10 things you should never do onstage

  Never stop the song.The audience will forgive you if you got a little off track but keep going.  Once you find your way back everyone will be into the song and they will forget all about the glitch.

Never drink to the point of passing out.This should go without saying.  Having a drink or two to loosen up is OK but getting hammered during a gig is just unacceptable.

Never let the audience know you made a mistake. If by chance you hit a bad note or miss a phrase just keep moving. Smile, do a big rock and roll pick slide and pretend like you are  having the time of your life.  Only the die hard music fans will notice the mistake but the rest of the crowd is having too much fun so just let it go.

Never fall off the stage Sometimes it happens but nothing brings a gig to a halt like a member of the band disappearing into the crowd in front.  If you do fall of the stage, try to keep going with the song and just get back up there. (even if you’ve lost a limb)

Never insult the soundman (on mic) We all have to deal with soundmen.  They can be a life saver or they can make you sound like dog crap in a can.  If something isn’t quite right, respectfully talk to the soundman off mic. You should never announce through the PA that mix sound like crap.

Never argue with a drunk in the audience. There are always a few of those loud mouth drunks who will make their opinions of your band known.  Just smile and keep playing.  There is no point in arguing with someone who isn’t going to even remember you in the morning.

Never smile at the drunk chick dancing in front (she might get the wrong idea) Sure it’s tempting to flash a little smile at the drunk girl dancing down front. Unfortunately she may think that means you and her have a connection.  There is nothing worse than a sloppy drunk chick trying to get in your face while your trying to tear down and go home. 

Never smile at the drunk dude dancing in front of you( he will definitely get the wrong idea) The same as above applies.  You really don’t want the drunk guy dancing getting the wrong idea.

Never set your drink on top of your amp.  It only takes a second for you drink to spill down the back of your amp and cut your gig short.  Better yet, drink bottled water during the set and have your beer or jack and coke during your break.

Never take yourself to seriously. Music is about having fun.  Even if it is your job is to play music you need to entertain.  You should look like your having fun which in turn helps the audience to have fun. In the end, it’s just a gig, your not performing brain surgery .

Sanyo Pedal Juice

The Sanyo Pedal Juice is a portable, reliable, and rechargeable way to power your pedals.  This sturdy little unit will power multiple pedals for hours.  The Pedal Juice is a great solution to powering your pedals.

The power from the Pedal Juice is clean and quiet. No hum or ground loops here.  This is great for working in the studio.  You can track for hours without worrying about unwanted electrical interference or running out of power.

I used the Pedal Juice on a gig recently where power connections were limited and there was no other need for power at the front of the stage.  Rather than run power out front I just hooked my pedals up to the Pedal Juice and played a worry free gig.

The three stage LED makes it easy to tell how much power you have on tap.  I played my entire two hour gig including sound check and the LED never went off the green setting.

The Pedal Juice is a great alternative to long power cable runs, noisy club AC, or just a reliable backup for your pedal powering needs.

MSRP $199

Pedal Juice official site

Limpin on a prayer

Jon Bon Jovi injured himself during a performance in New Jersey this past weekend.  The front man injured his calf muscle shortly before the end of the band’s 2 1/2 hour set at the New Meadowlands Stadium.  The band went on to finish the show with an encore of their mega hit “Livin On a Prayer. 

This is showmanship at it’s best.  The 48 year old singer addressed the audience by stating "I got another leg. I don't need this one."   The show must go on no matter what.  The legendary rocker finished the night and vows that he will not miss any future dates.

Check out the video of Mr. Bon Jovi hobbling through the rest of the set and still looking like a pro.

Guitar Blog Roundup July 3rd

Happy 4th of July Weekend everyone. Here is this week’s roundup of my favorite posts from the guitar interwebz. 

Guitarren has some cool sketches of potential guitar designs. He’s done a few of these posts and each one has some really cool ideals.

Boutique Guitar Resource has a great post about a new guitar from builder Nado Bailo.  The Whale guitar is one awesome looking axe.

Guitar Noise has some great tips on playing live. If your goal is to perform guitar in front of people then this is a good place to read up on some of the necessary things to do to be successful

Guitar International has a review of the new documentary about famous rock photographer Robert Knight. He’s photographed all the big names for the past 40 years.

Guitar World has some behind the scenes video from their 2011 buyers guide shoot. 

Play a little guitar has some guitar nightmares for you to ponder. I think I may have lived through a few of these. 

guitar blog round up June 26th

Welcome to the weekend.  It’s been a buys week in the guitar world and here are some of my favorite posts from the many great guitar blogs out there.

What’s that dude play has a great video of  anew Vibe pedal by WIlson Pedals. I love the swirly pedals and this one sound great .

