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Fans packed the Bronson Center to see Steve Vai and his incredible band perform as they brought their Inviolate tour to Ottawa. The room was filled with t-shirts of various famous guitar players names and judging by the number of people coming up pre-show to snap a photo of the pedal boards, I’m guessing the audience was filled with guitar players of all shapes and forms and abilities.

It’s no wonder so many came out to see Vai. He is a virtuoso guitarist, composer and producer, considered by many as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. In over 40 years in the industry, Vai has sold over 15 million records, received three Grammy Awards, and recorded with music legends like Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, WHITESNAKE and many more.

Steve Vai performs at the Bronson Center in Ottawa. Photo by Rob Clairmont

In addition to the rock genre most associate Vai with, he is also a musical composer fluent in the composition and arranging of orchestral music. He has written scores for 80 piece orchestras and recorded and performed often with the Holland Metropole Orchestra as well as other orchestras. He has also created an online streaming website dedicated to bringing free guitar-related content to the community of guitar players around the world and created the Vai Academy where he and other world class guitarists deliver a master class in guitar techniques. Vai has become a mentor to many guitarists delivering messages such as “Use your creativity with courage and no excuses”. His Youtube channel features “Under it All” sessions where he’ll speak about his own personal journey of enlightenment through the pursuit of truth and the use of meditation. When we look at his accomplishments and contributions in this light, it brings us beyond the simple fact of, wow, can this guy ever shred.

Steve Vai performs at the Bronson Center in Ottawa. Photo by Rob Clairmont.

Vai was accompanied on stage by long-time collaborators Philip Bynoe (bass), Jeremy Colson (drums) as well as a recent addition to the band Dante Frisiello (guitarist). When Dante was in law school, his teacher and mentor was Vai’s former guitarist, Dave Weiner. He ended up leaving law school to travel with the band as Dave Weiner’s guitar tech. Last November when Weiner announced his retirement from Vai’s band after 23 years, he recommended Dante as replacement and Dante passed the audition with flying colors.

Steve Vai performs at the Bronson Center in Ottawa. Photo by Rob Clairmont.

Vai told the audience off the top that we were here to celebrate life as a family, leave the world and politics behind and just celebrate. The family theme would surface throughout the show. Vai would take turns with each of the band members in a “call and response” pattern where he would call out with a screaming guitar riff and the band member would answer back whether it be on drums, bass or guitar. This was reminiscent of Steve’s famous appearance as the devil’s guitarist in the famous guitar duel scene in the 1986 movie Crossroads. He even had some fun with the audience as he made various sounds on his guitar for the audience to imitate. The backstage crew came front and center as three of the guitar techs were invited on stage to play some guitar harmony for the intro to the song Incantation. For the last song of the night, Vai brought Danny G, one of the techs on stage to sing some operatic vocals.

Steve Vai performs at the Bronson Center in Ottawa. Photo by Rob Clairmont.

The passion and energy in his music was evident in his facial expressions which would morph with each bend of the strings. You see this often with guitar players in their performance as they are experiencing the intensity of the moment. However, sometimes with Vai you could see his expression would be softer, questioning even reflective as he would change the sound on his guitar and look out to the audience as if he was asking, “what do you think about this, or perhaps this sound, how about this one?” Sometimes he would move his finger up or down indicating to the audience where the next note was going to be.

Steve Via performs at the Bronson Center in Ottawa. Photo by Rob Clairmont.

The Inviolate album was released in January 2022 and the tour is bringing Vai and his band in a fast-paced tour to all corners of the world. Early in the show Vai spoke of the tour and said he told his agent to “get me into Canada and keep me there!” and later he would remark to the audience that Canadians are the nicest people. The album itself is his 10th solo album and it’s one that he wanted to continue to push his boundaries on. For example, the song “Candle Power” has a clean guitar sound, no whammy bar and uses a finger picking style. Vai says “I’m not a good fingerpicker, but I wanted to challenge myself.” The song Greenish Blues originated at a soundcheck and was later built out in the studio. He told the audience, “it’s kinda like blues, but it’s me, so it’s greenish blues.” This is Steve Vai wanting to continually grow but only in a way that is true to himself.

Steve Vai performs at the Bronson Center in Ottawa. Photo by Rob Clairmont.

One of the most anticipated songs of the evening was “Teeth of the Hydra” from the Inviolate album. This song features Vai playing a triple neck guitar which includes a bass, seven-string and 12-string guitar as well as a 13 string harp. The guitar was Vai’’s vision and was built by the guitar manufacturer Ibanez. It’s every guitar geek’s dream with innumerable features including a glowing “seducer” control, a “dragonizer” switch, and a set of tubes Ibanez and Vai have labeled as the “climax regulator.”

Steve Vai performs at the Bronson Center in Ottawa. Photo by Rob Clairmmont.

The audience brought the band back for an encore with an enthusiastic standing ovation and they performed “Fire Garden Suite IV” from his 1996 album. At the end of the show, the band took a bow and instead of rushing off the stage, Vai grabbed the mic and thanked the audience and the venue, wished everyone a good evening and said “See you next time”. If the response from the audience was any indication, yes you will Steve, yes you will!