Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have announced a benefit concert in support of their good friend, music-industry veteran Cliff Cultreri.
The show, “A Benefit for Cliff III,” will take place 8 p.m. June 12 at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. It will feature performances by Satriani, Vai and Animals As Leaders.
Satriani and Vai have hosted benefit shows for Cultreri in 2006 and 2011.
Both guitarists, along with several other artists, have donated items to be auctioned at the event. These include autographed guitars and a chance to join Satriani’s G4 Experience, which takes place June 28 to July 2 in Cambria, California (and features Guthrie Govan and Animals As Leaders' Tosin Abasi), and a package to attend Vai’s camp, Vai Academy 2015: All About the Guitar, in Vail, Colorado, August 2 to 6 (which also features Eric Johnson and Sonny Landreth).
"I'm looking forward to sharing the stage with my good friends Steve Vai and Animals as Leaders for a night of unforgettable music,” Satriani said.
Vai added, “It’s a great privilege to take to the stage with my friends Joe and Tosin [Abasi] in support of our dear buddy Cliff. It’s a great cause and will be a magical evening of guitar extravaganza."
Cultreri is the A&R executive who "discovered" Satriani, Vai and many other artists while working at Relativity Records and Koch Entertainment. Cultreri is suffering from a host of auto-immune and connective-tissue disorders that are simultaneously attacking his immune system, a 1-in-100 million occurrence that causes severe pain and physical debilitations.
He served as A&R for Allan Holdsworth, Billy Sheehan and Talas, Peter Frampton, Megadeth, Corrosion Of Conformity, Exodus, Anthrax, Death, Venom, Slash's Snakepit, My Bloody Valentine, the Cure, Modern English, Gene Loves Jezebel, Fat Joe, Common, Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony, 3-6 Mafia, KRS1, Beatnuts, C Murder, Kurupt, Soulja Slim, RZA and many more.
Reserved tickets start at $45 and are on sale starting Friday, March 27, through ticketmaster.com. A limited number of VIP packages, including a meet-and-greet with Satriani and Vai, also are available. Doors open at 7 p.m.; showtime is 8 p.m.
