Yngwie Malmsteen is one of the most technically accomplished guitarists of all time, rewriting the book on hard rock/heavy metal guitar. In addition to countless awards from music and instrument specific publications, none other than TIME Magazine hailed him as one of the ten greatest electric guitarists.
2013 was a banner year for Malmsteen, as he released his bestselling autobiography Relentless which coincided with a wildly successful tour that played to full houses all over the world. The only way he could top that in 2014 was to hand pick an all-star lineup of Guitar Gods to share the stage with him on a magical full North American tour.
“Fans can expect the unexpected,” Malmsteen said regarding his live shows. “I raise the bar with every performance I do and this tour will be no different.”
Held in the highest regard in his own right, Uli Jon Roth brings the very special 40th Anniversary Scorpions set that has been playing to frenzied audiences in Europe to North America, embracing his storied history with the band and digging deep into their catalog for this tour.
Acclaimed for his accomplishments for perfecting his playing in multiple genres (rock, blues, surf) and respected by both fans and peers alike, Gary Hoey performs his radio hits such as the Billboard Top 5 smash Hocus Pocus along with other favorites/
Gusn N’ Roses guitarist Bumbleoot (as seen in the just released DVD Appetite for Democracy which documents the bands Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel residency) embarks on his first solo tour, playing songs from his entire critically praised recorded history.
Tour to take place from June-July. Exact dates TBA.
I’ve been listening to Yngwie since 1985 (saw him open for AC/DC in Baltimore) and met him last May at Guitar Center, seriously cool guy (so, he’s had a heavy metal past, get over it!). Caught the show at House of Blues that evening, freaking phenomenal. If you aren’t impressed with him, well, you’re just not, but you can’t say much bad stuff about a guy who invented neoclassical shred and still reinvents it, while the other artists of his era have sold out, given up, changed, or just never made it. This will be a show not to be missed. Eddie, you rock. Thanks for the news!
He invented Neoclassical shred? Congratulations. LOL I would rather pick the peanuts out of my shit than spend money on a ticket to watch a fat guy shred to a backing band for 2 hours.
Beyond boring.
Sounds like this could be really cool. To see Uli and Yngwie on one stage would be killer. I loved the early Scorps with Uli. A pioneer for his time. Gary Hoey always fun to watch. Will have to check out Bumblefoot. Don’t know much about him. I hope Yngwie goes retro and plays some gems like Little Savage, Trilogy, Marching Out, or songs pre Odyssey stuff. For those of you who still comment about his arrogance or weight… you should check your sexuality OR stop basing your opinions on someone else’s ignorant comments. Yngwie is a living legend, and whether you think his playing lacks emotion, plays too many notes, etc… then don’t listen.
Ha ha …yngwie told it like it was ,and raised the bar on american music .He said he used Modes and listened to other instruments besides guitar ,read music ,and liked Holdsworth and DiMeola ,he though Frank Zappa was weird and didn’t like Steve Vai ,that was too much for guitar players to handle at that time .Especially when it seemed like KIRK HAMMET was the inventer of the ARPEGGIO as far as anyone in THRASH metal was concerned back in 1983.
Yngwie speaks his mind.got big respect for the guy.you listen to MAB,EVH, and slash they’ve sold out to popular hiphop collaborations et. Zakk wylde,yngwie,petrucci are still the pillars of
Shredmetal!
