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March 30, 1998:

Hi

I once sent Steve a mail entitled "3 thank you's from England" to which he sent me a reply (which for a guy as busy as Steve, is a cool thing to have done). I'd just like him to know that I scraped the money together back in October '96 and came over to see him on the G3 tour in New York and the following night in Boston. They were great gigs and I had a great time.

A couple of guys called Thanos & Tom put me up over the few days I was there, and they both came to the gigs... Without their help I couldn't have afforded to do it. Vai fans are the greatest.

Cheers Steve...keep it going.
God Bless

Ric Lovett

Hello Steve Vai & Co.,

I was on your very interesting homepage. It gave a very in-depth insight of you, your music and your life. To be honest, I don't like all of your stuff even though I have all your 'Vai' records. Some of it I only listened to once or twice.

On the other hand there is a lot to learn from your music. I have bought myself the 'Passion and Warfare' songbook and it is one of my best investment in music scores. Not that I want to imitate you (I probably couldn't do that, even if I wanted to, hehehehe), but to learn from you and your music. Your way of seeing things in this world of caos and translating them to your music is just insane and beautiful at the same time. I have been playing the guitar for about 14 years and am still having problems focusing on what kind of music I really want to play. One day it is jazz, the next blues, etc. But in your music I saw that it is possible to connect these together to make something you can't describe.

The song that wants to make me cry and is is still my favorite instrumental is 'For the Love of God'. The first time I listened to that song I had a shiver go up my spine and I almost peed in my pants (just kidding, hehehehe). This still happens (the shiver, not the peeing)! I hope you continue to be you and don't let yourself be influenced by those stupid record companies who ruin good music.

Best regards to you and your family

David Forbes, Germany

Excellent job, guys! I'm a friend of Mark Weinstein's (the original vai.com webmaster), and I do have to thank Mark for one of the best nights of my life. I attended the May '96 Z-Rock show in Detroit, the one Mark broadcast over the Net, after which Mark, my friend & I all hooked up. He was able to get us passes for the "meet & greet" thing after the show, which was nice, but I was really hoping (with Mark's connections) to just sit and hang out with Steve. But, I took what I could get, right? We were going to grab a bite, so we followed Mark back to the Doubletree Hotel where they were all staying. My friend & I waited in the lounge while Mark went to change.

Sitting in the lounge was Chris Frazier (Steve's drummer at the time). We struck up a conversation until Mark arrived. Soon afterward, a couple of the other guys from the band joined us, and finally Mr. Vai entered the room. Now, I have been awestruck by this man for the last 13 years - I've read every article about him, played as many of his tunes as possible in high school bands (even the Alcatrazz stuff), plastered my room with photos - you know, the whole neurotic fan thing - and here he was standing right next to me! Mark introduced us, and I did my best NOT to act like the "neurotic fan". The left side of my brain was saying "Don't bug him, he just got off stage, let him unwind and hang with his friends, he has heard a million times before how awesome he is, he's just another guy, don't embarrass yourself." But, the right side of my brain was racing "OH MY GOD, I'M SITTING HERE WITH STEVE VAI, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, I HAVE TO PEE". As he does onstage, offstage he commands attention. He's just got this way about him that makes you feel comfortable and long for the next word that escapes his mouth. He broke into stories about the last time he drank a certain brand of whiskey, and how he and David Lee Roth were projectile vomiting all over the back of a limousine. We were in stitches. Then he asks who's going out to eat. Of course we responded. A big group of us went over to Greek Town in downtown Detroit. I live in northern Michigan, and try not to go downtown (because I'm afraid of bullets), but Steve just walked confidently down the street. That always stuck out in my mind, like "wow, this guy is untouchable".

Anyway, we get to the restaurant, and I was playing musical chairs in my head. Willing to use physical force if needed, I was going to sit right across from Steve. As it turned out, I didn't need to hurt anyone. I sat there for about 2 hours, right across the table from my idol, while he told tour stories in a very animated manner. Now, there have been many article written about Steve, suggesting he is "out there" or "lager than life" - sort of inaccessible like a Michael Jackson figure - but I found him to be one of the nicest, most generous, down to earth people I've met. Heck, he paid for my dinner. I kept pretty quiet through out dinner and let him talk, until he started talking about the Alcatrazz days. He was talking about how none of the fans knew that Yngwie had been replaced. So, while he was waiting at the side of the stage at the first gig, the whole crowd is chanting "Yngwie, Yngwie!". He said "So, I walk out (this little twig) and nobody clapped, but nobody left". That's when I spoke up and said - "Well, that was probably the first time anyone saw somebody tap out arpeggios" - Steve got this confused look on his face, and said "How did you know about that?". That's when I divulged how big of a fan I was. I told him that I saw it in the live Alcatrazz video. He said "No kidding, you have that!". I said "Oh yeah! And I've got this, and this...." It was so cool. After dinner, we all walked back to the hotel. Steve and I talked about gear the whole way back. We walked by a parked car, and the alarm went off - Steve looks at me and starts waving his hand over his butt (like he cut one and it set the alarm off). (You had to be there!) We got back to the hotel and said our goodbyes.

