Satriani, Petrucci, Gilbert, Portnoy and LaRue.

Holy Gods of Thunder, Batman!

These five guys, on stage,
is an equivalent of an F5 tornado.

I couldn’t ask for anything more.

Scene 1

The show opened up with Paul Gilbert,
along with Racer X co”“founder Bruce Bouillet.
Shredding right from the start,
with songs from Paul’s new album,
“Get out of my yard.”

Paul is the real reason why I came to this show,
and he did not disappoint.
Watching his fingers move was unexplainable.
Because to be honest with you,
I can’t really tell if I am too far,
for coming a bit late,
or he was just too fast
that his fingers were a blur.

Plus after playing “Scarified.”
I couldn’t really remember much,
From all the headbangings I have done.

On one occasion, he was finishing a song
With some face melting riffs,
he mixed in the lead solo guitar from an old Mr. Big classic, “To be with you.”
And as soon as I recognized it, I shouted the song title so loud,
During a rare quiet moment,
and I swear I heard my voice resonate throughout the venue,
it was a little embarrassing.

But I didn’t care,
Because the guy beside me, recognized it too,
and we looked at each other, with joy in our faces,
knowing we are both big fans,
and then we started making out.

No we did not! I was just kidding.
But I did get your attention, right?

Anyways,
Another cool thing too, was Paul’s wife Emi, from Japan,
Playing lead keyboards.
She was amazingly good and was able to catch up with Paul’s speed.
She was pretty cute too.

And I don’t think I should explain to you,
How I flipped out when he played “Down to Mexico.”
A classic Paul Gilbert tune.

Yes, I got my moneys worth right there and then.

Scene 2

John Petrucci comes out,
along with Mike Portnoy and Dave LaRue.

Started with “Jaws of Life,” and as good as it sounds,
John wasn’t too happy with the mix.
He apologized to the crowd, and said that
“Things aren’t working as they should.”
But no one cared.
Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs.
Including me.

He walked off stage, to fix some of the glitch,
Then here comes Portnoy,
improvising with some drum exhibitions,
along with Dave Larue.
It was a funny moment,
where these two guys just played some silly beats and tunes,
having a great time as well.

Petrucci comes back, kicking the scene with “Glasgow Kiss.”
And so if you remember what I wrote about his songs,
I did try to do the jig.
I wasn’t as successful, since it was very crowded,
And the guy beside me was still holding my hand.
(I KID, I KID!)

Mike Portnoy was actually the real show during this time.
With all his techniques and showmanship,
I now see why he is the drummer everyone adores.

There was a time where he dropped a stick,
from all the exhibitions that he does,
right in the middle of a song,
He signaled the roadies backstage to throw him another stick.
Playing with only one hand.

And as soon as they threw him one stick, and he caught it,
the crowd went ballistic.
I couldn’t really scream from amazement,
because my jaw got stuck from my mouth being open the whole time.

John sealed my enjoyment, when he played
“Wishful Thinking” after a couple more songs.

I think there are more Dream Theater fans in the room than any other,
because this part of the show got the most applause and screams.

Scene 3

I must admit,
I wasn’t into the Satriani scene as much as I hoped I would be.
Maybe because I was really tired at this point.
And with my mind being somewhere else,
along with some back pains,
I was ready to go.
I even thought of just skipping the jam finale,
since I wasn’t enjoying much at that point.

But I sucked it up and stayed through it all.
I don’t give up that easily.

And it was worth it.
Without the usual introduction for the final jam,
While Joe was playing “Always with me, Always with you,”
John Petrucci suddenly showed up and played.
And after a couple of measures,
Here comes Paul Gilbert.

I almost lost my mind, when they did “I’m going down,” by Jeff Beck.
Then a tune from the Rolling Stones,
and finished the show with three consecutive Hendrix songs.
“Foxy Lady,”
“Purple Haze” and
“All along the watchtower.”

Now, even with an aching back, I didn’t want that moment to end.
My throat was in flames from screaming,
My hands were swollen from clapping,
And my head was exploding from amazement.

It was one hell of a show.

And here are the only pictures I got from it all.

Pic 01

Pic 02

Pic 03

This is probably the last concert I am going to go see for a while.
I am getting too old for this.
Plus the realization that, I am never going to be able to play like these Gods.

I always wanted to be a Rock Star.
But that dream was crushed a long time ago.

Now, I’m just a Rock.

Just sitting there, doing nothing.
With all it’s rock-full-ness.

Yeah.
I’m pretty useless like that.