Swedish guitar supremo Yngwie Malmsteen returned to Dublin on Thursday night (31 July 2025) to play a sold-out show in front of just 550 people at the city's Button Factory. Celebrating forty years as a solo artist, the gig marked the shredder's first time on a Dublin stage in over twenty years.
It's been four decades since force of nature Yngwie J. Malmsteen unleashed his debut solo album, and this fact has given him reason to celebrate. "All of a sudden, somebody's telling me It's been 40 years! What the fuck happened?", he told eonmusic earlier this year; "I feel like I'm still starting out, I don't feel like some old veteran".
A veteran, however, he is, and in that same interview when he declared that; "the Strat is like the weapon of destruction; that's the one you go to war with", you knew he meant every word.
Launching onto the tiny Button Club stage in Dublin, it's clear that Malmsteen is fighting fit. Armed with a relatively scaled down twenty-two Marshall Heads and fourteen cabs, the player kicks off, appropriately with the title track from his debut solo release 'Rising Force'. A power metal anthem, and his signature song, it sets the night up for what's to come; frenetic fretwork, bursts of melody, and a high energy performance.
There's no room for subtlety at a Yngwie Malmsteen show, and anyone doubting this is swiftly woken up by the barrage of picks that threaten to scar anyone they hit within firing distance. It's pure theatre, but that doesn't mean that the main man is focused solely on his performance, and during 'Top Down, Foot Down' he gets distracted by his amps, fine tuning the sound until it's exactly as he wants it. This is his first show in the Irish capital in twenty years, after all.
It's not all shredding though, and the dichotomy of 'Soldier', which veers from ethereal and emotive, to dizzying shred fest demonstrates the yin and yang of a Yngwie show.
Although there's light and shade, the energy levels are on the edge at all times, despite the touring taking its toll. "We're all fuckin' jet lagged", he confesses, greeting the audience, before declaring; "it's good to be back. You guys rock!"
From there it's a trawl through some of his most celebrated pieces, from the ferocious speed of '(Si Vis Pacem) Parabellum' - "I've recorded some crazy shit. This is possibly the craziest shit I ever done!" - to an on-point rendition of JS Bach's 'Badiniere', with the set focusing primarily on his bookending solo albums; 1984's 'Rising Force', and 2021's 'Parabellum'.
There's also a brace of choice covers in a truncated take on Deep Purple's 'Smoke on the Water', and a faithful 'Red House' by Jimi Hendrix, as well as a nod to Brian May with a tease of the solo from 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen.
But it's really all about that virtuoso playing, and neo classical sound, and tonight it's delivered in a flurry of notes with that unique Malmsteen flair. Taking his bows following a technically brilliant solo at the end of 'I'll See the Light Tonight'. it's clear that Yngwie is still in a class of his own.
A veteran, however, he is, and in that same interview when he declared that; "the Strat is like the weapon of destruction; that's the one you go to war with", you knew he meant every word.
Launching onto the tiny Button Club stage in Dublin, it's clear that Malmsteen is fighting fit. Armed with a relatively scaled down twenty-two Marshall Heads and fourteen cabs, the player kicks off, appropriately with the title track from his debut solo release 'Rising Force'. A power metal anthem, and his signature song, it sets the night up for what's to come; frenetic fretwork, bursts of melody, and a high energy performance.
There's no room for subtlety at a Yngwie Malmsteen show, and anyone doubting this is swiftly woken up by the barrage of picks that threaten to scar anyone they hit within firing distance. It's pure theatre, but that doesn't mean that the main man is focused solely on his performance, and during 'Top Down, Foot Down' he gets distracted by his amps, fine tuning the sound until it's exactly as he wants it. This is his first show in the Irish capital in twenty years, after all.
It's not all shredding though, and the dichotomy of 'Soldier', which veers from ethereal and emotive, to dizzying shred fest demonstrates the yin and yang of a Yngwie show.
Although there's light and shade, the energy levels are on the edge at all times, despite the touring taking its toll. "We're all fuckin' jet lagged", he confesses, greeting the audience, before declaring; "it's good to be back. You guys rock!"
From there it's a trawl through some of his most celebrated pieces, from the ferocious speed of '(Si Vis Pacem) Parabellum' - "I've recorded some crazy shit. This is possibly the craziest shit I ever done!" - to an on-point rendition of JS Bach's 'Badiniere', with the set focusing primarily on his bookending solo albums; 1984's 'Rising Force', and 2021's 'Parabellum'.
There's also a brace of choice covers in a truncated take on Deep Purple's 'Smoke on the Water', and a faithful 'Red House' by Jimi Hendrix, as well as a nod to Brian May with a tease of the solo from 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen.
But it's really all about that virtuoso playing, and neo classical sound, and tonight it's delivered in a flurry of notes with that unique Malmsteen flair. Taking his bows following a technically brilliant solo at the end of 'I'll See the Light Tonight'. it's clear that Yngwie is still in a class of his own.