Guitar Hero... Needs To Be Improved

I have zero interest in those games, except maybe the drumset. And my nephew had broken his when I was visiting so no dice.

I keep hoping someone will make a MIDI input for a Guitar Hero type game. Then you can actually play a REAL instrument and better yourself as a player while rocking out the game at the same time.

Extra points for inversions!

I can dream, right?

An Actual COOL iPhone Ap

http://www.petersontuners.com/gpbaspbanner

Other than a GPS and a grocery list, there isn't much I would want my phone to do. But this is pretty dang cool.

Sweet!

Wow... I Am Stunned...

Look at the paintjob on that mother!

HERE's the painter's website.

Great GEETARRRR Playin'!!!!!

www.californiaguitartrio.com

Great show. A lot of fun arrangements of some classical pieces, "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly", "Starry Night" and their own tunes. Oh, and the encore finale "Freebird"!

They don't seem to take it all too seriously, but they tore it up on stage tonight. Plus, really cool bonus: they had the show just performed available for sale 20 minutes or so after the show was over! They had a CD burning tower running of the soundboard feed. I haven't listened to it cuz I just got home a few seconds ago, but I'm going to dupe it and bring it to work tomorrow.

If you get a chance, catch their show. It's well worth your time.

I Know... I Know...

For late 80's cheese with a twist...

Paul Gilbert is just too f'in cool. I keep meaning to buy his solo stuff, but my list of "CD's I Want To Buy" is so big that... I don't have an apt comparison.

Too Beautiful!

EDIT: This is NOT my guitar. I would love to have my rat Universe painted in exactly this manner. I was leaning towards a red, white and blue swirl paint job. But this colour scheme is KILLER. FYI: A paint job of this nature is typically over $500 for the white primer, swirl and clear. And that's WITHOUT a matching headstock (the end of the guitar where the lettering is, if you don't know what that is).

I Get To Watch My Favorite Musician In The World...

AND I scored an aftershow pass! I scored the ticket in my new Steve Vai "Sound Theories" CD digipack. Too cool. I thought it was a sticker at first. Then I was looking at it and wondering "What's with the lettering on my sticker?" Turns out it was the fine print.

Too cool. So I get to meet the best guitarist in the world for the... counting...

Chicago in-store appearance
Ultra Zone tour Indy out by the bus
Ultra Zone tour Columbus out by the bus
G3 tour 2001 aftershow
G3 tour 2003 aftershow
Real Illusions tour Columbus pre-show and aftershow

7th time! Ha! Too funny. Vai has a thing for the number 7. I wonder what cool thing will happen this time?

Vai has actually thanked ME the last two times I met him for being so into his performance. I was stunned both times.

The last time I saw him was in Louisville for the "Zappa Does Zappa tour". He threw a pick out to my area and I snagged it when the lights came up at the end of the show. It's residing in my Vai model signature acoustic, which was waiting for me when I came home that night. (UPS left a brand new $1000+ guitar in my driveway with no signature required.)

The next time will be at the House of Blues in Chicago this September. I cannot wait.

I also will finally get to meet Bryan Beller, a great bass player. Bryan plays for Mike Keneally and scored the Vai gig this tour. I've corresponded via email with BB but never managed to meet him.

And of course, the very cool and talented Dave Weiner. He's been Vai's longest lasting sideman ever, he started out w/ Vai in 1999. He also owes me a guitar lesson if I ever get my PC working right.

OH YEAH, BABY! Zappa Comes To INDY!

I attended a wonderful concert last December. Here's my review I posted on a few sites right after the show:

"Oh my goodness! What a show! I just bought my ticket a few days ago on Ticketbastard. I wasn't planning to go, but I did a ticket search and got 2nd row, stage right! So I really had to.

The Louisville Palace is a nice place, decent seats and good sound. The bass was way too low for my tastes, though I notice right up front usually isn't that good of a place for the best mix. So I don't know if that's "the mix" or if I were seating further back I would have liked it more.

