When guitar virtuoso Steve Vai returns to Australia for the first time in ten years, audiences will get to witness one of the world's finest instrumentalists at his very best.
Steve is in the midst of a far-ranging world tour for his 2022 album 'Inviolate', which will see he and his band set down for an Australian leg of dates in November. "You know, I think I'm having a peak year," Steve says."I'm feeling great, we've been touring since last summer, my hands are in great shape and the shows are going wonderful, the audiences are just fantastic.
"When you're touring for a while and you're out there and you're in the trenches, you can really refine, and that's what we focus on. We constantly focus on more engagement, more of a flow, more connection."
In the pantheon of guitar gods, Steve Vai is one of its most revered icons. A renowned master of his instrument, Steve has consistently pushed the boundaries of musical, technical and aesthetic convention.
Driven by his passion for the guitar and bolstered by his penchant for the flamboyant, Steve has maintained his position at the forefront of the form.
For Steve, it's a lifelong passion that has blossomed into an enduring career. "I've been so lucky because I discovered when I was very young – very innocently and naively – something I really loved, and that was just playing the guitar.
"Everything about it: hearing melodies and finding them and coming up with songs and playing songs that I liked," he explains.
"It never let up, I always had this focus of just playing and doing. If you continue doing that, you get deeper into your craft, whatever that craft is, and this tour for me has been really a peak because I actually feel more connected now with the instrument and the audience and the moment, the performing moment with the band and the atmosphere.
"And it's really beautiful because the deeper you can get with your instrument, the more engaging it is for the audience, so I feel that's my responsibility to be the best entertainer I can be and to just bring it and give it.
"And this is what you can expect: a really dedicated band, beautiful melodies – a lot of my melodies are very beautiful yet some of them are very intense," he laughs, "but you get to marvel at this odd, interesting artist doing crazy things. Some of it's very engaging."
The highlight of the 'Inviolate' tour will be getting to see Steve wield live onstage his latest contraption, The Hydra: a three-necked beast of a guitar that has taken Steve to his most extreme.
Incorporating a bass neck, 7-string neck, 12-string neck, harp strings, sampling features, guitar synthesiser and a few other ingenious gizmos, The Hydra is the ultimate expression of Steve's artistry.
On the album's lead single, 'Teeth Of The Hydra', he makes full use of everything this unique instrument has to offer. "Some of the things that I do that look innovative, they retain my quirkiness," Steve says.
"I have a bit of an affinity for the absurd, so they come out looking like things like The Hydra or the heart guitar or the songs, my stage performance. I discovered that it's just easier to be yourself and whatever that is just be it, and these unique qualities of your personality will flow into what you do, and it works.
"The difference between innovation and gimmick for me, there's a blurred line because gimmicky stuff seems to incorporate itself into my creative instincts but there's a seriousness to what I do also. It's not something that is conventional."
It's hard to know what's coming next for an artist like Steve Vai. Unmotivated by what's fashionable and averse to trends, he remains one of rock music's true originals.
"I like to explore good ideas, and you never know when they're going to come and what they're going to look like, so I kind of keep my radar out for a compelling move-forward plan, but it has to feel inspired," he says.
"I have so many ideas, like many artists, for tonnes of projects. There's so much, I could go on and on, it will take lifetimes. But when I discovered at the age of 50 that I have all of these projects I want to do and each one of them will take a year, I realise that I'm looking at like 500 years of work," he laughs.
"I decided the important thing is to enjoy what you're doing now. Just enjoy it."
Steve Vai 2023 Tour Dates
Fri 3 Nov - The Fortitude Music Hall (Brisbane)Sun 5 Nov - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)
Mon 6 Nov - Anita's Theatre (Wollongong)
Wed 8 Nov - Hindley Street Music Hall (Adelaide)
Thu 9 Nov - Palais Theatre (Melbourne)
Sat 11 Nov - Perth Concert Hall
