Joe Satriani: the guitar teacher who became a guitar hero

In spring 2023 Joe Satriani played Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna. Few musicians fill concert halls with instrumental music, and Satriani has done it for more than thirty years. Photos from the show are in the Joe Satriani gallery.

The teacher

Satriani grew up in New York and started playing guitar as a teenager. Before his own career took off, he taught guitar in the San Francisco Bay Area, and his students went on to become famous in their own right: Steve Vai, Metallica's Kirk Hammett, and many others who later shaped rock and metal guitar.

Surfing with the Alien

His breakthrough came with Surfing with the Alien in 1987, an instrumental rock album that became a commercial hit, which almost never happens without a singer. Songs like "Surfing with the Alien" and "Always with Me, Always with You" showed that guitar could carry melody as well as fireworks.

Over the following decades Satriani released a long run of albums and collected 15 Grammy nominations. He also played with Mick Jagger, toured as Deep Purple's guitarist for a short time in the 1990s, and founded the G3 tours, which put three guitar heroes on one bill.

More than speed

Satriani is famous for technique, but his songs work because they are tuneful. The guitar takes the place of the voice, so each piece needs a melody you can hum. That is why audiences who would never call themselves guitar fans still come to his shows.

Wiener Stadthalle

Designed by the architect Roland Rainer and opened in the 1950s, Wiener Stadthalle is Vienna's main indoor venue, with halls of different sizes that host everything from rock concerts to sport. It has been a regular stop for Satriani on his European tours.

See the Joe Satriani photos from Vienna, or browse all concert galleries.