Spotlight: Steve Vai 'Inviolate' Tour - New Zealand Shows

A name synonymous with the pantheon of 20th & 21st century guitar heroes, Steve Vai is bringing his Inviolate world tour to Aotearoa next week for headline dates with band at Wellington's Opera House and Auckland's The Civic. Recipient of three Grammy Awards (and 15 nominations) over a career that has achieved a staggering 15 million record sales and counting, the US guitarist / songwriter / producer's musical odyssey spans more than four decades, including twelve studio albums under his own name (so far) and recordings with such diverse greats as David Lee Roth, Whitesnake, Alcatrazz (filling the shoes of Yngwie Malmsteen), Public Image Ltd, Mary J. Blige, Spinal Tap, Alice Cooper, and Motörhead.

Getting his professional start as transcriptionist and guitarist for Frank Zappa (infamously no slouch on the guitar himself) in the late '70s and early '80s, Vai's output has been uncontainable, sprawling across eight live albums, twelve soundtracks (including John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars), twenty (!) compilation albums, and six DVD releases at last count, and featured in such iconic video games as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Halo 2, and of course Guitar Hero. Somehow on top of all this activity, Vai is also a passionate and dedicated bee keeper. Key member of supergroups G3 and Generation Axe — sharing stages with fellow figureheads including Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Eric Johnson and John Petrucci — Vai's touring Alien Guitar Secrets masterclasses have fuelled the imaginations of innumerable aspiring guitar virtuosos.

The triple guitar-neck wielding rock icon is heading down under for the first time in ten years to tour two new works, his 2022 studio album Inviolate and Vai's latest long player release Vai/Gash, which has been kept under wraps in the vaults for three decades. Commenced last year, Vai's Inviolate tour will see the maestro and band play more than 200 shows over a two year tour of duty. We have double passes to give away for both New Zealand headline dates, get in your entries HERE before noon this coming Friday 27th October, and do not miss these sure to be mind-blowing live events.

"The Inviolate world tour marches on. We are saturating the entire globe on this tour. It’s everything I imagined when I was a kid jamming in my bedroom. Travelling The World like this with my band, crew and family, touching and tasting all these magnificent cultures and feeling the powerful energy from the audiences is what we call living the dream. I am eternally grateful to all the fans that make this possible. We will see you soon!

(Vai/Gash) was written and recorded in somewhat of a stream of consciousness in 1991 within perhaps a 2-week period as an answer to my desire to have a particular kind of music to listen to when I was riding my Harley Davison Motorcycle with my friends. One of those friends was John “Gash” Sombrotto, who is the powerful singer on this record. It’s reminiscent of a certain type of rock music I enjoyed as a teenager in the 1970s. These recordings sat on the shelf for over 30 years and are being released now in 2023." — Steve Vai

Steve Vai ‘Inviolate’ Tour

Tuesday 31st October - The Opera House, Wellington
Wednesday 1st November - The Civic, Auckland

Tickets available via livenation.co.nz

Win a double pass to see Steve Vai in New Zealand — get in your entries HERE before noon, Friday 27th October

Take in Steve Vai's triple neck mastery on 'Teeth of the Hydra', from his 2022 album Inviolate...

Rev up your Wednesday with 'In The Wind' from Vai's latest long player release Vai/Gash...

Experience Vai's classic 'For the Love of God', originally featured on 1990's Passion and Warfare...

Press release:

Live Nation are excited to announce the forthcoming Steve Vai ‘Inviolate’ tour which sees Steve and his band back in Australia and New Zealand for the first time since their highly successful shows in 2013.