SatchVai Band – The O2 Apollo, Manchester: Live!

By Mike Ainscoe on 20th June 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

SatchVai Band, Ned Evett – The O2 Apollo, Manchester – Thursday 19th June 2025

Surfing With The Hydra

It is indeed the ‘Surfing With The Hydra’ tour for the duo of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. A duo who’ve collaborated in many forms aside from their solo and sidesmen outings. They’ve toured together with their own bands and as part of the G3 project with a host of similarly formidable guitar slingers.

Now they have their own little outfit – one that makes up a suitably impressive quality street onstage, and have been touting their own music. So as (and it seems disrespectful to simply call them a rhythm section) drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist Marco Mendoza, take the stage with and other virtuoso guitarist Pete Thorn at their stage left hand, Joe and Steve loiter in the wings to creep on together from the shadows.

the best of both worlds

It’s those two SatchVai pieces that open the show. Marco takes on the Glenn Hughes vocal role, stepping down from the little platform he occupies next to the drum kit. The promo video plays on the projection screen, as do several visuals through the set, so Glenn is there in digital spirit. I Wanna Play My Guitar is quite apt, as the dream team duo mug it up with side by side solo axeworking for the first ten minutes that sees some (naturally) impressive work as they ride The Sea Of Emotion.

It’s what we’re here for as fans of Joe or Steve get the best of both worlds as the duo then play musical chairs, each taking a couple of tunes before leaving the stage for the other. The band certainly earns their crust and not to be forgotten, the other guitar player on stage is given an early moment in the limelight. Pete Thorn stepping up to duel with Vai on his first solo outing, Zeus In Chains. Steve and Joe have chosen wisely as their gang sees them accompany two world star guitarists with ease.

non stop barrage of impressiveness

For the next hour and a half, there’s a non stop barrage of guitar gymnastics and beyond. No need to impress or outdo each other. Just a mutual respect from two cool guys. Whammy bars are whammed, Floyd Roses are tested, harmonics are pinged and fretboards are tapped. Both are keen to show (a) the full range of their considerable diversity in their skills and not just as shredding soloists and (b) their impressive range of instruments as the triple neck comes out to play for Teeth Of The Hydra. Teacher and pupil have come a long way and for many in attendance, be they musicians themselves or simply fans, the evening comes with its own showcase lesson to a class of a few thousand, who try to to do a collective open mouthed gawp.

Both don the rock star shades that are as much of the look as the shiny guitars. Joe in plain black t shirt, jeans and red Docs, Mr Vai (as the stencil on his flight case states) moving with a grace and silky ease, his long coat swaying with the same emotion as pours from his many strings and his many necks. He’s possibly at his most emotive with some blues runs on For The Love Of God as Joe watches in admiration (the teacher pupil thing again maybe?) before adding his own work. The covers that make up the encore allow for the full ensemble to have a bit of fun with some Rock and Metal classics. Steve and Joe briefly becomes James and Kirk and supplement the megatonne riff of Born To Be Wild with a few choice solos

Wonderful to see a couple (with no disrespect to the band) of masters at work.

NED EVETT

The ‘always see the support band’ mantra was rewarded with a sprightly half hour set from a solo (plus assorted pedal effects) Ned Evett. Setting the tone for an evening of impressive looking guitars – never mind the playing – that saw the stainless steel fretless acoustic (with which Ned seems particularly at home) challenge the solid glass body for the honours. Message To You on the glass beauty matches up to his discretion of the song as having a “dark halo.”The perfect half hour snapshot that does enough to pique the interest and add new fans to the mailing list. And with the earworm of “be the rockstar that you are” still nudging away some hours later, it seems the job has been a good one.