If you're reading this Steve - I want to thank you so much for that night. You probably don't realize what that night meant to me, but if you remember how you felt the first time you met Frank - that is the same gift you gave to me that night. Thank you. You are not only an amazing guitarist, but an amazing man as well. Keep up with the inner journey.

PS: How much do I owe you for dinner?

Jim Roosa

I don't now how to start. I have been online reading this site for the past hour (maybe more) and the more I read the more I'm stunned. I really can't put into words what I think of this site as it is right now, it's so good, really really WONDERFUL you have done an amazing job! The site has everything! Please do keep up the good work, I intend to mail you my story of how I first got to know Mr. Vai's music, but not today. I just had to write to you complimenting the wonderful work you are doing. It really made me want to take my guitar and play for hours in a row (but I don't have any of my guitars here with me.)

From a huge fan from Portugal (how about a concert here? I would be first in line!)

Luis Oliveira

Hey Vai site people! This is my Vai story , it's a sad one.

You could say that it all began about two summers ago... I was in a local music store looking for a Pearl Jam CD for my older brother. I found the disc I was looking for and noticed that I had about 15 extra bucks in my wallet. At that very moment I caught a familiar sight out of the corner of my eye. It was the cover of a CD I had seen before at a guitar buddy's house. It was the sweetest looking artwork I had ever gazed upon; a man dressed in black armed with a 7-stringed "bow" and a quiver of arrows, stood with gardens above, fires below, heavens to one side and a empire in ruin to the other. As I looked closer, a brown ribbon was noticed wrapping around the mysterious man. At an even closer look the immortal words came into focus, "Passion and Warfare". My heart jumped with excitement as I held the long forgotten jewel in my hand. I ended up buying that disc that day and after listening to it over and over that night, I was, you might say, hooked. It didn't take long to find the rest of Mr. Vai's CD's, and with each listening I grew deeper and deeper in my respect, admiration, and amazement of a such a guitarist.

In the middle of February of '97 my dreams sailed to a new height with the purchase of three tickets to go see a "guitar festival" at a local venue. My dreams were soon to come true by seeing my guitar god live playing his heart out for all of his addoring fans including myself. I patiently awaited for that night and it did come. As I got ready I was eyeing the tickets just as I had done so many times before, looking at my box "A" seat number and thinking of being two feet away from him as he flows through such compositions as "Tender Surrender" and "For the Love of God". The car ride to the local venue was a good one. My dad, older brother and myself were listening to Satriani and Vai in anticipation of the night. As we pulled into the parking lot of the Hollywood Bowl, I could see the rear of the bowl towering over a half car-filled lot. I was almost out of control with excitement. We were actually here!!!!!!! I couldn't believe that I was going to see Mr. Vai play live! We parked the car, got out and made our way to the entrance. We were three among a throng of fellow long-haired guitar junkies and I felt in place. We made it to the entrance and it was a funny thing, no one there to take the tickets?? "Oh, well," my dad spoke up," let's go find the seats." As we were about to turn the corner into the seating area, images of an amp filled stage, with drums taking the middle and mics dancing upon the fringes filled my mind. In my head I could almost hear the soundchecks cutting through the chatter of an eager audience awating the star of the show. And as I turned the corner and passed into the isle way, I looked up and saw... nothing .

I couldn't believe it, the show had been cancelled two days before with no hope of a reschedule. I wasn't going to see Mr. Steve Vai play his guitar and those hopes and dreams were shattered faster then a sweep of his pick. It was a very quiet and lonesome ride home that night. I got home and just slipped into bed. The next day it came to my attention that they had played San Diego that Oct. 4th instead of L.A.. why? I will never know.

A dreamer of shattered dreams,
Brian D.

[Rich's note: The Hollywood and San Diego dates were switched several weeks prior to the concert. Anyone going to a show is advised to keep eyes and ears peeled for any news of a change, as they do happen, and calling the box office on the day before a show is a good idea too. We'll also be posting any changes to Steve's tour dates as they are announced, on the Tour Dates page.]

Greetings and salutations...

Just spent way too much time checking out the "new & improved" Official Vai Web Page for the first time [Rich's note: she refers to vai.com version 2.0, now gone], and I'm practically speechless!!! It's so thorough that's it's going to take a buzzillion more visits to get through it all!

Besides all the other cool goodies (way too many to list here), the addition of the fan input section, Steve's notes, general comments by vai.com's author, etc. adds a nice warm feel to the page that I haven't quite experienced on other music-related pages. It's just really nice having access to information that reveals a little more about the man behind the music, and also about those around the world who have made his music their own...

As for the fan art section: some fans are very talented artists in your own right! I quite enjoyed their contributions as well...

Cheers!
Catherine Z.

P.S. To the page designers: I quite appreciate the fact that the page is *not* loaded with ultra-fancy "wallpaper" & a bunch of other "pretty" but cumbersome things that make it frustrating for the slow-modem owner. Ease & speed of viewing are often the number one factors in deciding whether I stay on a page or just give up out of impatience... no matter how visually enticing that page is. The white text on subdued black-on-black patterned background for the larger text blocks makes for easy reading, but still retains a classy professional feel. In the opinion of at least one graphic artist: great work, folks!