Yngwie is a caricature of himself 30 years ago! Since he has came on the scene he has done nothing new, & is really playing the same old tired licks, harmonic minor stuff, etc that he did when he came on the scene. His recent albums especially = are usually very incompetently produced with poor sound quality (he should go check production on e.g. recent Axel Rudi Pell album, etc to see how it is done) + tedious improvised solos usually 100mph, etc. Back 25/30 years ago really cared about what he was doing, now he doesn’t and it shows – production in home studio to save money, don’t get top musicians/singers to save money like current live line up, very poor songwriting, etc. When Yngwie came on the scene seriously people thought he would be the future of guitar but everyone realised fast – he was a weak songwriter, & had no intention of doing anything different than when he first appeared. Had he added in a co songwriter, not used the YM (or worse YJM’s Rising Force!) name, etc ; who knows he might have been more successful consistently in places like the U.S. As a live act Yngwie can still cut it, even if he still does many instrumental breaks and solos he has done for decades live. SAD fans will still buy the current crap he releases, even with awful production & sound quality, & weak songs (again go compare sound quality on recent Yngwie album to recent Axel Rudi Pell album & hear the huge difference!). To most non guitar/metal fans that I know & I know many such people that have heard his music, they simply don’t like it & find it very unmusical! Even a lot of rock/metal fans regard Yngwie as a great technically skilled guitarist but an absolute joke of a songwriter & they don’t like his material. If Yngwie gets co-songwriter (a good one!) + great singer (so that rules out Tim Owens & the current dude he has live!) + top producer + goes more for musicality than must have technical skills demonstrated = who knows maybe Yngwie could release something good but don’t hold your breath! Uli Jon Roth is far more of a serious musician than Yngwie ever will be.
Dude are you seriously comparing Axel Rudi Pell to fucking YNGWIE? Hahaha! You are an idiot man! Even Axel says Yngwie is the BEST guitarist in the World! Before you speak your shit think first! Even Gus G. Says that Yngwie is the Best guitarist in the World! You might not like him or his ego but he is the Best guitarist this world has ever seen or heard!
I actually think that he is an amazing song writer… Sure his ego is big,, wouldn’t yours be if you where him? To be the best you kinda need to know your the best…. – but the ego can deceive us if left unchecked! Hendrix probably knew he was the best also. I believe that a huge part of the emotions being expressed is the egos individuality! As all personal art forms. I have listened to malmsteen for years and I think he is excellent! Yes I see his arrogance, but – so what??? All very good guitarists probably at some point had a bit of a struggle with keeping ego in check. So so what who cares. Hendrix etc and all the greats where probably no different really. I think his playing is great! – a skill is hours clocked (learning) and nothing else – perhaps he was a guitarist in a past life.
Hard to jam with Yngwie, 1st the guy will blow anyone off the stage, yes I’ve seen him with Vai and Satriani – it ain’t pretty. 2nd he will make you look like a rookie on a big field. Yngwie sweats rock star and shreds like no other. Not saying others can’t shred, just that they will play all their tricks in a few minutes, Yngwie’s bag is so full of tricks he could take hours playing them out.
What you are saying completely depends on the audience. If it’s all young shredders, you are 100% right. Because Yngwie is fast as hell. The other players will get blown off the stage because 14 year olds think fast = good, so faster = better. Sorry but not necessarily. Funny how “slowhand” Eric Clapton can sell out 2 or 3 nights in a major arena and command a premium ticket price. And guess what, there are a lot of guitarists in his audience too. But he has about 40+ blue chip tunes that are bonafide rock and roll classics that are ingrained in most rock fans psyche. People don’t want to just see a guy prove that he practiced instead of going out with girls and all the rest of the stuff most normal guys do.
If the audience is all classic rock fans, like a Led Zeppelin audience, Yngwie could get booed off the stage or at best get a very lukewarm response, because his material doesn’t have mass appeal. Let me repeat that HIS MATERIAL DOESN’T HAVE MASS-APPEAL. Yngwie appeals to male guitar players. People than compare him to Bach, Beethoven or Pagannini are drinking his Kool-Aid. Sorry, but there’s zero comparison. Jimmy Page was more like Pagannini than Yngwie. Because women swooned over him and guys wanted to be him. Zeppelin shows took people on a musical journey, not an ego journal or narcissistic journey. Which is why even at around 70 years old, those guys could fill stadiums at $200 a pop for tickets if they wanted to.
Mass appeal is not necessarily good. It’s just vanilla.
But yes, sometimes he will upstage another guitarist for the sake if image at the expense of music – I would do the same too if I where him! 🙂