“He’s not used to not being the focus of the show. I’d say, ‘When Steve’s soloing, don’t throw your guitar up in the air right next to him’”: Joe Satriani on the unique challenges of having Yngwie Malmsteen on the G3 tour

Yngwie Malmsteen is a certified member of the electric guitar elite, but his spot on the prestigious G3 tour in 2003 came with a few unique challenges for co-shredder and show leader, Joe Satriani.

Malmsteen was brought to the masses by a 1983 spotlight column by Guitar Player, which sought to unearth the world’s next hot shot guitar hero. The game-changing fireworks of his neo-classical debut, Rising Force, then saw his stock skyrocket.

By 2003, Malmsteen had rightfully earned a spot on the coveted G3 tour – an event masterminded by Joe Satriani, which has seen its founder lock fretboards with a who’s-who of players, including Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Steve Morse, and John Petrucci.

Naturally, organizing mega-money tours with such big names will come with complications – Robert Fripp had a strange rule for his 2004 appearance, for instance – and Malmsteen’s involvement proved to be no exception.

“Some guys are really straight-ahead. Like Eric [Johnson], Steve [Vai], and myself, we’re not demanding when it comes to what we need before we head out on stage,” Satriani says in the new issue of Classic Rock.

“And then other performers need a little more stuff. You have two extremes. Robert Fripp said: ‘No lights on me, I want to sit down and I want to be behind everybody.’ So it was sort of an ‘un-demand’. And of course Yngwie [Malmsteen]… I mean, if you invite him, you have to just say: ‘I know what I’m inviting.’

“To Yngwie’s credit, he always plays so great and always puts on the Yngwie Malmsteen show,” Satch adds, before turning his attention to the more problematic side of having him a star of the show.

“The only problem that I would have is that sometimes he wouldn’t pay attention to other things happening on stage when his bit was done. He’s not used to not being the focus of the show.

“So as show leader, I’d just take a deep breath and say: ‘I have to understand that Yngwie’s not used to this kind of thing.’ So we’d be as gentle as possible. Like, I’d say, ‘When Steve’s soloing, don’t throw your guitar up in the air right next to him, because he’s got his eyes closed. I don’t want him to get hit in the head!’”

Satriani reformed the original G3 line-up of Satriani, Johnson, and Vai last year, with notable guest spots across the tour courtesy of Plini, Nita Strauss, and a special one-off appearance, Satch’s son, ZZ Satriani.

Meanwhile, Malmsteen was busy listing his #4 Stratocaster for sale on Reverb, and it came with a free Ferrari. He’s also released a new signature MXR overdrive pedal.

Visit Magazines Direct to pick up the new issue of Classic Rock.