Wow he played Racer x shit?? Do either of you have Gilbert and Petrucci's setlists to share? There's a lot going on around Chicago the night they are in town and these two posts all of a sudden change things for me...
I can't remember exact setlists, but here's the gist:
Gilbert opened the show and played stuff from Racer X to Get Out of My Yard. Very enjoyable set, probably the best I've seen from him. But I differ from others in that he wasn't my favorite at the show. He's an incredible player, with a lot of technique, but sometimes it seems more flash than substance to me and often doesn't carry enough emotional content; also I can't help hearing how deriviative of other players his stuff often is. But hey, each to their own taste. Still, a very impressive set and it really rocked. If you're a big Gilbert fan, you'll love it.
Petrucci played, I think, almost entirely from Suspended Animation. Almost all of which I thought came off even better than on disc, particularly with Portnoy on Drums. Petrucci was my clear favorite from the night, with the most melody and emotional impact, which is great given how mechanical he can get on some of the DT material. He got the loudest and biggest standing ovations as far as I could tell, and that's because his performance carried the strongest overall compositional and emotional power, at least to my ears. Some of the most enjoyable playing I've ever heard from Petrucci live.
Satriani's setlist was pretty much a greatest hits, with one track from Super Collossal I believe. As with Bear, I've seen Satch more times than I can count. He played great as usual, but I really wish he'd venture into new territory to freshen things up a bit, rather than just play the same songs, as good as they are, a zillion times. He needs to break new ground to get me excited about what he's doing again. Something both Gilbert and Petrucci did in spades.
The jams are always a blast, even if they do often end up in hyper-speed noodling. I particularly enjoyed the pre-jam when Petrucci and Gilbert walked on stage during Satch's last song, before the official jams started.
It's a must see show for guitar players and guitar music lovers. There you have it! Just go...
