jisham Posted March 25, 2005 Posted March 25, 2005 Saw the show last night. First, the new Rams Head Live in Baltimore is the SHIT! What a killer killer venue. Only downside was that it was REALLY hot and stuffy in there but the sound system, lights, three levels, etc. were very very cool Eric Sardinas opened the show and I don't think I've ever been as utterly FLOORED. That mofo was beyond fantastic and I bought his CD on the spot after his set. He played a singlecut Dobro plugged into a Rivera stack and coaxed more sounds of that thing than is humanly possible. I've always appeciated a good slide player, but a a guy who "shreds" with a slide is just unbelievable. Incredible showman as well. After his set, he hung out at the back bar and we talked with him quite awhile. Truly humble and just a nice nice guy. Vai came on about 30 minutes after Sardinas. As you can imagine, he had a crack band: Billy Sheehan on bass, Tony MacAlpine on keys/guitar, Dan something on guitar, and some kid drummer covered in tats. Now, we all know Vai is an incredible player but we actually got pretty bored after about the fifth song and left after the seventh. Vai has to be the king of rock star poses -- the whole time he had a fan blowing his hair up and he's got more goofy faces and growls than I can count. There were definitely some awesome moments. Around the third song, it was just Vai, Sheehan and the drummer playing. At that moment, both Vai's and Sheehan's fretboards literally lit up with LEDs...it was very cool visually. At another point, all four jammed up front close and personal with each guy fretting another guy's guitar neck. Again, all incredibly talented musicians. The band has a good time on stage and seem to all admire each other without question. But for me, it just seemed to be a wankfest and although I appreciate it, after seeing the raw energy of Sardinas, it got old real fast. Equipment wise, Vai used Jems all the way. He started with a doubleneck that had a regular six string with Floyd on top and a fretless six string on the bottom. After that, he used various single neck Jems but mostly stuck with one that had a chrome top. Both he and McAlpine had Carvin Legacies. The other guitarist used a Mesa Stiletto that sounded fantastic. Definitely worth $25. For those of you haven't heard any Sardinas, do yourself a favor and pickup his CD.
Travis Posted March 25, 2005 Posted March 25, 2005 Vai's other guitarist is Dave Weiner, one of his old guitar techs. The drummer's name is Jeremy Colson. He played on Marty Friedman's "Music for Speeding" and Michael Schenker Group's "Arachnophobiac." Vai definitley does have one of the best touring bands in the world right now and I can't wait until April 11th to see him.
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