In light of Joe Satriani's recent announcement on the G3 line-up and dates for the 2007 tour, the Guitar Buzz Index decided to analyze the web popularity of the current lineup versus the original members of G3. The Buzz Index pulled search volume data for Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci and Eric Johnson.
This year's G3 tour includes Joe Satriani with shredders Paul Gilbert of Racer X fame and John Petrucci of Dream Theatre to perform the guitar hero show. The original line-up in 1996 consisted of G-Gods Joe, Steve and Eric.
Click on chart to enlarge.
One glance at the trend history and we see that Steve Vai steals the show for most searches since 2004. And in late 2005 he peaks among the group. Only in mid 2006 does he come down from on high to mix with Satch's pattern, only to pop out of his groove and climbs back above Joe.
Looking at Joe Satriani's trend report it shows that he has a very stable pattern across the continuum with a spike in volume in early 2006. Mr. Consistent shows why he's the closer on this tour as he ranks well above both Petrucci and Gibert.
Coming in third on the scale is Eric Johnson, who floats between Satch, Gilbert and Petrucci. As you can see, both Gilbert and Petrucci scrape along the bottom of the trend chart.
It's clear the total volume of the original G3 lineup ranks as the most popular mix of players on the web. The combination of Satch, Vai and Johnson takes the win on this weeks GBI. So will this be any indication of how ticket sales will perform for this upcoming tour with the less popular players Gilbert and Petrucci? We'll see.
Great analysis! Very interesting.
I agree that Gilbert doesn't have the name recognition that Vai does, but I think there is a huge demand to see him. Paul hasn't put himself out there like Steve has, choosing instead to pursue is own brand of music. There are so many guitarists that I know who have never seen him live that I think this tour is going to be very well received.
Posted by: Jim Basara | February 02, 2007 at 11:57 PM
Good point Jim. Maybe this is the reason he was selected for the #3 spot on the tour.
Posted by: Nick | February 03, 2007 at 10:22 AM