Steve Vai in Utrecht

Steve Vai is an American guitarist and composer, born in 1960 in Carle Place, New York, whose work centers on instrumental rock. He began his professional career transcribing music for and then performing with Frank Zappa, and later played in the bands of David Lee Roth and Whitesnake. His solo catalogue includes the album Passion and Warfare and the instrumental “For the Love of God.” The inaugural G3 tour in 1996 brought Steve Vai together with Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson, and he later returned to the series with players including John Petrucci and Yngwie Malmsteen. In 2016 he assembled Generation Axe with Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi, a touring revue structured around individual sets and ensemble performances. The Inviolate Tour carried his solo band through theatres in 2022 and 2023. Steve Vai presents his solo material with a full rock band, placing electric-guitar instrumentals at the center of the set. Performances of “Teeth of the Hydra” feature the Hydra, the custom multi-neck instrument built for the composition. The United States and Europe account for much of his solo itinerary. His band has also performed in Tokyo and São Paulo.