Live Reviews : Yngwie J. Malmsteen @ 170 Russell, Melbourne 10/06/2015

Words: Jonathon Besanko

Images: Cameron Stewart

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Yngwie Malmsteen, the Swedish guitar virtuoso, is someone who seems to set fans and spectators into one of two categories: people either laud him or they loathe him. Despite all else though, he is someone who has been a massive inspiration on a number of guitarists in the world, and as someone who helped to push the subgenre of neoclassical metal in the 80s into the mainstream, that legacy cannot be so easily ignored. So naturally I was quite excited for tonight.

However, nothing too much against Yngwie specifically, but in many respects, tonight was a disaster. A train wreck flying headlong into the proverbial railway that was 170 Russell. To put things in perspective, there was no opening act tonight (whether local or international). This was solely a Malmsteen show, and nothing else. With that in mind, doors had opened at 8pm and Yngwie wasn’t due on stage until 9. I myself arrived there at 8.30 to a sea of fans who’d come to see the Swedish guitarist live in person. Young fans and old alike had congregated at the venue, talking amongst themselves, and trying to spot Yngwie from around the corner of the stage. Hit about quarter-to-9, this was the first instance I personally saw any roadie come out on stage. The prominent character in question here was Yngwie’s guitar technician. Now, remember what I mentioned earlier about there being no opener tonight? Maybe you’ll also be as befuddled then as I was as to why soundcheck was only taking place now, with a little under 15 minutes until Yngwie was due to start.

I should mention too, I feel a large portion of the problem faced was due to Yngwie’s flashy display of a six row long stack of Marshall amps at the back of the stage. Whilst impressive to look at, I would have been all for it were it not for the fact Yngwie’s crew (and the guitar tech, specifically) didn’t seem to have the slightest clue how to properly configure them.

What I and the rest of the crowd were subjected to for almost half an hour in constant succession was a series of high-pitched screeches and wails from the amplifier’s feedback (coupled with Yngwie testing out his guitar offstage). A little bit of feedback at first before the show? Yeah, okay. Fair enough. But the fact this problem was ongoing and cut into 20 minutes of Yngwie’s set, alongside the other 10 that had preceded the time in which he was due to start the show, is plain and simply ridiculous. Yngwie’s guys had an hour to properly prepare this, and the fact they all seemed to be sitting on their arses before the fact is unacceptable; especially when concerning a massive international act. When a local band is more prepared and can set up faster than the crew for a name like Yngwie Malmsteen, there is seriously something wrong going on there.

The people behind the sound desk and the lighting guys at 170 Russell seemed just as confused as to what was happening as we did. I don’t blame 170 Russell at all for this, as I don’t believe it was their fault, but more a lack of preparedness and coordination on part of Yngwie’s crew. And having been to a lot of successful gigs at 170 Russell fronting for international acts, this isn’t anything like their usual standard to make me think otherwise.

I was truly disappointed in this display. I’m not sure what was worse. That there were so many problems, or that many of them were just as easily avoidable had they properly prepared themselves instead of running around frantically at the last minute.

Even once the show had finally kicked off about 20 minutes in, they began with “Rising Force”; one of Yngwie’s best tracks. But the man on main vocal duties, who was also the keyboardist for the night, Nick Marino, struggled a lot with his delivery. He almost came off to me like he was trying too hard to be Eric Adams from Manowar, but could never quite hit those high notes in the way he wanted to. To be honest, part of me wished they had Joacim Cans, of HammerFall fame, on hand for the job (Cans and HammerFall do an excellent cover of “Rising Force” for their 2002 album ‘Crimson Thunder). Granted, at least as the show went on, Marino’s vocals improved.

As the show continued on, every time I started to get into Yngwie’s playing, his guitar tech would yet again run out on stage, looking like a veritable goofball while doing so. I’m not sure exactly why he constantly felt the need to readjust Yngwie’s mic (as sound-wise, nothing really changed here), but it even began to get on Yngwie’s nerves as well, with the Swede forcibly waving him away as a signal to remove himself from stage. The guitar tech’s constant presence really pulled you out of the experience, of which, in terms of the lights display, was on point. With its hues of red, green, and oranges, its cleverly timed use was a highlight.

In terms of Yngwie’s playing, it suffers to a degree where I feel all of his music does. In that, after a while, all the songs begin to blend into one. There is only so many times you can abuse the scales and arpeggios before they start to all sound alike. And coupled with the feedback issues that were still going on every now and then, a fair chunk of his playing was muddied (either by himself occasionally skipping over notes or from the amps).

All in all, with the added bonus (he said, sarcastically!) of bassist Ralph Ciavolino’s awful jokes and awkward stabs at the bemused guitar tech, this was quite a disappointing evening. Hearing of people leaving throughout the night, I will at the least still give props to most of the band for at least trying to keep the night interesting, but I’m afraid, in the end, not even Yngwie’s air kicks could save it.

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