Virtuoso guitarist, composer and producer, Steve Vai is 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. 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, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin.
Live Nation are excited to announce the forthcoming Steve Vai ‘Inviolate’ tour which sees Steve and his band back in Australia and New Zealand for the first time since their highly successful shows in 2013.
Ahead of the Australian and New Zealand ‘Inviolate’ tour, Joshua Munday caught up with Steve Vai over zoom call to talk, career, gear, his Vai/Gash and Inviolate albums and of course the tour downunder
The Tour kicks off on 31 October 2023 in Wellington before visiting Auckland, Brisbane, Sydney, Wollongong, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth.
Tickets for all shows are available from livenation.com.au & livenation.co.nz
Steve Vai shares, “The Inviolate world tour marches on. We are saturating the entire globe on this tour. It’s everything I imagined when I was a kid jamming in my bedroom. Travelling The World like this with my band, crew and family, touching and tasting all these magnificent cultures and feeling the powerful energy from the audiences is what we call living the dream. I am eternally grateful to all the fans that make this possible. We will see you soon!”
The extensive ‘Inviolate’ tour just began a second leg of dates in North America, with Canadian dates to follow. In June, the Inviolate World Tour visited Central and South America with shows played in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Costa Rica, and Mexico.
Over the past two years, Vai released a new studio album titled ‘Inviolate’ and a record titled ‘Vai/Gash’ which he had been holding in his archive for three decades. In support of both releases, Vai embarked on a world Tour in 2022 that will take the better part of 2 years and see the band play in excess of 200 shows.
Favored Nations / Mascot Label Group presented the official music video for “Teeth Of The Hydra,” from Inviolate which has now been viewed over 6.5 million times. View here.
Of the Vai/Gash album, Vai shares, “The album was written and recorded in somewhat of a stream of consciousness in 1991 within perhaps a 2-week period as an answer to my desire to have a particular kind of music to listen to when I was riding my Harley Davison Motorcycle with my friends. One of those friends was John “Gash” Sombrotto, who is the powerful singer on this record. It’s reminiscent of a certain type of rock music I enjoyed as a teenager in the 1970s. These recordings sat on the shelf for over 30 years and are being released now in 2023.
Preview “She Saved My Life Tonight”
Steve Vai ‘Inviolate’ Tour – Australia and New Zealand
Tue 31 Oct | Wellington | Opera House
Wed 1 Nov | Auckland | The Civic
Fri 3 Nov | Brisbane | Fortitude Music Hall
Sun 5th Nov | Sydney | Enmore Theatre
Mon 6th Nov | Wollongong | Anita’s Theatre
Wed 8 Nov | Adelaide | Hindley Street Music Hall
Thu 9 Nov | Melbourne | Palais Theatre
Sat 11 Nov | Perth | Concert Hall
Tickets for all shows from livenation.com.au & livenation.co.nz
About the interviewer, Joshua Munday
Joshua Munday is a talented multi-instrumentalist with decades of experience in performing and teaching music. Joshua has presented hundreds of clinics and workshops for the major musical instrument brand Roland. He has also built a reputation as a world-class presenter and musical product demonstrator within the music industry which has seen him travel all over the world performing, presenting and training other presenters for the international NAMM Show in Los Angeles. Joshua is also a solo recording and performing artist in his own right.