Rock Show
Note: I've moved my blog to my own web site - the new address is:
www.nonaverage.net/insomanywords/
Comments can only be left at the new location.
*********************************************************
Every year in January I attend a music convention in Anaheim, California called The NAMM Show. It is a convention sponsored by the manufacturers of music products, and music store owners and other music retailers attend to see the latest offerings from the manufacturers. Even though the show is not open to the public, it is very popular among musicians and very well attended, to the tune of several thousand people each of the 4 days that it is open. The NAMM Show is where many manufacturers unveil their latest models/versions, and I find it both interesting and entertaining to walk the aisles and see all of the musical instruments, accessories, software and hardware. And there are usually many famous musicians and celebrities walking the aisles or demonstrating products. Over the years I have seen Joe Satriani, Lisa Loeb (very friendly, posed with me for a photo while Dweezil Zappa watched), Alan Holdsworth, Bob Moog, Michael Manring, Tom Scott (a very nice guy, called a friend over to take a photo of Tom and me), Joe Walsh, Nathan East (another very nice guy), John Hall (president of Rickenbacker Guitars), Gene Simons, Timothy B. Schmidt, and it seems that every year I see Stevie Wonder trying out a new product. A few years ago I was in the Yamaha display room looking at a new digital baby grand piano when I noticed a small crowd moving my way. It was Stevie with his entourage, and he came right to the piano I was standing next to and started playing. I ended up being about 4 feet away from Stevie as he tried out the piano, so I had a nice little private concert. It’s one of the frills of being at the NAMM Show.
This year I knew that a favorite guitarist of mine, a chap by the name of Phil Keaggy, was going to be playing at a special concert called “The Acoustic Cafe” on Friday night, so I went to the display booth of L.R. Baggs, who were one of the sponsors of the concert, and asked for tickets to the show. As the sales rep was giving me tickets he mentioned that Phil was going to be playing at the booth later in the afternoon, so my friends and I got back to the L.R. Baggs booth about 20 minutes before Phil was due to start. Phil was a little late - apparently he didn’t have the proper entrance badge to allow him to bring in his instruments - but when he arrived he set up quickly and played for about 35 minutes. Being that my friends and I were there early, we had front row views - we were about 6-8 feet away from Phil as he played. I’ve seen Phil a few times in concert, but never that close. After he finished, Phil stayed and chatted with many of the guys there and even posed for photos with a few of us. One of my friends was in a wheelchair, and Phil stepped out of the booth and posed with my friend for photo. I noticed that Phil took time to listen to everyone who spoke with him, and considering that he probably gets this kind of demand for his attention everywhere he plays, he was very gracious and patient. When I stepped up for my photo op with him, I mentioned that the first time I saw him play live was with a group called Love Song in 1973, and he responded that he is still in contact with some of the guys from that band because they live near him in Nashville. All in all, Phil was very cool, as you can see.
The concert that night was very good - alot of very good players. One of the guys playing was Fred Eaglesmith, who is from Canada, has a nice-sounding band, and is pretty funny. Phil played with his looping pedal and sounded good, even though the mix wasn’t great. He broke a string during one song, but someone handed him a guitar and he carried on playing while his guitar was being restrung. John Mayer was set to play right afterwards, and as he was getting a very poorly-executed introduction by someone from Martin Guitars, a guy in the row directly in front of me yelled, or maybe it was more of a scream, something about John being “the best”, and for a moment I though I was at a sports event and sitting in the face-paint section. Anyway, John came out, solo, and I left after 2 ½ songs (not being a big fan of John, or of face painting). It was a good day - I hope Phil felt the same.
www.nonaverage.net/insomanywords/
Comments can only be left at the new location.
*********************************************************
Every year in January I attend a music convention in Anaheim, California called The NAMM Show. It is a convention sponsored by the manufacturers of music products, and music store owners and other music retailers attend to see the latest offerings from the manufacturers. Even though the show is not open to the public, it is very popular among musicians and very well attended, to the tune of several thousand people each of the 4 days that it is open. The NAMM Show is where many manufacturers unveil their latest models/versions, and I find it both interesting and entertaining to walk the aisles and see all of the musical instruments, accessories, software and hardware. And there are usually many famous musicians and celebrities walking the aisles or demonstrating products. Over the years I have seen Joe Satriani, Lisa Loeb (very friendly, posed with me for a photo while Dweezil Zappa watched), Alan Holdsworth, Bob Moog, Michael Manring, Tom Scott (a very nice guy, called a friend over to take a photo of Tom and me), Joe Walsh, Nathan East (another very nice guy), John Hall (president of Rickenbacker Guitars), Gene Simons, Timothy B. Schmidt, and it seems that every year I see Stevie Wonder trying out a new product. A few years ago I was in the Yamaha display room looking at a new digital baby grand piano when I noticed a small crowd moving my way. It was Stevie with his entourage, and he came right to the piano I was standing next to and started playing. I ended up being about 4 feet away from Stevie as he tried out the piano, so I had a nice little private concert. It’s one of the frills of being at the NAMM Show.
This year I knew that a favorite guitarist of mine, a chap by the name of Phil Keaggy, was going to be playing at a special concert called “The Acoustic Cafe” on Friday night, so I went to the display booth of L.R. Baggs, who were one of the sponsors of the concert, and asked for tickets to the show. As the sales rep was giving me tickets he mentioned that Phil was going to be playing at the booth later in the afternoon, so my friends and I got back to the L.R. Baggs booth about 20 minutes before Phil was due to start. Phil was a little late - apparently he didn’t have the proper entrance badge to allow him to bring in his instruments - but when he arrived he set up quickly and played for about 35 minutes. Being that my friends and I were there early, we had front row views - we were about 6-8 feet away from Phil as he played. I’ve seen Phil a few times in concert, but never that close. After he finished, Phil stayed and chatted with many of the guys there and even posed for photos with a few of us. One of my friends was in a wheelchair, and Phil stepped out of the booth and posed with my friend for photo. I noticed that Phil took time to listen to everyone who spoke with him, and considering that he probably gets this kind of demand for his attention everywhere he plays, he was very gracious and patient. When I stepped up for my photo op with him, I mentioned that the first time I saw him play live was with a group called Love Song in 1973, and he responded that he is still in contact with some of the guys from that band because they live near him in Nashville. All in all, Phil was very cool, as you can see.
The concert that night was very good - alot of very good players. One of the guys playing was Fred Eaglesmith, who is from Canada, has a nice-sounding band, and is pretty funny. Phil played with his looping pedal and sounded good, even though the mix wasn’t great. He broke a string during one song, but someone handed him a guitar and he carried on playing while his guitar was being restrung. John Mayer was set to play right afterwards, and as he was getting a very poorly-executed introduction by someone from Martin Guitars, a guy in the row directly in front of me yelled, or maybe it was more of a scream, something about John being “the best”, and for a moment I though I was at a sports event and sitting in the face-paint section. Anyway, John came out, solo, and I left after 2 ½ songs (not being a big fan of John, or of face painting). It was a good day - I hope Phil felt the same.
Labels: music, NAMM, Phil Keaggy
posted by Ruben at
4:43 PM
<< Home