Photo by Larry DiMarzio.

Guitar Pioneer Steve Vai Announces New Orleans Concert

Instrumental rock titan Steve Vai will headline New Orleans’ Joy Theater on Thursday, December 1. But it won’t be any old show. The guitarist extraordinaire will be playing his seminal 1990 album, Passion and Warfare, in its entirety as part of the North American leg of the record’s 25th anniversary tour.

“The enjoyment that the band is having and the audience response to the shows we are playing in Europe has taken us a bit by surprise,” Vai said. “The collective support for the PAW 25th, Modern Primitive and this show is humbling. There is deep appreciation from us in having the opportunity to honor this record with this tour and we are smiling every moment of it.”

Vai first rose to prominence in the early ’80s as a member of Frank Zappa’s virtuosic band.  He went on to perform with some of the day’s era’s biggest rock acts, such as Whitesnake and David Lee Roth. Vai has since released a variety of instrumental rock albums–including Passion and Warfare–and established himself as one of the most influential forces in progressive rock and metal.

Tickets for Vai’s New Orleans show will go on sale this Friday, September 23, at 10am.