Music Appreciation: Eric Johnson
In the way back1, I grabbed some tickets to a Joe Satriani concert at the San Jose Civic Auditorium, and the opener was … Eric Johnson.
His break out album, the one that got some airplay, was Ah Via Musicom, and the one song everyone heard from that was Cliffs of Dover.
I was deep into my guitar playing, and I knew who he was and I was impressed. I really went to see Satch-mo, but the clincher for the $222 cost of the ticket was Mr. Johnson. I expected to enjoy the opener, but I was there for the balls-out Satriano chop fest.
I came away disappointed in Satriani. He basically strung together cliche licks and riffs, but felt wooden and inauthentic.
No, what I was impressed by was the raw musicality and the oodles o’ talent dripping from the fingers and fretboard of Eric Johnson.
What impressed me the most was how close he sounded to what he put down on the album. He could make it sing and dance, and he made it look easy.
This video is from that concert series in the early 1990’s and it is a darned good representation for the awesomeness of Mr. Johnson.
circa 1990 or 1991
Yes kids, there was a time when going to a concert didn’t require you to sell a kidney to afford the ticket, it was glorious. Hell Day on the Greens would give you 8+ hours of concerts, 4 or 5 bands, for about fifteen bucks. Those were the days! And I mean bands like Metallica, Journey, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Scorpions, and more.
I'm a simple person: I see Eric Johnson, I read and click "like."
I saw him as the opener for Rush around the same time, and was amazed. "Steve's Boogie" might be my favorite song from *A Via Musicom*. I also had *Venus Isle*, but haven't listened to it in far too long.