300 guitars has a cool post about a Valco amplifier site they found. If you dig old funky amps check it out.

I Heart Guitar has some video of the big 4 playing am I evil together. If you don't know who the big 4 are, you better check this out. 

Mark Wein has a great lesson on hammer on and pull off technique.

My Fender Champ has a cool post documenting the baffle board on a vintage champ.

Guitar Blogstar has an article about micing an amp. This is always a topic worth looking at again.

Set it up, tear it down

In the world of rock and roll there are some great stage crews out there. These guys put up the stage, the lights, the rigs, and the sound for the big boys. These top notch roadies know what to do and get it done right. Unfortunately for the rest of us, we are the roadies.  We have to set up and tear down our own gear. If you working a multi band stage you may have to do it in mere minutes.
Here are a few of the things that I have found to work well when setting up and tearing down at your gig.

The Set up
First, stage the stage.  What that means is, don’t drop your guitar over by the bass player and put your pedal board by the drums while you get your amp.  Put things in their logical place on the stage as you unload them. This will make things flow much better.

Work from back to front.  Get your amp plugged in. Get the footswitch to your amp plugged in. Get anything of yours in the back line plugged in.  You can then run power and cables to the front of the stage to get your pedals up and running.  Now you have a completely wired rig. But wait, don’t open that guitar case yet.
 
If you sing, get your mic stand up and your mic plugged in.  If you’re working on the house PA the  sound guy probably wants to get everyone leveled up as soon as possible.  Give your mic a quick check and your good to go. 

Now you can pull out your guitar.  The worst thing to have happen is to have your guitar sitting on a stand on a busy stage with people moving about. It’s just asking to get knocked off.  Now that your sure everyone is relatively set up you can plug in, tune up and make sure you have your sound. 


The Tear Down
I know, you just played the set of your life. You are hyped and you want to get to the schmoozing the crowd and having a drink.  You still have to tear down your gear though.  First, put that guitar in it’s case. Remember we don’t want it sitting on the stand just waiting to get knocked down. 

I like to go from back to front again. Turn off your amp, unplug anything in the back line and start coiling up your cable runs to the front of the stage.  Now you can pack your pedal board and grab your mic.  The sound guy will have them turned off if you using the house PA. If your using your own PA, make sure the PA is off so there are no pops when you disconnect the mic. 

Make sure you un-stage the stage.  Get your gear off as soon as you can.  Stack it neatly near the door you will be unloading out of so it will not be in the way of the next band. If there is no next band you may be able to leave it for a while.

These are my tips for what works for me. If you have any great tips for the load in or load out at a gig, leave a comment.

Guitar Blog Roundup June 12th

Its the weekend and it’s time for a roundup of my favorite stories and posts from the guitar blog world.

Have a great weekend.

Mark Wein has a great post on fake pedal steel licks.  This is a great technique to have in your bag of tricks.

Guitarless has some info on how truss rods work. This is helpful for understanding what needs to be done to make an adjustment.

I heart guitar has a cool video about hacking a fuzz pedal. Nothing is more hackable than a good old fashioned fuzz pedal.

Guitar Collecting has some info on insuring your  guitar collection. We spend a lot of money on our gear so lets make sure we protect it.

Boutique guitar resource has a some great photos of a custom Frank Hartung guitar. This is a great looking axe.

Drummer Gone Wild

Man this is the best.  This guy embodies Rock and Roll does not take a vacation.  This drummer, while not living out his rock and roll dreams is still hitting it hard and having his way with it.  Never mind the fact that he’s playing in a Gold Lame suit wearing lounge band.  This guy sees fit to go full out hyperkinetic lab monkey on his flaming drum kit.

I hope the PTA and the Senior Women's Bridge Club weren't scared off by our little drummer boy.

Dweezil Zappa Playing Eruption

There are probably thousands of Youtube videos of people attempting Van Halen’s Eruption.  Some are better that others.  Some are downright horrible.  Some are pretty damn close.  This video is the most convincing version of Eruption I have ever seen.  None other the Dweezil Zappa wielding a custom EVH guitar and having his hand at the classic Van Halen solo.

Dweezil tells a story of Eddie coming to his house to meet Frank Zappa.  It’s an interesting story but if you don’t feel like waiting just fast forward to about 3:30.

Revolver Golden Gods Awards

The Revolver Magazine Golden Gods awards aired on VH1 Classic tonight.  Hosted by Andrew WK and Chris Jericho this was a show for the books right out of the gate. 

The night kicked off with Zakk Wylde doing a very metal version of the Star Spangled Banner.  Sporting one of his signature Epiphone Graveyard Disciple guitars, the Wylde man launched into America’s National Anthem with all the attitude you would expect of the Black Label Society front man.

