads in my youth, a movie about a bluesman having a showdown with a rock and rock demon at the climax of the film.  This was a favorite movie of mine and wore out the VHS quite a bit by the time I grew into other films.  This movie is all kinds of cheesy, but one the things still great in this movie is the guitar work. Little did I know at the time, but this was my very first exposure to Steve Vai, a god amongst modern guitarists who can play any genre of music as if he studied at Juilliard for years to master it. Steve Vai has always been an icon in the guitar world, but I had never imagined I would see him live.  I just rarely go to shows with heavy guitar featured in them, and always assumed I would leave with a throbbing headache after not experiencing a full range of music during a show.  That all changed last week when I was asked to cover Generation Axe. 

First in this night of transcendent guitar work was Tosin Abasi, who I had not heard of before this night, so I relaxed and listened.  What came out of this lonely player who took the stage to the far right was nothing short of beautiful and melodic and worldly.  His sound really relaxed my soul and some tonality in his playing reminded of some of the post-rock and shoegaze bands and musicians I’ve listened to over the years.  Abasi was quite something and I will be sampling his wares in the coming months.

Nuno Bettencourt, who I mainly had known of through his membership in the band Extreme, was next up. He took the stage like a pro and kicked off his set with the Extreme classic, "Get the Funk Out".  Bettencourt's live version hit on all cylinders and took the studio track to a whole new level.  It was like listening to the album again and not feeling like something was missing from the live performance (which is typically the case).  Next up was "Midnight Express", followed by a medley of Extreme songs as well as a few others he was paying tribute to.  It wasn’t too long before a ripped, long haired mountain man (with a beard I could only envy) joined Nuno on stage.  It was the infamous Zakk Wylde.  I have admired Zakk for years, and it was amazing to see him on stage for a few tracks with Bettencourt before he broke off into his own set.  Wylde covered a couple Sabbath songs, which included one of my favorite rock songs ever, "War Pigs", and it was perfect.  I don’t want to sound sacrilegious here, but it’s doubtful Ozzy (in all of his omnipotence) could do much better.  "War Pigs" went on for quite some time, during which Wylde trolled the audience and paced through the crowd like a beast.  People were clamoring to be close to the guitarist and those of us covering the show, stuck up front, could only be jealous. 

Before long, Bettencourt came back out to join Wylde on stage and they eventually went back into the now capacity crowd.  The 2 guitar-men mounted a few chairs near the middle of theater and began a bit of a 'guitar-off' with one another, which was yet another epic moment on Thursday night. Luckily, I was close to this part of the theater when this occurred.  As they were playing, I heard (through the massive cords) a 3rd guitar join in.  I couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from, as Bettercourt and Wylde were still surfing those chairs.  It turned out to be Vai himself, the man behind the mayhem, and he played for a moment before all three legends took back to the main stage.

Vai's set was on point, and made his Ibanez guitar sing in a way that made his incredible fretwork look all too easy. I was impressed watching him though the three songs he had to himself - including "There's a Fire in the House", "The Animal", and "Whispering a Prayer".  I think had a religious experience watching him, and his performance truly changed my opinion of guitar laden rock shows.  His closing song was "Frankenstein" (made famous by The Edgar Winter Group), before which he called the previous musicians back to the stage.  They rocked the albino’s (yes, Edgar Winter was albino) song for 12+ minutes, during which Wylde again descended into the crowd.

Immediately following "Frankenstein", all of the bright lights dimmed and The Grove transformed into a sea of yellow and red, signaling the arrival of the only musician on the bill not yet seen - Yngwie J. Malmsteen.  He took to the stage like a evil spirit ascending from hell for a one-night engagement in Orange County (I could see it).  He came out playing guitar like a demonic Beethoven, flicking his tongue as he played and hucking picks into the crown of onlookers.  It was perfect that his first track was titled, "Arpeggios From Hell".  Yngwie's stature was small, his hair big, and overall sound monstrous.  I was taken aback by the sounds and visuals of the moment and was simply awestruck.  Malmsteen never took a break and his entire set sounded like one big symphonic masterpiece.  His performance culminated with an incredible cover of Deep Purple's 1973 masterpiece, "Burn" featuring the entire Generation Axe lineup including Abasi, Bettencourt, Wylde, and the ringmaster himself, Mr. Steve Vai.  Watching all of these legends on stage one last time was the perfect way to wrap up an incredible night of rock n' roll, and felt it put an exclamation point on what turned out to be a masterclass by five of the most talented guitarists on the planet today. 

For more information on this years Generation Axe tour or to by tickets (including VIP packages), click HERE