Hi folks, I just returned from the musicfair in Frankfurt, it was AWESOME.
Bad news first: I noticed that I had left the fresh batteries for the digicam at home when I entered the fair. So no pics
The only things I could do for you guys:
@brad: I checked the Xiphos 7-string. The setup was good and it was pretty cool to play. Light and good balanced. The bridge was fixed though, what's a major turn down in my eyes.
@mitch: yes, I enjoyed the musikmesse it for you too.
@inhe: I listened carefully to the marshall vintage modern in live action, because Mr. Paul Gilbert used it. More info down the page.
I didn't check much equipment, I mainly listened to cool players:
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Kiko Loureiro: I knew that he is good. But I didn't knew that he is so...WOAH. I stood there, at a very small space at the side of the corridor with an ultimate bass-beast, they played to a playback CD. He promoted ESP and Zoom and had a very, very good tone.
The technique and the absolutely original licks made him become my new 3rd-favorite-guitar-player (after Vai and Pablo). Plus, I liked that he played all these hyper fast licks with the same right hand technique like me (open right hand) and not with this fist technique.
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IA Ekhlund: I think you guys know, that he has a very self-contained way of playing and many interesting ideas. I like him (I own Freak Guitar II), but I'm not a fan of his extreme dry tone, he promoted Laney, of course.
But he gets 123087235ß734589 bonus points for merriness and niceness. He was so funny.
"Ok, everyone, please sing along, just like this (in 16th)! '1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 1-2-3-4-5-6 1-2-3-4-5 1-2-3-4 1-2-3 1-2 1'"
"The next song is based on arpeggios. You know, like the five-string-arpeggios all the power metal bands play" - plays very fast random five-string arpeggios and sings with a voice like an eunuch: "STEEEEEEEEEEEL FIREEEEEEEEE DRAGOOOONS EXPLOSIOOOOOOOON!"
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Paul Gilbert: He was there for marshall and he was BRILLIANT, cool, nice, you name it. I queued up 40 minutes before, so that I got into the 4th row. He played 50 minutes, but nothing from GOOMY. I haven't heard all songs of the new album yet, but I remember that he played:
Gargoyles, I cannot lie, an Elvis Costello Cover and Scarified, Technical difficulties.
He was funny and nice too. He played alone, without a band but with a playback CD, in a small room. After every song, he turned around, took the Tracklist, and yelled the next track number to the roadie, so that he could skip to the right track.
"The next song is from Racer X, it's called SCAAAAARIFIEEEEEEEED"
- silence... Paul notices that he forgot to tell the roadie the right track number...he turns around, looks at the tracklist.... turns to the mic again:
"NUMBER EIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT"
Well, when I first heard that Paul changed from Laney to Marshall, I was disappointed. But today, Paul sounded great. He played the Marshall Vintage Modern, 2x12 Combo. He played without a mic and not with much effects, so he had a very pure tone. The amp is very, very honest. The dynamic range is so wide, that the volume knob of your guitar can change a lot. The amp shows you if you play good or not, but this gives you more possibilities of expression too. All Marshalls I've heard so far had this character, but especially this one sounded very cool. Go for it, Inhe
Jeff Loomis:
Ok, he didn't say a single word and was very shy, but he played extremely fast and extremly flawless. Equipment was Shecter Sig and Engl Special Edition. I recognized some Nevermore tunes like "Born", but he combined it with endless cool solos. I'm still flashed how someone can play so fast and clean over such a long time.
Yngwie Malmsteen:
Well, it was Yngwie. I'm glad that I could see him, but compared to Kiko and Paulm, it was boring. The typical Yngwie thing, cool, but we heard it 123238947289 times. His performance was good though, much guitar throwing on stage.
So the only sad thing was, that I didn't see Andy Timmons because he played at the same time as Paul Gilbert. Special Highlights were Paul and Kiko.
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@mitch: your last videos are awesome, you freak.
