The Guitar Gods have aligned once again.
Joe Satriani and Steve Vai announced they’ve plotted a spring 2026 ‘Surfing With The Hydra Tour’ that will send the axe-wielding pair with special guest Animals as Leaders to domes, auditoriums, theatres, casinos, amphitheaters, parks and performing arts centers all over North America.
They’ll be making a number of New York and New Jersey stops along the way, too. Here’s where you can find the gifted duo live in the Tri-state come May:
Kleinhan’s Music HallBuffalo, NY Tuesday, May 12 Landmark TheatreSyracuse, NY Sunday, May 17 Palace TheatreAlbany, NY Thursday, May 21 Beacon TheatreNew York, NY Thursday, May 28 Borgata Casino Event CenterAtlantic City, NJ Friday, May 29
“We can’t wait to play you the new material from our forthcoming SatchVai album along with your favorite songs from our shared catalog,” Satriani, 69, said in a statement. “You do not want to miss this show with this lineup!”
Prior to the spring ’26 trek, the two last brought ‘Surfing With The Hydra’ to Europe last summer with drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist Marco Mendoza, and guitarist Pete Thorn; the April and May run will be their first in North America since concluding the spring ’24 ‘SatchVai’ outing.
As for the new album, the third single “Dancing” is set for release on March 2. The first two, “Sea of Emotion, Pt. 1” and ““I Wanna Play My Guitar” with Deep Purple singer Glenn Hughes dropped in May ’25. There’s no word yet on when the full record will hit shelves but fans can expect sometime in 2026 based on Satriani’s statement.
In the event you’ haven’t seen the rock legends live yet, critics were left stunned after catching them in the flesh.
“…to watch these two guitarists playing off against each other was like watching some titanic battle between two seasoned alchemists conjuring up electric spells to vanquish a nameless enemy in an epic fantasy, using their guitar instead of wands,” Rock and Blues Muse noted.
“Notes were played with terrifying speed as scales were shredded and modes changed as quickly as gears on a Formula One car on a race day; the guitarists wrung out all variety of banshee sounds from their instruments as they sought to find and distort every tonal quality known to man, as well as a few new ones that occurred in the white heat of their inter-weaving playing.”
For more information, our team has everything you need to know and more about Joe Satriani and Steve Vai’s spring 2026 ‘Surfing With The Hydra Tour’ below.
Joe Satriani and Steve Vai tickets
Inventory to see Joe Satriani and Steve Vai live is available on all verified ticketing sites.
We recommend checking out StubHub, Ticketmaster, Vivid Seats and SeatGeek to find the seats that makes the most sense for you.
Joe Satriani and Steve Vai tour schedule
A complete calendar including all tour dates, venues and links to buy tickets can be found here:
Joe Satriani and Steve Vai set list
On May 12, 2024, SatchVai rocked Santa Rosa, CA’s Luther Burbank Center for the Arts. According to Set List FM, here’s what they performed.
01.) “The Extremist” 02.) “Surfing With the Alien” 03.) “Satch Boogie” 04.) “Sahara” 05.) “Nineteen Eighty” 06.) “Big Bad Moon” 07.) “Flying in a Blue Dream” 08.) “Blue Foot Groovy” 09.) “Always With Me, Always With You”
10.) “Ice 9” Encore
11.) “The Sea of Emotion, Pt. 1” (SATCHVAI BAND song)
12.) “You Really Got Me” (The Kinks cover) 13.) “Enter Sandman” (Metallica cover)
Joe Satriani and Steve Vai new music
As noted above, Satriani and Vai unveiled a pair of singles in May 2025.
“I Wanna Play My Guitar” starts humbly before quickly erupting into a strutting anthem worthy of Hughes’ iconic pipes. The guitar solos stun, the vocals soar and the song quickly makes a case for being included in all of the pair’s live shows from here on out. We can’t wait to hear this one in person.
“The Sea of Emotion, Pt. 1” follows the same playbook, slowing things down with a regal riff before SatchVai join forces to deliver a stinging solo reminiscent of Jimmy Page at his Led Zeppelin finest. Nasty, rowdy and pure, uncut rock n’ roll. Hoo, we’re still reeling from this one’s raw energy.
To hear for yourself, click here to check out SatchVai’s latest efforts.
Animals as Leaders
Founded in 2007, the Washington, D.C.-based trio is known for their instrumental progressive metal. If you’ve never listened to Tosin Abasi, Javier Reyes, and Matt Garstka’s stuff, we recommend starting with the electrifying “Physical Education,” alternately heavy and mellow “Cafo” and jazzy “The Woven Web.”
Want to dig deeper? You can find Animals As Leaders’ complete catalog here.
Huge rockers on tour in 2025-26
The amps will go up to 11 these next few months.
Many of the biggest names in rock will be taking their pulse-pounding hits to the people in the near future. Here are just five of our favorites you won’t want to miss live.
• RUSH
• AC/DC
• ZZ Top
Who else is out and about? Take a look at this list of all the biggest rockers on tour to find the show of your dreams.
Why you should trust ‘Post Wanted’ by the New York Post
This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change.
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