Satchurated (3D) Review
Going back 10 or more years when I was just starting to play the guitar, Satriani’s “Live in San Francisco” was the first instrumental/shred concert I ever saw. Turned out it was also the best for years to come. Performance was spotless, which is always the case with Satriani’s concerts, but so was everything else. The following live DVDs couldn’t come close to it for one reason or the other. Don’t get me wrong, performance has never been an issue, but sometimes I didn’t like the sound, other times I didn’t like the picture (people who made those horrible, horrible visual effects on “Live in Paris” should be shot!). I was excited to see the “Satchurated 3D” in the theater, but also a bit worried that it could end up being even worse to watch. Imagine those visual effect combined with 3D – could really ruin any performance. Luckily, they did not…not event close.
Enter Satchurated
As far as visual aspect goes, it’s perfect. Very tastefully done, without any effects that can take your focus away from the music. The stage is a bit dark, which makes the band stand out. There’s a decent dose of closeup shots and that they are used when important – on solos and sections that Satch fans really care about. I always hated concerts when they focus a drummer or bass player during a guitar solo. Not this one.
Guitar tone was something I didn’t like ever since the San Francisco concert. To my ears it was often dry sounding, bright and lifeless. A huge step forward is made here – very organic sounding, satchurated crunch, beautiful cleans and singing leads. Looks like switching back to Marshall was a great choice for Satch. Performance was spotless, as always. Set list contains a blend of great old songs we all love with a few newer songs. Maybe too many songs from the last album for my taste, but they make a good balance between heavy rocking songs and ballads.
Finally, 3D is added just to spice things up. Not too much to be a distraction, but enough to be cool.
This concert could well replace “Live in San Francisco” on my “favorite instrumental concert” spot. Even my girlfriend who’s not into that kind of music enjoyed the show. For those of you that have a chance to see it the 3D version in the theater – go do it. Everyone else, grab a DVD/Blue-ray release and enjoy!