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Hey Folks, 

Pia and I just returned from a fabulous “Alien Guitar Secrets” master class tour in Europe. 

I got to visit some places I have never been and met some wonderful folks along the way. 

I so much enjoy doing these little tours and would like to thank all the fine people that attended the classes. 

A special shout out to my good buddy Riccardo Cappelli who organized the trip and had us laughing virtually the whole time. 

We were in :

Oslo Norway, Helsinki Finland, Zoetermeer Netherlands, Guilford UK, Madrid Spain, Luxembourg, Malta, Athens Greece,  Isola Del Liri Italy and Tel Aviv Israel

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One other bit of cool news. Some time ago, The Hard Rock Cafe acquired my 1946 Harley Davidson Knuckle Head motorcycle and it’s on display in their Daytona location. I loved that motorcycle and put a lot of miles on it back in the 90’s and now it’s so nice to see it in a place where more people could enjoy it than when it was sitting in my garage!

Hey Folks, 

The show in Pune India on Dec 9, 2017 was magical as was the show on October 28th in Meghalaya. I usually wouldn’t travel to as far away a place as India for a one-off show, but I’ve always wanted to perform in India and myself and the band are ecstatic over the whole trip in general. Traveling through India is a unique experience itself, and it was such a nice surprise to see the legions of music loving fans who attended this festival. 

Deep appreciation to all who worked so hard to put this show on, to all the bands that contributed to this amazing festival, to my band, crew and management… who in one week slept less than perhaps any other tour we ever embarked on, to the incomparable Mohini Dey who joined us on stage for a jam at both shows and totally tore it up, and especially to the fans for their incredibly warm support. 

For us it was a perfect convergence. In my minds eye I can go back to that last show and look out over the connected audience, the beautiful evening air, the excellent sound that the stage offered, the feeling of the music flowing through us as a band and into the audience. When I do this, I find myself swooning in the delicious realm of pure appreciation. 

s.

Photos by Vicram Chandrasekar

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A day doesn’t pass that I don’t think about Frank. Nothing could, or ever will take his place in the hearts of the fans, his family and the musicians that have toured with him and loved him… Nothing, and we all know that.

When I was invited to contribute to 3-4 shows of a potential Zappa hologram tour I thought… this could be odd, but another part of me felt this could also be pretty special too. To be on the stage playing his music again for the fans with some of his alumni, (many dear friends of mine) and to have his ghostly image residing over the proceedings was interesting and alluring enough for me to commit to helping kick off the tour.

Of course it’s not Frank, and I’m not 20 years old anymore, but I am very happy, and honored that I was invited to contribute to bringing the spirit of Frank and his eternal music, with this new technology, to those fans who connected so deeply with him. I felt the same way when I contributed to the ZPZ tour, and that was a fantastic experience.

I believe that the fans understand it’s just an image and that holographic technology has its limitations, but it is an evolution in technology and with an open mind it could be embraced for a worthwhile experience. I would want to attend this show if I heard about it. If a person can attend the show with their spirit of the love of Frank’s music at the forefront I believe it could be a very touching event for all involved.

It’s an opportunity to engage in a massive “nostalgic hernia” because for many of us, Frank’s “music is the best”.

Steve Vai

9.24.17

Los Angeles CA