Fantastic Fretwork

With the release of Joe Satriani's new album Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock earlier this year, Hammersmith Apollo wasn't likely to be brimming with many new fans.

Whilst pretty good by as instrumental rock albums go, it lacked the big tunes of some of his earlier material. Indeed this is the case; most of the audience here is populated by die-hard fans, those that would have bought the seminal Surfing with the Alien on cassette in 1987.

Paul Gilbert opens proceedings with some technically flash guitar wizardry. If you're not familiar with Gilbert, he used to be in a technically demanding bands Racer X and Mr. Big and his Malmsteen-like licks and speed are the dominant force in his set. Satch later calls him “the greatest artist we've ever had open for us” and I'm inclined to agree.

As for the main attraction, it's off to a disappointing start with opener I Just Wanna Rock. Joe seems to be bizarrely proud of this track, which I consider to be one of the weakest on the most recent album. It does sounds much better live though, the vocoder effects far less cringe-worthy than they are on the record.

Most of the classics you'll want to hear if you're a fan are here – everything from Satch Boogie, Flying in a Blue Dream and Always With Me, Always With You. When slow ballad Cryin' from 1992's The Extremist makes a welcome appearance – the number of people you can spot playing air guitar in their seats you couldn't count on both hands.

The set's a little bit new stuff heavy, but the man does have an album to promote. New tracks off the album such as the anthemic Overdriver and sunny Out Of the Sunrise and soaring ballad Revelation do prove their worth; Satch's trademark sing-a-long melodies get everyone's toes tapping and new iTunes exclusive track Ghosts is a real treat. Most of the crowd I'm sure aren't even aware of the new material, which makes the crowd reception a little bit weaker than you would have expected.