I purchased two tickets to see Vai at the House of Blues, Houston TX in November with my wife. I feel so lucky to have nabbed a floor pass to be in front of the stage for only $34. I'm so damn excited and I can't wait to experience this in person. I've been following his performances throughout my entire life and my favorite will always be "For the Love of God". I was born in 1987 but I've always felt that I should have been born in the 60's. Perhaps I have a very old soul. I've never been that interested in the majority of contemporary music (although I appreciate any musical talent). I apologize ahead of time if I have broken any forum or thread rules. I did read the rules ahead of time but I know that there were a few others somewhere else on the forum as stated in that thread. Forgive me if I have since this would be my first post.

My wife got to meet Steve in person in Ryazan, Russia in 2008 when she still lived with her parents while attending school (we were also married at the time). Long-distance was tough but she came back with an awesome signed photo of Steve. In the morning before the show, they were hosting a meet and greet photo session along with signing pre-printed posters for fans. Luckily, my wife was one of the few that got a chance to get a signature. She went a step further and had a photocopy made of Steve to have him sign it. (I'm at work or else I'd take a picture of it.) But this was the picture she used for him to sign. She told me he seemed to like that she went through the effort to print a nice picture for him to sign. I have it framed above my amplifier.


He even was kind enough to take a picture with her.

(Picture was taken 10-08-2008) Edited: Time stamp was wrong on picture. Fixed date.

So I now have the opportunity to see the guitar legend in person. I can't wait! Any stories that others can share of their experience with Steve? (Even if it isn't your own personal experience but that of a friend or family.)

What a damn funny story! A Russian wife of an American citizen managed to catch up Mr.Vai somewhere in the middle of his endless touring in an old city of Ryazan long before than her husband,living in the US...., who was always deeply interested in his music. I bet that girl even knew about Steve Vai from her husband occasionally and probably went to the venue for the first time as well in 2008 /?!/-;))
Oh, boy, I wish you all the best for your concert upcoming experience in November 2013 then. You are lucky to get those tickets for only 34$, if you knew the Moscow prices for this kind of show --- you would get completely crazy about it.

Haha. And yes, she did not know about Steve Vai until I forced her to listen to it when she came over to visit me. She was never interested in this type of music until she saw his performance. I've been to Moscow and I absolutely love the city. I actually worked for a computer company (dell affiliate) in Ryazan while I lived there. I didn't know any words other than a few that helped me do my job. Mne nuzen atvyortka (I need screwdriver). Haha! I also remember taking a marshrutka (yellow mini-bus) to work and when I'd say something like, "Следующая остановка пожалуйста." (Next stop please), all of the passengers on the mini-bus would turn around and look at me. I guess my American accent was obvious. Lol!

Anyways, here's the signed photo.

What a LARGE poster! Wow! It was like that from the very Beginning? I have to prepare something the same BIG for him next time he's here,ha-ha, to make him feel pleased of Such a Size and probably more talking... may be asking some questions,mmmmmm, I know people here interested in rock music and managing a really great WEBSite dedicated to rock music and all connected with it. This time I was just a few hours late to catch Mr Vai on his way to Leningradsky railway station to get in to "Sapsan train", what a disaster!)))
Just haven't expect he would be sooo Goooooooood at a concert. Unexpected surprise.

I can imagine people staring at you inside "marshrutka' mini-bas!:)) Even in Moscow very few people can speak English /besides very young ones, students and so on./ so foreigners here have to start learning Russian to survive somehow ..From my foreign friends I know pretty well a British guy working for RT.com/Russia today.com/ -- What a Perfect English Pronunciation,mmmmmmmm, appreciate a lot his voice speaking on the news each time , just no words! But with the Russian language he's progressing very slowly despite of the fact he had to learn a few other languages including Arabian while working long time ago in the Eastern World and outside of the UK.

PS. I've heard Dell company was sold to China some years ago, is that true? So what did you do in Ryazan then?

You'll have a blast! I've been to 5 of his shows (including a show from Sex and Religion at a tiny club). I met him once in Boston in 1987 and again at an EVO session in 2007 in Seattle. He signed my score of "There's Something Dead in Here" both times. Amazingly gracious person. The crowd is usually blown away at first and then gets so loud by the encore that your ears are ringing from everyone cheering so loud. Have fun!