| Weekend Beat/ Axmen of air strike invisible chords
It happens all the time--adolescent boys get interested in guitars to attract girls. At 13, Tatsuya Kobayashi was no different. He bought an electric guitar and a small amp for 30,000 yen at a local music store in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture. Secretly dreaming of passionate glances from teen bunnies, he struggled to master the instrument, following directions in a how-to guitar manual. Alas, he soon discovered there was more to it than he'd imagined. Just randomly plucking at the six strings wasn't working. Kobayashi's fantasy collided with reality and lost. He gave up. The guitar became a dusty ornament in his room. Ten years passed. It was a weekday night in May. The rock club Shinjuku Loft Plus One was packed. Rage Against the Machine's "Guerrilla Radio" burst out of the club's sound system.
Frampton, Pops hit right notes at Riverbend
At one point during his Riverbend concert with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra Saturday night, Peter Frampton played conductor. No, not leading the orchestra, but the audience, waving his arms conducting a sing-a-long of his classic "Baby I Love Your Way." It was a Frampton love fest as the '70s guitar hero teamed up with the Pops to open the orchestra's 22nd season at its summer venue. It made for a thrilling evening with audience and performers alike mindful that risk-taking was in the air. It was the first time the Cincinnati Pops had played with such an edgy blues-rock guitarist and the first time Frampton's songs - many from his monster 1976 album "Frampton Comes Alive" - had received an orchestral treatment. They were arranged by Steven Reineke, who conducted Saturday. "Playing in your hometown is one thing," said Frampton, who lives in Indian Hill.
SNAMM06: We Will Rock You Say Digitech
DigiTech have been demonstrating it at the show and have announced that they are now shipping the Brian May Red Special Artist Series Pedal. Created using the original master recordings of legendary guitarist and Queen founding member Brian May, as well as his collection of vintage instruments, effects and amps used in the studio and onstage live, the long anticipated pedal delivers the signature tones of one of rock's pioneering guitar icons, say Digitech.
The man himself, Brian May, had this to say, “This piece of gear is — in my opinion — a work of genius. An amazing DigiTech team led by legend Eddie Kramer has created a device that captures 14 of the most memorable tones I've achieved for Queen over the years. From the searing harmonically rich solo sound of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody', to the churning saturated thickness of the climax of ‘We Will Rock You', to the hitherto inimitable ‘Deacy' amp tones, which I've used for years to create ‘orchestras' of guitars on record, this device will shock you! Our hope, is that you, the guitarist of the future, will use this machine as an aid to creating your own new tones and inspire you to greater heights."
The extensive selection of tones is modeled from Brian's exclusive original set-ups, including his one-of-a-kind Deacy amp and Red Special handmade guitar.
Avenged Win Over Crowd, System Snore, Ozzy Returns To Form At Ozzfest Launch
AUBURN, Washington - Some of the sun-crisped metalheads packed into the White River Amphitheatre for the first stop on this year's 11th annual Ozzfest were skeptical of "TRL" favorites Avenged Sevenfold being on the festival's main stage. But there they were on Thursday, and the naysayers weren't about to distract the band from the mission at hand: Trying to win the crowd over. So, Avenged, led by the diamond-grilled, Axl-Rose-imitating M. Shadows, pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat by covering -- and handily at that -- a tried-and-true metal classic: Pantera's "Walk." Shadows dedicated the tune to the memory of slain Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, and about three riffs in, the audience -- even the cynics -- were sold, pumping their fists and barking the song's stilted refrain: "Re! Spect! Walk!" And for the rest of the band's set, which ended with "Bat Country," Avenged owned them all.
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