G3 (Joe Satriani, John Petrucci & Uli Jon Roth), Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London, 25/04/18

The announcement of the G3 tour has always been a pleasant surprise for all the guitar fans all over the world. This time, Joe Satriani is joined by Uli Jon Roth (Scorpions) and Jon Petrucci (Dream Theater). The whole package includes a mix of classic rock to heavy metal guitar playing and extreme technical skills by all the participants. Apollo Hammersmith in London was the place of gathering for all the fans that were looking forward to see and feel the guitar tour of the year!

From the very first moment that you arrive outside of the concert venue, you realize that this is an important venue for the live scene of UK. Rory Gallagher, UFO, Motorhead and other important acts have appeared at this fantastic venue. Upon entering the club, the security measures were strict and it is like passing through the airport’s gate. Of course, it is completely logical after the recent events of terrorism in London. However, during my stay at the concert venue there was nothing really worrying that would prevent me from attending the concert at the venue. The security staff did a good job to secure the club without annoying the music fans at all. Every fan was seated inside the venue and you could only take your numbered seat, so it was a comfortable experience for all the fans. Many fans were in their early 50s and I suppose it would make sense for them to attend comfortably a 3 hours concert.

Uli Jon Roth
Uli Jon Roth was the first artist that showed up on stage. Uli’s set was a crowd pleasure; especially of you take into account that most of his tracks included the vocals of Niklas Turmann. Niklas performed perfectly the old catalogue of the Scorpions and made a lot of us travel back in time when the Scorpions ruled the world of rock music. Uli’s guitar playing is melodic and entertaining which attracts a lot of mainstream fans who are not guitar freaks and just enjoy the classic rock music. I heard a lot of positive comments from mainstream people around me, they found a reference point to catch up with a pleasant vibe.

John Petrucci
John, was the second artist of the line up and introduced us to the lovely world of progressive heavy metal music. He was accompanied on stage by Mike Mangini, the drummer of Dream Theater, so the show became a “dreaming” experience in the “theater” of the guitar fantasy. The duo offered us a lovely trip to the solo works of John Petrucci, although a Dream Theater song would also be a good choice for the setlist.

Joe Satriani
Joe was the headline act of the line up and the audience was looking forward to watching him playing live. When he appeared with his alien sunglasses, everyone got into an ecstatic state of mind: The fans were taking photos, others started screaming and a chaotic party started up. Joe’s guitar playing was the most technical of all the participants and it kind sounded really alien orientated from time to time. I suppose that the musicians of the audience were measuring the time signatures of his guitar playing. It was like a circus, where the protagonist acted tricks with his animal guitar and the audience stood up to watch the performance of the animal full of fear about the next trick of the protagonist. I am sure that Joe’s performance was pure entertainment, which may sound weird for those that want to hear and not watch… In other words, I believe that there were moments where Joe paid more attention at the visual part of the show than the actual musical part. Several guitar parts sounded as a guitar battle than a regular musical composition. This was the only disadvantage of his performance but in general it was very interesting from the audience’s side.

G3 Jam

The concert ended with the G3 jamming on three popular songs: Highway Star, All Along The Watchtower, Immigrant Song. The last part of this concert was the highlight of the guitar fan’s fantasy, since the 3 guitarists showed once again their great technical skills and treated the audience with fair amount of memories for the next G3 meeting!

Concert setlist

Uli Jon Roth

Sky Overture
Sun In My Hand
We’ll Burn The Sky
Air de Aranjuez
Fly To The Rainbow
The Sails Of Charon

John Petrucci

Wrath Of The Amazons
Jaws Of Life
The Happy Song
Damage Control
Glassy Eyed Zombies
Glasgow Kiss

Joe Satriani

Energy
Cabot
Satch Boogie
Cherry Blossom
Thunder High On The Mountain
Super Funky Badass
Circles
Always With Me Always With You
Summer Song

G3 Jam

Highway Star
All Along The Watchtower
Immigrant Song

Photos copyright: Laurence Harvey