Saturday
DVD Concert Summary
Well, the free NetFlix subscription expired. In an interesting coincidence, our last remaining local video rental place unexpectedly closed. So we’re going to continue with NetFlix, but the whole family will be using it, not just me. I’ll watch a concert from time to time, and maybe write about it. I’m going to rent some instructional DVDs, and not just guitar DVDs. You can learn things from people who play other instruments, as well.
Video #10: Marillion – Live from Lorely ‘87
This was a great show even though Fish gets the award for the worst dressed singer in any concert I’ve ever seen. Man, he wore hideous suit after hideous suit, starting with the jester outfit and going downhill from there. My lovely wife walked by and mentioned something about him looking like Cirque du Soleil. But he sang with real conviction and passion, and has such a distinctive voice. At times, his voice sounds like a more rockin’ version of Phil Collins.
This band never got that big in the US, but this German crowed was really into them with such a passion, singing along (in English).
I like the guitarist’s melodic style and nice clean tones. He had some unusual guitars. They were Fenderish. He even had a double neck with 2 six-strings, one with a capo.
The songs were great and sounded like the studio albums. Here’s one of my favorites – Lavender:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc0siPZDsSY
This band never got that big in the US, but this German crowed was really into them with such a passion, singing along (in English).
I like the guitarist’s melodic style and nice clean tones. He had some unusual guitars. They were Fenderish. He even had a double neck with 2 six-strings, one with a capo.
The songs were great and sounded like the studio albums. Here’s one of my favorites – Lavender:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc0siPZDsSY
Thursday
Video #9: Tesla – Comin’ Atcha Live ‘08
Yea, baby! This is how you do it. I’m going to buy this one along with that Journey DVD I wrote about earlier.
Killer guitar tone, nice guitar stereo separation, great editing. And of course, their songs are great and sound great live. My only small quibble is that Tommy Skeoch is not there playing guitar. But at least they replaced him with a very capable local guy, Dave Rude from Oakland (http://www.teslatheband.com/band/ts_band_dave.php).
When Frank Hannon was noodling around on an acoustic guitar before launching into one of the songs, my wonderful wife in the other room thought it was me playing. What a compliment! But he does actually noodle around like I do. Great minds think alike? I wish.
But anyway, the bonus material in this DVD is the best guitar geek bonus material I’ve ever seen. They showed you their amps, guitars, pedals. I couldn’t ask for more. I wish more music DVDs did that.
Here they are, comin atcha live:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTuJYebKLQE
Tesla trivia – Song and Emotion was written about Steve Clark.
Killer guitar tone, nice guitar stereo separation, great editing. And of course, their songs are great and sound great live. My only small quibble is that Tommy Skeoch is not there playing guitar. But at least they replaced him with a very capable local guy, Dave Rude from Oakland (http://www.teslatheband.com/band/ts_band_dave.php).
When Frank Hannon was noodling around on an acoustic guitar before launching into one of the songs, my wonderful wife in the other room thought it was me playing. What a compliment! But he does actually noodle around like I do. Great minds think alike? I wish.
But anyway, the bonus material in this DVD is the best guitar geek bonus material I’ve ever seen. They showed you their amps, guitars, pedals. I couldn’t ask for more. I wish more music DVDs did that.
Here they are, comin atcha live:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTuJYebKLQE
Tesla trivia – Song and Emotion was written about Steve Clark.
Monday
Video #8: Scorpions – Unbreakable Tour ’04 in Vienna
The Scorps are one of my favorite bands, but I couldn’t get into this DVD, because I kept getting distracted by bad, choppy editing. If someone is playing a guitar solo, show it. Don’t flash to a hundred other things in quick succession. They must have recorded this over a couple nights, because the drummer’s shirt miraculously changes from one cut to another while he’s playing a song.
I actually didn’t recognize the drummer, but from the bonus material, I found out that he’s an American. I think he’s the first American in the band.
The bonus material was a little boring in the beginning, but I eventually got into it, and it was pretty informative. It seems like Rudolph was the driving force behind the band. In the beginning, he was their manager and also had a strong, ambitions vision of making the band world famous. I liked his positive attitude, too. He said things like “everything is possible” and “don’t stop at the top.”
Also, the band’s friendship is really impressive. When they were in the process of making Blackout, Klaus lost his voice and the doctor told him to quit singing and pursue a different career. What a blow that must have been. But the band stood by him, and were supportive. And, of course Klaus was able to work his way back to singing with the help of some top doctors.
