Two of the most technically extraordinary guitarists alive are finally sharing a stage for their first North American tour together — and one of the stops is right here in Syracuse. If you have been waiting for a reason to make a night of it at the Landmark, this one is hard to talk yourself out of.
The Surfing With The Hydra 2026 Tour brings the SatchVai Band to Syracuse on Sunday, May 17 at 7:30 PM. This is the SATCHVAI Band’s first appearance in the city — and their first full North American run, after the project came together in late 2024 and spent 2025 touring the UK and Europe before finally bringing it stateside for a 40-date swing.
About SatchVai
Joe Satriani and Steve Vai go back roughly five decades — Vai studied guitar under Satriani as a teenager, which is why calling this a “collaboration” undersells it. This is a full band: Kenny Aronoff on drums, Marco Mendoza on bass, and Pete Thorn on guitar alongside the two headliners. Sets combine material from each artist’s catalog, new songs from the forthcoming SATCHVAI album (their new single “Dancing” arrived March 2), and select covers.
Special guests Animals As Leaders — an instrumental progressive metal band formed in 2007 — are on all 40 dates of the tour. The bill covers a lot of ground.
Satriani described it as “a full-band, high-energy performance that provides a complete rock experience.” Vai called it “watching a childhood fantasy step out of my teenage brain and stroll onto the stage.” That is a lot of anticipation to live up to, but these two have been at this long enough to know what they are promising.
About Landmark Theatre
Landmark Theatre is at 362 S. Salina Street in downtown Syracuse — a 2,908-seat theater and one of the better mid-size rooms in the region for a show like this. The scale is right for a guitar showcase: big enough to support full production, close enough that it actually lands.
Tickets
Tickets are on sale now. Buy tickets for SatchVai at Landmark Theatre →