Jeff Beck live is amazing. When he's on he blows all the others away . Again , each of these guitarist is looking to do something different and to that end these kids contest "who is better" is really a waste and not to be taken seriously.
Page live by the way has been sloppy to embarassing at different concerts.
Thanks for the review--I'm looking forward to the show. I usually end up being pleasantly surprised when I see guitar legends I'm not particularly in to. I saw Vai at a G3 concert, and although I'm not a big fan, he impressed me with his skill and professionalism (although anyone standing next to a drunken Yngwie Malmsteen looks professional!)
A certain sloppiness is Page's trademark. And that holds, I think, not just for his live stuff but in recordings as well. To me, Page's left hand always seems to be lagging behind his right a little, and so you get this somewhat garbled sound with a lot of choked notes. I happen to love that sound but it's a risky playing style -- he's always on the ragged edge of disaster. If the left hand falls just a little further behind, he sounds like an unpracticed thirteen-year-old. That seems to have happened from time to time in live situations, depending on his level of touring exhaustion and the concentration of certain chemicals in his body.