The show also featured Motorhead with special guest Slash performing Ace of Spades. It’s not uncommon to se the top hat wearing guitar god sit in with other bands but this was something special.  Slash fit right in and did great justice to an already great band and great song. 

We were then treated to the Prince of Darkness himself Ozzy presenting a Golden God award to Rob Halford of Judas Priest.  Talk about two of the most notable front men in Metal.  A Metal legend presenting to a Metal legend.

The best singer award was next and was a very sobering moment since these awards were filmed a while back.  Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez presented the award to Ronnie James Dio.  Dio thanked everyone and said he was looking forward to getting back on stage.  This was a hard moment to watch given the singers death last week. It was  definitely a moment to remember.

As I lay Dying and Fear Factory performed flawlessly.  These guys showed us that metal is far from dead.  These two hardcore metal bands kicked the blistering into high gear.

Slayer’s Kerry King was next up to present the award for Best Guitarist.  The Nominees included Kirk Hammet, Tony Iommi, Tom Morello, Slash, Dave Mustane, and Zakk Wylde.  The former Ozzy guitarist Wylde was the winner and gave props to EVH, Randy Rhoades, Page, Hendrix and a few of his other influences. This is a classy move. He never seemed to let the award given to him get in the way of where his heart really is. 

Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters presented the lifetime achievement award to Lemmy from Motorhead.  Grohl kept his presentation short by simply stating “I’m the guy they call to introduce a man who needs no introduction”.

Don Jameson Eddie Trunk, and Jim Florentine from That Metal Show were out next to present the Album of The Year Award. The award which was decided by the Revolver magazine readers went to Alice In Chains. This is quite a comeback for this band since losing their singer Lane Staley.  Jerry Cantrell  remembered the bands former singer in his acceptance speech.

Rob Zombie performed with John 5 on guitars and slipknot’s Joey Jordeson on drums.  What a Monster fest this performance was.  Zombie was in his full monster garb and brought the classic Zombie sound to the show. And by the way, John 5 is badass enough  to be the only guy in metal to wear his guitar high.

This show, while only an hour as aired backed an amazing amount of Metal.  This was no flashback reminiscing about the old days show.  This was an in your face, Metal is still here and it aint going nowhere show.

Welcome to Avenged Sevenfold's Nightmare

Avenged Sevenfold have annonced the release of their new album “Nightmare”.  The album will be available July 17th.  The title track is alaready available on iTunes and there is a lyric video on the A7X site.  The new song sounds like Avenged Sevenfold in full swing.  Plenty of riffs, the classic overlaping and multi tracked vocals of M. Shadows, and lots of attitude. 
With their tour to start the week after the album is release the A7X guys will have a busy summer ahead of them.  The tour is scheduled to go through the fall.
Avenged Sevenfold Official Site

Kiss Sonic Boom Over Europe

As Kiss Wraps up their current tour in Europe we are treated to some cool fan footage.  This video shot in London features the song Modern Day Delilah.  I’ve seen Kiss a few times in my life but that stage is freakin awesome.  The riser that comes from behind the drums to lower Gene, Paul, and Tommy to the stage is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time.

For more great video go to Kissonline.com

Rock Star to Radio Host

The career of a Rock Star can end as quickly as it began.  The madcap world of Rock and Roll is a fickle beast and can spit you out and leave you on the curb right where it found you. Here are some Rock Stars who found a new life in Radio.  Who better to play some tunes than the guys who wrote and recorded them right?

 

Nikki Sixx

Nikki’s show Sixx Sense is a nationally syndicated show. What better that to have the man behind so many great Motley Crue hits host his own show.  Nikki is an icon in rock music and he has the pull to get big names on his show.  He also has seen and done it all so there are sure to be some great stories.

                                                                                                                                                Alice Cooper

Nights with Alice Cooper may not sound appealing to the average citizen but to Rock and Roll fans, this radio show is as cool as it gets.  From closet classics to trivia to some of Alice’s own obscure material this show is worth a listen.

 

Dee Snider

House of Hair with Dee Snider is just the latest for the Twisted Sister front man. This show has it’s sites centered on the hard rock and heavy metal of days gone by.  Who better than to host a show called House of Hair than the man with one of the most recognizable curly manes in rock and roll.

guitar blog roundup

It’s time for the weekly roundup of my favorite stories from the Guitar Blog world.

First up, Fretterverse has an insightful article on how to be a better bandmate.  We’ve all had our trying moments with bandmates.  Let’s all read up on this one.

