Steve Vai rocked the Canyon Club In Agoura Hills, CA on the last stop of his North American Tour for The Story of Light 10/13/2012

I got home from Steve Vai’s show at the Club Nokia about 1AM this morning.

It was truly a cosmic experience of guitar wizardry, pyrotechnics, special effects and a fierce display of phenomenal musicianship. I found myself listening to his music all day long trying to relive the nearly 3 hour show. The unique and gifted electric harp player, the great bass playing, the incredible drumming and the out-of-this-world guitar playing sold me on immediately seeing this show again. And I was really curious to see if they could pull the same show off and play as well in a smaller venue. It was so good, I just had to find out for sure. By the afternoon, I was fully prepared to witness his show again at The Canyon Club in Agoura – a wonderful, local venue and the last stop on the continent for this tour.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to catch Beverly McClellan’s opening set tonight and Steve had just taken the stage by the time I settled into the venue. However, it was great to show up to a band that was on fire. I knew what to expect from the night before (the harp solo, the special drum set, the alien costume from The Ultra Zone, the glowing lights, guitars and the other exciting aspects of the show) and I am really glad I got to see it all again.

The set was basically the same as last night, except they cut out John the Revelator. The band’s performance time clocked in at over 2 1/2 hours and I liked the streamlined version just as well. Again, it was phenomenal. Jeremy Colson is an amazing drummer. He and Philip Bynoe make for an incredible rhythm section. Dave Weiner compliments Steve’s guitar parts quite nicely and Deborah Henson-Conant on the electric harp needs to be seen to be believed . This show works on so many levels. I am astonished that they were able to pull this off again. Amazing. And everyone who works on this tour should be commended for doing a good job.