Vai to tame ‘excessive’ guitar at tour kickoff at rialto

Virtuoso guitarist Steve Vai proudly says he just hit the 2 million mark on American Airlines.

“I’m stunned,” he said with a laugh. “It all crept upon me. My cup runneth over.”

It’s no surprise, looking at his tour itinerary after he plays the Rialto Theatre on Sunday, July 16. Following his short North American run, he’ll perform nine shows in mainland China, and then head to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand. He’s looking at Middle Eastern dates, too.

“My biggest fanbase is in Indonesia, Malaysia and South America,” he said.

“In America, I do nice little theaters and big clubs, sometimes good-sized theaters. Outside of America, it’s a little more robust.”

Vai has been promoting the album “Inviolate” since last summer. He noticed that, with each gig, the band becomes more powerful and connected.

“It’s an instrumental guitar show,” he added. “I think the ones who do come, they’re not just attracted to the way I play, but the melodies and the connection as well. It’s a very engaging experience.

“We’re a tight band and we’re playing powerful music. There are ebbs and flows, soft energies and intensities. I like to build the show the way I would like to see it when I’m in the audience. We’re celebrating live music as an escape from the world for a little bit.”

This time around, his band features bassist Philip Bynoe, drummer Jeremy Colson and fellow guitarist Dante Frisiello.

At the shows, he plays The Hydra, an Ibanez, multinecked guitar that’s been called the “most excessive guitar ever made.” The three necks host 7- and 12-string guitars.

“It’s quite an interesting performance,” he said. “I play all three necks.”

Vai said there was an “unlearning” curve when he picked up The Hydra, after 50 years of playing somewhat traditional guitars.

“With The Hydra, one hand is completely independent of the other,” he said. “It was this weird jump to get over. You’re picking something on one string, but your other hand has to do something completely different. You have to split your attention.”

It’s a good thing, he added, that he’s in the zone when he’s playing any guitar.

“My attention has to be fully on it,” he said. “I’m like a tightrope walker. One wrong move and my life isn’t at stake, but it’s bad. When you’re playing The Hydra and you mess up one thing, it can be a real challenge to recover. I’ve gotten it down so strong now. I feel like I’m floating when I’m playing it. It’s a state of grace I’m in.”

In his 40 years in the industry, Vai has sold more than 15 million records, received three Grammy Awards, and recorded with music legends like Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth and Whitesnake.

Vai has also toured extensively and recorded live projects with G3 (collaborating with different touring lineups including Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Lukather) and Generation Axe, a supergroup Vai formed with Zakk Wylde, Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi.

Recently, he released the album “Vai/Gash” as a tribute to his late friend, Johnny “Gash” Sombrotto. The two recorded the music in the 1990s and it was shelved in 1998 when Gash, a vocalist, died in a motorcycle crash. The two shared a love of motorcycles.

“I wanted to create music that shared the way we felt,” Vai said.

“It is just a really straight-ahead ’70s, ’80s rock record. We recorded it in about a week. I didn’t know Johnny could sing. He wasn’t a professional singer.

“He just stunned me — stunned all of us. He was so authentic and had so much swag, chutzpah and rock star DNA. He had a great sense of humor, too. I wanted to finish the record, but I was in the middle of another project.”

When Sombrotto died, Vai said he was so distraught he shelved the eight songs for 30 years. He decided to release it this year for “a couple of fans who buy everything I release.”

“But it was so well received with press and fans and radio who played it,” said Vai, 63.

“To know him was to really love him,” he continued about Sombrotto. “It’s a very uplifting, empowering, good feeling kind of rock record.”

An Evening with Steve Vai
WHEN: 8 p.m. Sunday, July 16
WHERE: Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress Street, Tucson COST: Tickets start at $39.50 INFO: rialtotheatre.com, vai.com

This article appears in Jul 13-19, 2023.