Rating: 
Summary: Long-Awaited...Vai Live
Review: Wow!! What an awesome DVD! This is an unbelievable show and a must-have for any Vai fan. Over 2 hours of Steve Vai...what more is there to say?
On the 'Alive In An Ultra World' cd's, it was great to hear his new stuff, but now to see him play many of the best tunes from that cd is even greater..."Giant Balls Of Gold", "Blood And Glory", Whispering A Prayer" and "Incantation". As great as those songs are, the highest point for me on this DVD was "The Crying Machine" and "The Animal". Awesome tracks on the studio cd, but mind altering live. Every song on this DVD is altered with extended guitar work and Billy Sheehan showing why he is accompanying Mr. Vai.
The only thing I would change is a couple of songs I didn't care for, for one reason or another..."Shyboy" with Billy Sheehan singing? Could've done without that, but an appropriate opener, I guess. Tony Macalpine's keyboard solo bored me and made me feel like I was watching a funeral. I also did not care for "Chameleon", a song from Sheehan's solo album...music is good on this song, but would trade for most any other Vai tune. I would've like to have seen any of these replaced by "Touching Tongues", "Blowfish" or even better "Juice".
Those moments are few and far between, though. I give this DVD 5 stars and highly recommend it. I extracted the audio from the DVD and burned it on 2 audio cd's to listen to in my car.
Rating:
Summary: The 10th deegre master of the electric guitar!!!
Review: I been playing guitar for about 10 years now and try to follow all the greats like greg howe, joe s., impelliterri, vinne moore, ects... but nobody comes close to steve vai, the guy is not from this world! o.k. on this dvd there a little to much camera fx and moving around but it's not bad you get use to it after a while, worth the 18.00 or so dollars! if your a guitar player or like steve vai's music or like instrumentals than this is the dvd you need to buy or rent!!! someday we'll look back on his music and he'll be a legend!!
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant Show, Mediocre Videography
Review: I decided to hold off on writing this review until I could fully digest the material. From a performance standpoint, the band are nothing short of brilliant. Having never seen Vai in concert, this was jaw dropping. Every member of this band really pulls his weight. Vai of course is stellar not just as a musician but as an entertainer as well. To me the choice of material didnt really matter, because they played their hearts out on every single piece.Alas this dvd is not without its flaws. As a videographer I can appreciate the blood that the crew sweats to come up with a final product. Having said that, I found some of the editorial decisions made in piecing this together questionable. For starters the transitions from frame to frame are often "childish" - that is to say 'effects used for the sake of eye candy'. It gets a little tiresome after a while and one begins to wonder whether the editor was discovering these effects for the first time. Secondly, I was not too happy with the 'shot selection' itself. During 'Little Wing' was there any need to include a shot (for the vast majority of the song, I might add) of a fretboard closeup, that is totally OUT OF FOCUS? Shots that are blurry are useless to all (esp the guitarists) who scrutinise this footage. The same can be said of shots where Vai's back is to the camera for relatively long durations (esp during a solo!)
Finally, I would have preferred Dave Weiner's guitar actual output sound to have been higher. He can barely be heard! This is more of an issue with the people in charge of sound on the night though. Vai fans should pick up this dvd not as a tribute to the footage itself, but as a salute to the 5 musicians who graced the Astoria and brought the roof down! I only wish I could have seen this is person.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: well, i was expecting this dvd like my pay check, and it was AWESOME. i've seen vai a few times before, and his showmanship (and playing, i think, but im in no place to judge him) has gotten ever better. the concert was possibly one of the most amazing things ever. Billy Sheehan is sick! SICK! SICK!! Tony kickass! when i first saw him i had the impression that he wasn't as good as kennelly, until Tony had his solo...it was kind of dissappointing that they didnt play many songs with piano/guitar duet. anywho, dave wiener was just as amazing, i've never see a three part guitar harmony that was played that fast (tapping at top speed), and i've never heard a tap harmonic on a bass guitar played that clearly before. ok, enough about the concert, cuz the previous guys covered it pretty well, its really the production of the DVD that some of the previous guys have bumps with. i agree that the camera was rather shaky, some of the shots weren't as well taken as they should've been. many people also compared it to Satriani's live in san francisco. well, my justification for the camera crew was that....as we all know, steve jumps around on stage like NUTS and we love him for it, unlike satch who just stand there and play. but sometimes, that makes it a little harder for the cameraman to get a special, steady shot of his playing hand, understandable? i think yes. that only pick i have about the DVD is the excess special effects. i think it would've been fine without some of the twisting and skewing. other than that, this DVD is perfect....i watched....well, over and over
Rating:
Summary: Lights, Camera, Too Much Action...
Review: Greg Bradelle's review was pretty much on the money. As a fan of Steve Vai, I was looking forward to an entire DVD devoted to his performance. Unfortunately, nobody told the camera crew that it was not THEIR show. I'm sure the poor slobs who filmed the Cream's Farewell Concert didn't realize they were butchering historical concert footage either, but time has proven them wrong. The performance by Steve and crew was plenty exciting without the addition of all this photographic chicanery.