Now, I'm not a Frank Zappa fan. I own ZERO Frank Zappa recordings except for a VHS copy of "Zappa's Universe", which is... strange to say the least. But the music they selected was incredible.

Steve Vai is my favorite musician ever. And Dweezil's "Z" band plays some of the sickest stuff I've ever heard from a rock band. But this stuff... I really see where Dweezil, Vai and Keneally get their sensibilities from. Incredible. I like the whacked out tonalities and the odd-times fly by like mad.

The band... what can you say. Everyone looked so comfortable playing some of the most complex music I've ever heard. How the whole band plays these seriously ODD times... I heard zero clams all night. Everyone looked EFFORTLESSLY excellent. Except Napoleon, who looked a little winded and was pouring out sweat.

And Vai, of course, who was grimacing like the metal god he is.

Dweezil looked cool as a cucumber while whipping out some serious chops. The kind that make me burst out in laughter from sheer joy. (I LOVE those moments!)

The only letdown was that Dweezil didn't do the video "duet" with Frank that I'd heard about. I think I heard that technical problems were plaguing them and they understandably pulled it. Oh well.

The HIGH POINT? Vai playing right in front of me for the parts he showed up for. The HIGHER point? Getting a pick from him! He threw it and no one could find it. I thought for sure it was right in front of me, so did everyone else.

Later, when the lights came up on stage, I saw it under the seat of the guy sitting next to me and I snatched that baby right up.

A great show. I think there are a few dates left, catch them if you can.

And Dweezil said they're going to try to make this an annual thing. I hope they do. I'll catch it again, and (like he said) try to bring some friends."

I know it's been almost four months, but who cares?

Also, the pick that I got? Well... when I got home, my brand new Ibanez Euphoria EP9 acoustic was sitting in a box in my driveway. That pick stays right inside. Hopefully some "Vai"-bes will rub off."

And now they're coming HERE! To Indy!

NO ONE comes here! I'm very stoked. I cannot wait to buy my ticket and I cannot wait to watch and hear this amazing band play again.

It seems like a smaller band this time, without Steve Vai or Terry Bozzio, but it's going to be amazing regardless.

IT'S GONNA RAWK!!!!!!!!!!!

www.zappa.com

A Very Neato Contraption!

New Fender VG Axe!


A very impressive geeeeee-tarrrrr. This thing has everything but the kitchen sink!

Built into this American made Strat are Four different guitar models, and a tuning-adjusting knob that lets you change pitch on the guitar w/out retuning. Drop-D for Van Halen tunes, 12-string emulation and more.

Plus a Roland GK pickup too. For all manners of synth stuffis.

The only drawback? Only two colors. I'd much rather have the "Wayne's World" Off White w/ white pickguard (or a sweet candy apple red w/ white pickguard).

How Weird My Music Is...

My Mike Keneally "hat" CD started skipping while using Media Player at work and I realized that if you didn't know the tunes, you might not be able to tell the difference.

Mike Keneally RAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love this man! He's an amazing musician. He writes music so scary and strange that most folks will hear a few notes and go.... "Ewwwwww!!".

I like that stuff. Dissonance? Odd meters? Lyrics so beyond fucked up that Prince is going "This cat is a serious weirdo"? Bring 'em on! I love it all.

His piano adaptations of Steve Vai's guitar-driven extravaganzas are truly beautiful (I'm listening to that CD right now). His solos on the Guitar Therapy CD/DVD set are beyond amazing and his CDs are just great stuffis.

This guy can play just about anything on either guitar or piano/keyboards. He was Frank Zappa's last touring "Stunt Guitarist".

So, yeah. He's weird. So what?

Like Vai, there's true beauty in the strangeness. You just have to look a little deeper than a simple I-IV-V progression, cliched lyrics or a programmed drum beat. Believe me, it's well worth the effort.

A Thing Of Beauty

Sweet!


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