Fotografie – Concerto degli Electric Guitarlands in Bochnia, PL – Apr 27, 2023

Here’s the article in English: Article translated by: Hänna Stine
Bochnia Rocks! Is a series of concerts organized in a charming town near Krakow, Bochnia, so far famous mainly for its historic salt mine. But enthusiasts who have been organizing meetings with excellent guitar virtuosos for years make this place famous on the musical map of Poland and the world.
Surely all guitar lovers associate the G3 series, in which Joe Satriani has been inviting two guitarists for years and musicians embarking on a joint tour. As part of Bochnia Rocks, this time the great Joe was missing, but the concert entitled “Electric Guitarlands” surpassed Satriani’s project – on the tiny stage in the intimate and cozy Regis cinema fit as many as four griffin masters. Anyway, when you look at the list of participants in Satriani’s project, for example Uli Jon Roth or Paul Gilbert have already given concerts in Bochnia, and bassist Stu Hamm probably already has the title of “honorary resident” of the series, because he has already appeared there several times.
Andrea Martongelli from David Ellefson & Arthemis’ band was the first to check in on stage. The guitarist based his set mainly on original material, he also reached for compositions from his latest album.
The second hero of the evening was Rowan Robertson. The musician was recruited into the band Dio when he was only 17 years old. This experience gave the young guitarist international fame almost overnight. And there were also references to cooperation with the Great Singer – of course, the best received tribute to Ronnie by the audience was the energetic performance of “Holy diver”.
Greek guitarist Gus G is one of the modern guitar virtuosos. He was the lead guitarist of the Prince of Darkness – Ozzy Osbourne from 2009-2017, and at the same time became an acclaimed solo artist thanks to albums such as “I Am the Fire” and “Fearless”. He has also toured around the world with such different bands as Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and his own band Firewind. Gus filled his part of the evening with original compositions, mainly from the latest solo album.
Michael Angelo Batio is a legendary shredder from Chicago, at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. In the 1960s, he was the lead guitarist of the glammetal band Nitro from Los Angeles. He currently gives concerts as a guitarist for the American heavy metal band Manowar. During his “quarter” concert, this picturesque guest recalled his friend Dimebag Darrel, interestingly told Eddie Van Halen about his fascination by performing a bunch of legendary Master’s riffs and quotes from memorable solos. And of course the Batio magnum opus, a number with a tapping game on two telecasters connected by bodies. Not only is it spectacular, but also Mr. Michelangelo is a really funny and self-ironic type, so the enthusiasm of the audience during this circus trick reached almost its zenith.
And I write “almost”, because the volcano of joy finally erupted when the other three virtuosos returned to the stage and all at the culmination made the monumental Blacksabbath “Paranoid”, accompanied, of course, with a thousand solos and guitar dialogues.
The work of the rhythm section deserves the highest recognition. The perfect, joyful and energetic drummer Roberto Pirami brilliantly collaborated with the thoroughbred rock bass operated by stoic Francesco Caporaletti. I appreciated the professionalism of the basman especially when the A string broke during the first issue played with Michael Angelo Batio in his Stingray. But Francesco did not stop playing, although there were a lot of riff unison in this issue, somehow he got out, but without interrupting the game he called a technical one and during the number the men began to change the string. The composition was made to the end without a technical break, and during the next announcement Caporaletti quickly tuned the freshly established “string” and continued to do the excellent job of it. And Mr. Riccardo Curzi sang very racially, he did very well both in the author’s editions of Guitar Masters present on stage, and the spirit of the Great Ronnie James Dio probably smiled somewhere hearing the version of “Holy diver” played that evening.
The concert took place on April 27, 2023 at the Regis cinema. It was organized by Kubicki Entertainment, Piotr Lekki with his wife Ela and friends, Municipal House of Culture in Bochnia and Studio Leonardo 24. This is my “guitar” evening in Bochnia and all the time I am fascinated by the fact that a group of enthusiasts manage to invite such excellent musicians to a small town. And at the same time, it is surprising that in an intimate audience more visitors than “premises”. On the other hand, it is good that such a cyclical event attracts fans from Krakow, Tarnów, Tarnobrzeg to the city. It seems to be quite a promotion of the area, and the series of concerts with the name of the city in the background is already a really well associated brand in the world of guitar fans. Maybe it would be worth it for the city authorities to be more interested in what is happening with them and support the organization of concerts?
We present a photo report from a crazy Thursday evening in Bochnia.