Not playing guitar has a great article on using loop pedals. These have made the one man band a reality for a lot of guitarists. This post outlines the many uses for looper pedals.

Effectsbay has a review of cordinated cables. If you haven’t seen these they are something a little different in the cable world.

Guitarless has a helpful post on how to prevent breaking strings on your guitar.  A little preparation goes a long way to help save your gig.

Red Dawg Guitar news has the scoop on the new Gator G-bone pedal board.

Rockhousemethod has a tour of Rob Balducci’s pedal board.  I always love seeing what the other guys are playing. 

Avenged Sevenfold To Play in July

Avenged Sevenfold is slated to play the Heavy MTL festival in Montreal on July 25th. This is a promising sign for the band who was dealt a heavy blow last year when drummer James (The Rev) Sullivan died suddenly at the age of 28. There are also rumors that the band is planning a summer tour with Disturbed and Stone sour. According to Metal Hammer, the tour will begin on August 24th in Ontario Canada. The band is also working in the studio with Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy on a new album.


This is exciting for Avenged sevenfold fans who were left wondering what the future of the band would be without Sullivan behind the kit.While the band is known the intense riffs of guitar wielding duo of Zacky Vengance and Synister Gates, and the massive vocals of Singer M. Shadows, The Rev's playing was still a crucial part of the bands sound.


Avenged Sevenfold's latest offering is their live dvd/cd set "Live from the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough" is now available. The live DVD shot at the the Long Beach Arena contains some rare tracks that A7X fans are sure to love.

Avenged Sevenfold Official site

Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper tour.

The two biggest names in shock rock are finally touring together.  Starting April 26th, be prepared for mayhem of the highest order.

Alice Cooper, the godfather of macabre rock will be back to show us how scary rock and roll can be.  The phrase welcome to my nightmare may seem tame compared to what the shock rocker will be bringing to the stage.  Alice Cooper’s reputation for controversy and mayhem alone will  be enough to scare the general population.

Rob Zombie will be back on stage after his success as a horror film director.  That experience will undoubtedly translate directly to the stage show this spring.  One part Wolfman, one part Dracula, a touch of voodoo, and you have the makings of the scariest rocker ever seen.



Gruesome Twosome Tour Dates

Kiss Live in London

Here is a cool video of Kiss Live at London’s O2 Academy.  The venue is quite small for a band like Kiss but it also proves that Kiss isn’t just the big stage and pyrotechnics.  They own this stage without benefit of tons of lights and explosions. This is why Kiss is legendary.

Gigs and food

A rock and roll show is about energy and enthusiasm. It's loud and frenzied at times. It takes a lot out of you to play a gig. Many of us will ultimately have to eat before, during or after a gig. The key is knowing what is the best choice to keep you from encountering gastrointestinal disasters.

There are some obvious things to think about. Pounding down your food two seconds before you hit the stage is probably not a good idea. Nobody wants to see you go for the big rock and roll scream and blow chowder all over the monitors. It's probably best to eat ate least a half an hour to an hour before you go on.Obviously you may be drinking before, during, and after the gig but that's a different post.

Train kept a rollin…

I know gigs are hard to come by these days.  The recession has hit live music hard.  Musicians have to be creative these days to get their music heard.  Well this is a very interesting idea.  Rock your tunes on a commuter train.

thetraintracks.org is a site where live performances captured on a train are viewed and voted on.  There is a new performance each week. It appears that his is sponsored by the metro Phoenix light rail although I’m not sure..  I guess this is an attempt to encourage people to ride the train.  In return, the riders get some music. 

My favorite is Mikel Lander and Meredith Moore of the Sugar Thieves.  She’s got a fantastic voice and he tears it up on the dobro.  I would love to listen to them while commuting to work.

Check out the rest of the videos here

 

Scott

Slash’s new gig (not really)

Recently Slash sat in on a few shows with Black Eyed Peas sexy singer Fergie.  He commented that his gigs with her are the only way you’ll here him right now.  Rumors of a full fledged GnR reunion were squashed by  both Slash and Axl and with no front man for Velvet Revolver I guess this will have to do.

I’ve always dug Slash.  He was a breath of fresh air in the late eighties when the guitar world was shred happy.  He brought the nasty bluesy don’t give a damn attitude back to a guitar scene full of lighting licks and big hair.  I think he has a universal appeal that makes him the perfect ambassador for rock guitar.

He has recorded or sat in with a multitude of musicians. I think this latest jaunt with Fergie is smart.  Although a legendary figure in the guitar world, he is still keeping himself current and relevant by befriending and jamming with one of today’s top pop stars.  A sell out?  Not in my opinion.  Just a well versed guitar player who loves to mix it up.

 

Scott