The experience of TRYING to watch the concert was an exercise in futility and frustration.
At one point in the concert, Steve playfully takes a camera away from one of the "photographers."
Too bad, he gave it back.
Rating:
Summary: Not a moment too soon!!!!
Review: I saw Steve and Billy the first time when I was about 10 or 11 back around...86? when they toured with David Lee Roth. I've also seen Billy with Mr Big and Steve with Whitesnake. They were great then and they're great now. Steve also has Tony Mcalpine in the band as well as his ever faithful sidekick Dave Wiener(spelling?). Not to mention Virgil Donanti on drums.
I've seen the G3 tours and of course one can't help but be impressed. I truely dig the fact that Steve gives all his other bandmates some of the spotlight. And really lates them shine. This is the one area that I think is superior to the Satriani DVD which is also very good but he didn't really let his banmates have the same oppertunity as Steve did his. The Showmanship is first rate while the musicianship is also first rate. Usually bands have to sacrifice one for the other but Steve and his bandmates seem to be able to have thier cake and eat it too. I guess my only gripe about this DVD(and believe me this is very small) is that on the bonus DVD they didn't have an interview with Steve himself. That having been said, there's still ample bonus material and of course a great show on the main dvd which is well worth the price itself. The concert is full of astounding musicianship, humor, and showmanship we have all come to expect and love of Mr Vai. He does not come up short this this. If you are a Steve Vai fan, you need this. You will not be disapointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Steve & the guys are all great... too bad you can't see it!
Review: Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the actual show was great, and I'm a huge Steve Vai fan. But who directed this thing, a 4 year old?!
A few weeks ago I saw a bootleg of one of the songs from the show. Probably some british kid that stood at the back with shaky hands... real poor quality... but it was still better than the actual DVD! Yeah, it's THAT bad. Most of the time you don't even know what you're looking at - an arm, an elbow, a nose... There were a few rare moments when you can see Steve's hands, but from the right side - so you only see his right hand blocking the entire screen. And don't even get me started on the "special effects", my god that was terrible.
If you're gonna buy this DVD, buy it for the music, for the unbelievably talented musicians (Tony MacAlpine on Guitar & Keyboards, Billy Sheehan on bass, Dave Weiner on guitar and Virgil Donati on drums) but don't expect too much from the DVD, staring at it for more than an hour will give you a head ache.
Rating:
Summary: AMAZING
Review: Wow.. I sat down expecting to watch an awesome DVD, I mean, afterall, it's Vai. What I got when I was watching this, I cannot even put completely into words. Everything on this DVD was perfect, and I dunno what that other guy was talking about, the camera situation was fine, plenty of Vai hand shots. All the players on this DVD are all VERY talented in what they do. I was surprised by Tony MacAlpine and Dave Weiner, as I'd never heard of them before; they are just awesome. For the usual Vai antics, this is definitely the DVD of choice, I saw some things on here I'd never seen done before, totally jaw dropping.. GET THIS NOW!!
Rating:
Summary: My god....it's just....WOW....
Review: You know, It takes a lot to get those "excitement chills" running down my spine...watching this video has me in pain because it is JUST SO GOOD! I saw Steve Vai live on this past Oct's G3 Tour. I remember it like it was yesterday, and this DVD brought me right back to it. The way the Steve Plays, there is just something about him that is surreal. I am thoroughly convinced he is not a creation from this world. The way he has a bond with everyone in his band is incredible. He's not a ham though, he lets everyone have their 15 minutes of fame...and WHAT a 15 Minutes! There is so much talent in this band, it's not funny. Virgil has to be one of the best drummers I have ever seen (and I have seen a LOT of drummers), Billy Sheenan is an incredible bassist, one of my favorites besides the uber-talented Danny Lohner from Nine Inch Nails, McAlpine is a smoooth keyboardist, I would second him to DT's Derek Sherinian. Dave Weiner, what's not to love about him? Talented on a seven string and a sitar, very cool. Enough about the band. Im sure if you are checking this out, you already know how amazing this band is... The DVD is a great deal. The full set including a feature-length commentary by the band (most of it is entertaining, if not entertaining). The camera work is great, but I think Mr. Vai needs some more lessons on Final Cut Pro (not that Im knocking it, Im a video editor, Im as picky about films as anything), but his special effects arent too annoying or anything. If I had to have one complaint, I would say that I wish they had actual interviews with the guys instead of text. Text is boring! Other than that, incredible deal. Cliff Notes Version: God-like Guitarist and Amazing Band rock your socks off for a few hours. Lots of extra features and great quality. A Must Have for all rock music lovers. Doesn't matter what kind, as they have their own style. Here's hoping for the G3 DVD early next year. Merry Christmas.
Rating:
Summary: Great Special Features
Review: Loved the DVD and the special features were awesome. The interview with Dave Weiner is so funny. Was this scripted?
Highly recommend!
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