Steve Vai
Alive In An Ultra World

THE REVIEW

March 30, 2000.
The Wizard of the seven strings lands, dazzling and fiery, at Vox in Nonantola (MO) for his only live performance in Italy of the Fire Garden tour. We are all there, ignited by a preliminary show by Eric Sardinas, an exceptional new-hard-bluesman, who will accompany Vai's show howling among us, like an ordinary fan. He who will eventually create a spectacular Jam Session with the Wizard and a Drummer (a certain Mike Mangini) who seems the very embodiment of divine fervor in the biblical destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

In the middle of the concert, just before playing the glistening "Princess," Steve looks at the audience, momentarily puts a muzzle on Mangini, and recites the usual thanks. But among them, one phrase strikes us the most: "...guys, please continue to participate so emotionally in the concert, part of which will be recorded and included in my next live album, as a document of this tour...". And could I ever refrain from purchasing it?
So here I am commenting, permeated with sweet memories, on the live album released by Epic.

Vai was (is) at the top of his form. He asks the Moon from his band, he who is the Alien, the Ultracorpo, and his band reacts as if it had always lived in Area 51.
The eight tracks of the first disc and the seven of the second are charged with cosmic energy, frenzied electrons traveling at the speed of light. It's almost "exhausting" to withstand the entire first CD without respite, often pressing the "still-pause" button to allow the brain time to absorb all the spatial information coming from the sound machine.
Because when a keyboardist (Mike Keneally) picks up the guitar to double Vai's main lines, played at breakneck speed, and you can hardly distinguish which one is the alien and which is the substitute, then it's natural to pause for a moment to catch your breath.

The sound is excellent, given the post-production and mixing phase (and in some cues even overdubbing) carried out in the studio by Vai himself.

To ensure justice for all (or almost), the decision (right?) was to include only one song per visited country.
And the Alien is the new Napoleon who wants to unite all of Europe. He touches the cardinal corners of the old continent, from Portugal to Bulgaria, from Italy to the United Kingdom. With a digression (almost a vacation outside his conquered territories) in Japan and Australia.
The world seems divided like on a Risk card, and slowly, Vai rolls the right dice to conquer another piece of the planet.

But the notes played do not correspond at all to the randomness that governs the throw of dice. Everything is prepared in the finest detail, everything is performed (more than played) on a solid script of a strict and tested screenplay. The band is driven by the Ultracorpo's charge to unleash quantum impulses on the sound waves beyond humanly conceivable forces. Green blood runs through taut strings used as X-ray blades.
Mighty and generous, the second disc also veers towards the end of its intergalactic journey.

If you were at the concert, don't miss the chance to get back on that Shuttle. If you weren't present, all the more reason not to miss the opportunity to conquer the sky by touching the entire world.