Interesting bit of trivia – they wrote Winds of Change before the Wall came down.
I actually didn’t recognize the drummer, but from the bonus material, I found out that he’s an American. I think he’s the first American in the band.
The bonus material was a little boring in the beginning, but I eventually got into it, and it was pretty informative. It seems like Rudolph was the driving force behind the band. In the beginning, he was their manager and also had a strong, ambitions vision of making the band world famous. I liked his positive attitude, too. He said things like “everything is possible” and “don’t stop at the top.”
Also, the band’s friendship is really impressive. When they were in the process of making Blackout, Klaus lost his voice and the doctor told him to quit singing and pursue a different career. What a blow that must have been. But the band stood by him, and were supportive. And, of course Klaus was able to work his way back to singing with the help of some top doctors.
Interesting bit of trivia – they wrote Winds of Change before the Wall came down.
Sunday
Video #7: Journey 2001
Yea! This concert from Vegas rocked, even without Steve Perry. Their singer actually looked a little like Kenny G, but he did a good job. I’ve never seen Deen Castronovo before either, but he was awesome on drums. Of course the other players were great – Ross Valory, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain.
This DVD was skimpy with the bonus material, and I didn’t care to see the audience close-ups, but I’m buying this one. Those are small quibbles. The editing, the songs, the playing, Neal’s guitar tone - it was all good.
Here’s a sample. It looked like Neal was playing some nice, customized PRSs. And check out how Deen attacks those drums.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO8vKjrdnxk
This DVD was skimpy with the bonus material, and I didn’t care to see the audience close-ups, but I’m buying this one. Those are small quibbles. The editing, the songs, the playing, Neal’s guitar tone - it was all good.
Here’s a sample. It looked like Neal was playing some nice, customized PRSs. And check out how Deen attacks those drums.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO8vKjrdnxk
Thursday
Early Journey
The very next concert DVD in my NetFlix cue is a Journey concert from 2001, but I got an early taste last night when I had the privilege to see Neal Schon jam with the Miles Schon band at a music store.
It was at a promotional event at Bananas at Large in San Rafael for an innovative, new amplifier company based in nearby Vallejo called Grid1. Neal’s son, Miles, gave an in-store performance with his band at the event. Miles is also a great player. The amp, which was running the whole time on battery power, sounded awesome. It also helped that Miles was playing a killer gold top Les Paul that I believe was a Neal Schon model with a Floyd Rose and some extra switches.
It looks exactly like the guitar Neal is playing in this little clip:
It was at a promotional event at Bananas at Large in San Rafael for an innovative, new amplifier company based in nearby Vallejo called Grid1. Neal’s son, Miles, gave an in-store performance with his band at the event. Miles is also a great player. The amp, which was running the whole time on battery power, sounded awesome. It also helped that Miles was playing a killer gold top Les Paul that I believe was a Neal Schon model with a Floyd Rose and some extra switches.
It looks exactly like the guitar Neal is playing in this little clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDg1pFIytS0
Unfortunately, my BlackBerry doesn’t have a camera, so I don’t have anything to show from the actual event. But there were a lot of video cameras there. If I find any video online, I’ll link to it.
This made me hearken back to the jam I had the honor to be part of a couple years ago with Ross Valory, the bass player in Journey. It’s good to see those guys hanging out and jamming when they’re not on tour. Good stuff.
And Bananas at Large is a fun store. They have a zillion pedals and some cool Zemeitis guitars, including a real beauty that looks like this:
Unfortunately, my BlackBerry doesn’t have a camera, so I don’t have anything to show from the actual event. But there were a lot of video cameras there. If I find any video online, I’ll link to it.
This made me hearken back to the jam I had the honor to be part of a couple years ago with Ross Valory, the bass player in Journey. It’s good to see those guys hanging out and jamming when they’re not on tour. Good stuff.
And Bananas at Large is a fun store. They have a zillion pedals and some cool Zemeitis guitars, including a real beauty that looks like this:
And they also had a wacky Yamaha pseudo guitar with buttons on the fretboard. I've only seen this "guitar" once before, and that was at the Yamaha Music Center in Tokyo. It's a fun little toy. This is a picture of it in Tokyo along with a handsome and talented guitarist:
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