Generation Axe – A Night of Guitars – http://hardrockhaven.net/online

by John Kindred
– Publisher —

April 15, 2016 at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Mo. —

Generation Axe – A Night of Guitars recently made a stop on its 26-date tour at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Mo.

The tour features five of Rock and Metal’s premier guitar virtuosos who are putting their egos aside and taking the stage together for an unprecedented concert event. The lineup features Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Zack Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi, who all are influential in the evolution in the diversity of the guitar.

Starting promptly at 8 p.m., the show began with all five guitarists taking the stage and opening the concert with Boston’s “Foreplay.” The backing band comprised veteran bassist Pete Griffin (Dweezil Zappa, Stanley Clark, Edgar Winter), keyboardist Nick Marinovich (Yngwie Malmsteen) and drummer Matt Garstka (Animals as Leader).

After the electric introduction, each guitarist individually took the stage and performed a mini-set of songs.

First off was Tosin Abasi. Abasi, the youngest in the group of axe-men, is best known as the founder of the instrumental Progressive Metal band Animal As Leaders. Known for incorporating Djent, high-gain, distorted palm-muted, low-pitch guitar rhythms, Abasi led the audience through several instrumental songs featuring odd time signatures and experimental arrangements, complete with impressive solo excursions. Nuno Bettencourt joined Abasi for “Physical Education,” which was the final song of his solo set.

Abasi left the stage, and Bettencourt continued on with a set of songs that started with Exteme’s “Get the Funk Out.” The next song showcased his acoustic guitar skills, tempting the audience with the intro to “More Than Words” before launching into the song “Midnight Express.” He returned back to the electric guitar and performed a melody of collected riffs from his band Extreme. Finally, Zach Wylde joined him on stage for a cover of Citzen Cope’s “Sideways,” during which both sang and switched off soloing.

Zach Wylde’s set started off with Black Sabbath’s “NIB.” He performed a sizzling electric rendition of Jimi Hendrix’ “Hey Joe.” Wylde handled the instrument as a berserker going into battle with no sense of the carnage he is about to unleash on the audience. His overly distorted guitar engulfed the audience while he relentlessly jammed extended solos throughout his set.

Yngwie Malmsteen took the stage buried within the confines of thick clouds of smoke and red hue of the lights. His fretboard acrobatics were unleashed upon the crowd, delivering his signature style of Neo-classical shred. His first couple songs seemed to be an excuse to jam. Eventually, the acoustic guitar came out, and he performed “Black Star,” and wrapped it all up with “Far Beyond the Sun,” during which he was joined by Steve Vai.

Steve Vai’s music is built for this kind of environment. He uses every note on the guitar to express his inner personality through the instrument. Tonight, Vai was as animated as ever, visually expressing each note he squeezed from his guitar.

The show wrapped with Bettencourt, Wylde, Vai and Abasi returing together to the stage and performing a cover of Edgar Winters “Frankenstein.” Plenty of solos were exchanged between each guitarist. The second and final song of the night was a performance of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star,” during which Yngwie returned to the stage not only with his guitar in hand but leading the foray by handling vocal duties.

Generation Axe is G3 on steroids. The tour offers more interaction between the musicians. And while each performs a short set of music, whether their own or cover songs, the duration of the show runs three and half hours with no breaks. Fans truly get their monies’ worth. The variety of Rock and Metal genres featured on this tour offer something to each audience member.