Yeah, this guy has some great chops. It sounds awesome.
I remember going to see Al DiMeola at a small venue where I was able to sit about 10 feet away from him and watch him play for the whole show. It was mind blowing to see how much control he had with his right hand. The most incredible thing was that he could strum chords at the same speed as his blazzing single-note runs. (that was a night that I wanted to sell all of my instruments when I got home, and give it up
I don't know why this kind of thing is so interesting on guitar. I often wonder if people would be as impressed with the same piece played on a violin or piano where these kinds of chops are more common, although still impressive. If that's true then why is it so interesting when guitarists do this? I think the answer is that it's much harder to do on guitar, but it must be more than that. I think that it has something to do with the tone of a guitar that makes it interesting?
For me, as impressive as this is, I get bored watching a person play like this for too long. After a while I'm not really paying attention to the music so much as I'm watching a technical demonstration of skill. The technical part of me takes over and I sit there wondering what angle they're holding their pick, etc.
I really like the players that balance their chops with the other musical aspects like tone and phrasing, etc. Guys like Eric Johnson or Steve Morse are really interesting to me because they seem to have this balance of chops with the other things that make guitar fun to listen to.
-- Jim