Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Eric Johnson have shared pro-shot footage from one of their Crossroads jams, taken at one of their recent G3 tour shows this year, which has been premiered exclusively at Guitar World.
Early this year, the original G3 trio reunited under the tour’s official umbrella for the first time in more than two decades, and hit the road for a string of 13 special live shows across North America.
Following an electrifying opening night, the three electric guitar heroes – who all participated in Satch’s original G3 tour concept back in 1996 – recruited a huge wave of guest guitarists as they made their way across the country, performing both solo sets and sharing the stage for a range of high-profile jams.
For much of the year, we’ve all had to seek out fan-shot footage from the shows to get our G3 fix. However, after Eric Johnson promised a live album from the 2024 tour was definitely on the way, guitar fans have since been anticipating the arrival of something a little bit more polished.
Now, it seems Johnson’s promise of a live album is finally about to come true, with the trio sharing a five-minute clip of their take on the Robert Johnson blues classic Crossroads.
“Crossroads has been a song that I’ve enjoyed playing for many years,” Johnson tells Guitar World. “I am glad that the three of us on the G3 tour were able to do this song. It’s always a fun one to play and stretch out on!”
For Satriani, the track of choice is a particularly special one. He considers Crossroads to be a song that especially “unites” the three players, all of whom have considerable experience jamming it with one another on stage over the years.
“We are three very different players, still evolving on our instruments but still enjoying the celebration of the electric guitar with each other,” Satch notes.
In true G3 style, the trio open up with one huge wall of riffage – with some tasty harmonies thrown in for good measure – tripling up on the electrifying hook before they each branch out into their own solo sections.
Johnson leads the way with an opening lead effort that goes heavy on the BB bends and traverses the various boxes through some roundabout turnarounds, before a trademark scale flourish passes the baton to Vai.
Slamming away with Joe and Eric on this track creates a rich atmosphere of crushing guitar delight
Steve Vai
The Hydra master in turn digs deep into his own blues lick book for a run of wah-tinged bends – and some speedy, expansive Vai-isms to bring his personal solo section to an end – with Satch rounding out the first rondo via the fretboard of his Ibanez JS1BKP.
A show-stopping curtain closer that finds all three virtuosos noodling alongside one another over the final chord brings the jam to a close.
“We’ve played this classic jewel on various G3 tours in the past, and it always feels good to wrap the fingers around this iconic riff,” Vai says. “Slamming away with Joe and Eric on this track creates a rich atmosphere of crushing guitar delight. It’s an honor to be a part of it.”
Since Johnson’s unofficial announcement, this is the first real hint we’ve received that a G3 live album could indeed be on the way.
Given the release of such pro-shot footage – which also stitches together archive footage of the three playing together in the past – we don’t imagine an official announcement will be far behind…
Visit the G3 website to find out more in the meantime.
