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This May get ready to jump onto an electronica bandwagon with the god of guitarists, the veteran guitar virtuoso — Joe Satriani himself! The ‘sponsor brands’ include: VH1, Indiatimes.com, Speed from BPCL, Sun Tech Days, Reliance Web World, Air India, ITC Welcomgroup hotels, ‘Time Out Mumbai’, Furtados and Planet M. In the offing are ‘cold turkey’ promotions, huge press advertisements in leading newspapers, press conferences, promos on television, billboards & hoardings around the city as well as ‘Joe Satriani Meet & Greet’ sessions. Mumbai (MMRDA Grounds) on May 13 Kolkata (Rabindar Sarovar) on May 15 Bangalore (Palace Grounds) on May 17.
The event is presented by Opium Events, which has organised 250 rock show events (over seven years) with Indian rock bands such as Brahma, Parikrama, Psychomotor, Mindsnare-PDV, Moksha, the Pepsi Power Blast, the Close-Up Gandhar (Pune) and the Unity Concerts by Strings and Euphoria. The model-turned event manager, Cyrus Gorimar, Director, Opium Events, says, “Joe Satriani is the god of all musicians. There have been many artists who have come down to India when their career is on a downslide but with Satriani, it’s different. We are getting him here just after the release of his latest album, ‘Is There Love In Space’, which is already making ripples all over the world. All I have to say is — the God cometh, are you ready to worship?”
This will be Satriani’s first visit to India and he is indeed very excited. He philosophises, “India is a country of music lovers and I have always wanted to play here. I am waiting to meet all my fans in India at my concert.” Speaking about solo ‘live’ tours, he says, “I’ve taken a lot of my cues recently from live performance more than anything else. Standing on stage has made me feel freer to explore some places, I’ve been before and to look for some avenues I haven’t been.”
Satriani, a Cancerian born in 1956, at Westbury NY, is one of the most technically accomplished and widely respected guitarists to emerge in recent times. The God of Guitar is the man who taught Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Slash (Guns N’ Roses), Steve Vai, Larry LaLonde (Primus), David Bryson (Counting Crows) and jazz- fusion player Charlie Hunter. But Satriani still remains head and shoulders above most Guitar Gods through sheer good taste. Inspired by the legendary Jimmy Hendrix, Satriani picked up the guitar at the age of 14 (although he was initially more interested in the drums).
To read the entire story, grab your copy of Impact Advertising and Weekly magazine issue dated May 9-15, 2005