Guitarists Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi will join together this winter as part of the second North American Generation Axe tour. The guitarists are set to appear at 32 different venues, beginning November 7, at the Fox Theater in Oakland, CA.

All five of the guitarists will be performing individually, doing various collaborations with each other and will even perform together as one cohesive band. Each of the guitarists will be performing songs from their various catalogs, in addition to a few unreleased collaborations.

According to Steve Vai, “The Generation Axe show is a unique performance of five fiercely talented guitar players coming together to create a 6-string extravaganza that is sure to amaze and delight.”Joining the guitarists are Pete Griffin on bass, Nick Marinovich on keys and JP Bouvet on drums.

Generation Axe’s founder Steve Vai, began his career at 18 as a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, eventually joining his band from 1980-1983. Since then, Vai has won three Grammy awards and has collaborated with a variety of different artists including David Lee Roth, Ozzy Osbourne and Mary J. Blige. In addition, Vai performs with several live-only bands including G3 and Zappa Plays Zappa.

Zakk Wylde is best known as Ozzy Osbourne’s lead guitarist from 1988 to 2007, while also being the founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. While working with Osbourne, Wylde helped co-write the hit “Mama, I’m Coming Home.”

Hailing from Sweden, Yngwie Malmsteen became famous in the 1980s for blending the styles of classical music and speed metal, into a genre known as “neoclassical metal.” Since then he has released over 35 albums and was even named as one of TIME Magazine’s top ten guitarists in 2009.

Making a name for himself as part of the Boston rock band Extreme in the 1990s, Nuno Bettencourt has performed with a variety of artists including Paul McCartney, Steven Tyler, Rihanna and Steel Panther. As a songwriter Bettencourt has penned the hit song “More Than Words” which reached #1 on the Billboard charts.

Nigerian-American guitarist Tosin Abasi is the lead guitarist and founder of the instrumental progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. With the group Abasi has released four studio albums and is known for using 7-, 8- and 9-string guitars for his performances.

The first Generation Axe Tour took place from April to May in 2016, while another tour took place in Asia in 2017. As Vai explains, “The idea was to create a seamless show with one backing band and 5 completely accomplished and astonishing guitarists that take to the stage in various configurations, performing some of their solo music and merging together as cohesive co-creators of lushly orchestrated guitar extravaganzas.”

General tickets for the tour go on sale July 13.

Tour Dates:

Confirmed appearances include:
11/07- Oakland, CA- Fox Theater
11/08- Anaheim, CA -City National Grove
11/09- Las Vegas, NV-The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
11/10- Tempe, AZ- Marquee Theatre (Nuno Bettencourt will not be performing)
11/11- Albuquerque, NM- El Rey Theater
11/13-  Denver, CO- Paramount Theatre – Denver
11/15- Kansas City, MO- Uptown Theatre
11/16- Salina, KS- The Stiefel Theatre
11/17- Tulsa, OK- Brady Theater
11/18- Des Moines, IA- Hoyt Sherman Theatre
11/19- Cincinnati, OH- Taft Theatre
11/20- Grand Rapids, MI- 20 Monroe Live
11/21- Detroit, MI- Fillmore Detroit
11/23   Medford, MA- The Chevalier Theater
11/24   Niagara Falls, NY- The Rapids Theatre
11/25   Kitchener, ON- Centre in the Square
11/27   Bethlehem, PA- Sands Bethlehem Event Center
11/28   Port Chester, NY- Capitol Theatre
11/29   Albany, NY- The Palace Theatre
11/30   Atlantic City, NJ- Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City – The Theater
12/01   Rochester, NY- Kodak Center
12/03   Greensburg, PA- The Palace Theatre
12/04   Westbury, NY- NYCB Theatre at Westbury
12/05- Richmond, VA- The National
12/08- Atlanta, GA- Tabernacle
12/09- Orlando, FL- Hard Rock Live
12/10- Davie, FL- Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
12/11- Clearwater, FL- Ruth Eckerd Hall
12/13   Austin, TX- The Moody Theater
12/14- Dallas, TX- The Bomb Factory
12/16- Salt Lake City, UT- The Complex – Rockwell
12/18- Los Angeles, CA- The Wiltern

Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado