Hi all there at Vai.com
My name is Gareth and I am a 19 year old male living in Northern Ireland. Ireland is not very good if, like me, you are into music no good bands ever come to play here. All of that changed recently when Steve Vai himself stopped off at Vicar Street Dublin to play a date on the 13 March.
I was there and I had the time of my life. It was a very long drive down from where I live to Dublin but it was worth it I can tell you.
Before the gig started I was hanging around the bar and I could hear some playing going on in the main hall, I asked the security guy if I could go in and he let me. I went into the hall and I could not believe it when I saw Steve sitting there warming up with Mike Keneally, I was so amazed as I have to be the biggest Steve Vai fan in Northern Ireland. He was really playing some amazing stuff.
Then I had to go back outside and wait for the doors to open, once they did I was like one of the first people into the hall. The first high point came when I spotted Dave Weiner over at the mixing desk so I went up to him and asked him for an autograph – he is like such a nice guy and down to earth.
After a bit more waiting about Eric Sardinas came on stage and played some furious blues, later that night I also met the big man himself, he is bigger than me and I am like 6 foot 3, and got his autograph. It was so cool when he lit his guitar onstage, I had never seen the like of it before and I don’t think that I will ever see anything quite like the energy that he gives off onstage.
Then, the bit that I had been waiting years for, Steve Vai came onstage. He played a blistering set, he even recorded a new song in Dublin that he had never played anywhere else, just wait ’til it comes out on one of his records, he had the whole crowd really fired up!
Steve himself and his band give off lots of energy and Steve is very charismatic, he was even messing about and talking to the audience and telling them the story behind the song “Voodoo Acid” which was very cool. I have never before seen a guitar player with so much feeling in his playing, you can really feel the passion in his notes.
The high point for me was when Steve threw a guitar pick into the audience and I got it! I could not believe it, seriously, I have always wanted my very own Steve Vai guitar pick and now I have one, locked up safely I might add. That was really the best for me, thanks Steve, all I need now is to meet him and get his autograph.
I would also like to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who was involved in this amazing concert in Vicar Street, Dublin. The show was amazing and I just can’t express my thanks enough to everyone who organized it, I would especially like to thank Steve and his whole crew for being a great bunch of lads and also you guys at Vai.com for making the best site on the internet. I couldnt be happier as Steve Vai is like my favourite artist ever and I am never going to forget that night that I had in Vicar Street Dublin.
THANK YOU,
Gareth