Via generates sounds from heaven and hell
By Achmad Nurhoeri
JAKARTA (JP): Tickets were sold out. Lines of unlucky die-hard fans waited in vain in front of the music arena. Inside, scores of fanatics from different generations yelled, asking the star to quickly appear. And from the first note played, they stomped, screamed, banged their heads and bodies to each other delivering a reserved havoc and in the end leaving the arena in shambles.
Outrageous? Barbarous? Super-cool? If these things happened at a rock concert, it would be no big deal. Any hard rock concert tries to create a headbanger's ball.
But when you see a bunch of scruffy-haired, tough-looking, pierced guys kneel down in worship and chant words like 'Dewa...dewa...dewa' (God...God...God) every time a long-haired guitarist on stage enlightens them with reverent sounds not imaginable, you have encountered the pinnacle of rock concerts.
The immortalized mortal who appeared in front of his devotees at Jakarta's Hard Rock Cafe Tuesday night was none other than Steve Siro Vai, a student of guitar maestro Joe Satriani and disciple of music prophet Frank Zappa, who once sold his soul to the devilish music industry in the popular 1980s band, Whitesnake.
Vai and his crew were 40 minutes late for their musical sermon but when it started the 100 minute service eventually stroke several spontaneous hallelujahs. It was a mixture of alluring blues melodies, shocking screeches, ultrafast discourse, unspoiled rock and roll and drips of reggae which mostly came from Vai's Ibanez guitars. Sounds from heaven and hell.
He played music most would not find in the charts. He abused the guitar's neck with his sonic fingers, scratched the strings with his teeth and behind, and induced a human-like voice. He presented sounds of a strangled monkey, a squeaking feline and squealing birds. He acted like a conductor in some songs just like Frank Zappa did when Vai was the leading guitarist of Zappa's music theater.
Most of the songs are from his recent September 1996 album Fire Garden. Vai also picked oldies for his Tuesday repertoire from the 1995 album Alien Love Secret and from his 1984 Flex- able. And he also delighted the audience by singing as well. Songs like Little Alligator and Beatles legendary hit Twist and Shout showed that the guitar virtuoso had something more up his sleeves.
"Yeah, I've been singing and if you can imagine Arnold Schwarzeneger on Prozac and Mickey Mouse on steroids, you can imagine how I sound. It's not a great voice," said Vai. But Jakarta fans don't really mind, as long as the house was able to rock.
'Religion'
For Vai, music is not just a means to become famous and earn a lot of money. It's more like a "religion". He once fasted for four days to prepare a track called For the Love of God.
"I prepare differently for music than most people might," said Steve Vai quoted by Musician. "In order to make your passion a reality within yourself, you have to fight the demons," he said.
Talking about Steve Vai's music faith, no one has influenced Vai more than his mentor and prophet, the late Frank Zappa. A bumpersticker shouting "And on the eighth day God created Frank Zappa" in his room in Carle Place is evidence.
Vai was just 13 when he made the decision of a lifetime. Scraping his accordion and replacing it with a five dollar guitar he picked up at a garbage sale, he then took a course on music theory at the celebrated Boston School of Music, Berklee and formed his inaugural band Morning Thunder. But what he wanted most of all was to get on Frank Zappa's boat. He made it four years later.
The unfledged Vai transcribed one of Zappa's difficult compositions Black Page and sent it to the eccentric music guru. Amazed by Stevie's skills, Zappa hired him at once as a transcriber. Zappa gave Vai wicked tasks and buried him in piles of manuscripts. Although strenuous, Zappa's way of educating his disciples was enlightening.
Everybody who joined Zappa's band would have to yield to his idiosyncrasies but Zappa made them quality musicians as the trade-off. Warren Cucurullo of Duran Duran, Adrian Belew of King Crimson and Vai's partner in the Jakarta show Mike Keneally were guitarists who were educated in Zappa's On-the road Academy.
Besides Zappa and Berklee, Vai was also lectured by maestro Joe Satriani's electric guitar lessons. The education with the best bolstered Vai's skills and in 1984 he threw out his first solo album Flex-able to the market. Followed by highly-respected solo albums like Passion & Warfare (1990) and Sex & Religion (1993).
But it was his adventure with hard rock band Whitesnake that made him popular in the music industry. Whitesnake was the kind of group the industry loved. Their hits stroke millions and played on the radios worldwide but it also got trapped in the music industry's web. The records were contrived and did not let the artist inside him run wild for there's a mass market to bear in mind.
Vai bailed out and formed his own band Vai in preparation of his 1993 album Sex & Religion. "I made the decision that the most important thing is my happiness, because that's what's going to enable me to make the music I want to," said vegetarian Vai. And that's what he did Tuesday.
After presenting the guitar extravaganza, Vai bestowed his devotees with an icon of remembrance, one of his Ibanez guitars. "You guys got a beautiful country with beautiful people. So, I'm giving something to you people, just to remember me," hailed Vai.
The ecstatic fans, who probably already had a headache and were deafened by the music saluted their hero's donation. Several fans who seemed to become marred in Vai's frenzied spell also swiftly went out of the door to touch reality once again.
Ultimately Vai's divine visit was a mix of blessings and wrath. In one hand Vai's visit to Jakarta was a miracle considering Jakarta was not in his original tour plans. On the other hand tables and chairs in the posh cafe were turned into piles of junk. Mortals just can't have it all, can they.