A Closing Shot...

Towards the end of the performance Sammy played two different guitars. This was one of them. Can I say I really like this Explorer?

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Explorer/Gibson-USA/Explorer.aspx

I took 701 pictures Saturday night. And I have so many cool pictures I don't think I have seen them all. Chickenfoot ROCKS.

The concert was a dream. The whole experience was freakin' awesome. Life is good. I will see you down the road, real soon.

Don't Ask Me Why...

I like this picture so much. Maybe it was the fact I was only separated by the stage monitors or that this band was having such a great time together. It is so refreshing to see smiles and genuine fun coming off a stage. And the crowd had the groove too. I bounced all night and acted like I was a teenager again. That is what a great show does for you. And this was one of them.

I Have Always Thought this Bass Was Cool...

This bass reminds me of the old Van Halen days...I am not going down that road. This band is so cool well there is no need to talk about what was before...

Attention Rock and Roll Bands...

You should look closely at this picture. Sammy has a hat on that is a kids sports helmet dressed out in Van Halen graphics. Earlier in the night we let four boys and then another young kid up on the front row. This boy could not have been 6. He had his hand-made 55 t-shirt on. http://t-shirts.cafepress.com/item/i-cant-drive-55-black-tshirt/58079690 Anyway his Dad holds up the hat. Sammy reaches forward to get it. He straps it on and does a whole song. Then without stopping the show for even a second he takes a sharpie and signs it. Then hands it to every member of the band for signatures.
Musicians take a lesson. This is how you treat your fans. We loved it. In fact these guys poured shots and passed them out..they threw drum sticks, picks, and signed everything passed to them all while playing a non-stop rock and roll show. Yes. Treat your fans well and they will love you back. I think everyone I heard leaving the show was talking about that. I know I was.

The walls were rumbling with the bass....

Honestly I had earplugs in. Between the Marshall amps and the Peavy bass cabinets I could feel the music in my chest. And it was good.

As the Chickenfoot song goes "Oh Yeah."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKkxxLEBwBo&feature=related

Having Some Serious Fun....

Joe and Chad hamming it up. The thing about this show was the audience was into it. The band was into it. We raised the roof. Yes, yes, this is Rock and Roll 2009. It is good to be alive.

Oh...The thing I love about this band is they know how to have fun. Can you feel the smile on my face?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhbQ6OUdvhc&feature=related

Chad Smith!

Chad Smith. Man this guy can get the job done on the cans.

http://www.redhotchilipeppers.com/

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Chad_Smith.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_Smith

Joe Satriani!

http://www.satriani.com/2004/

Joe freakin' just rocks. He is soooo good.


Oh, the video was just released...check it out..."Soap on a Rope" Baby.

http://www.chickenfoot.us/news/

Two Old Friends....

Sammy and Michael. I love the shirt Sammy. OU812.

http://www.redrocker.com/

http://www.madanthonycafe.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OU812

Fade to Red...

Do not adjust your sets....that blur is the Red Rocker. The show has just started...

http://www.redrocker.com/

It is time to Rumble....

Ladies and Gentlemen. Chickenfoot. http://www.chickenfoot.us/

More...More....

The only thing I have left to say about Davy is more, more!! Anyone who gets produced by the likes of Peter Frampton has to be pretty damn good. Oh I want to see him perform again real soon. Yes, yes, real soon.

I haven't even mentioned the crowd at the House of Blues yet. On this night the house was full of road-trippin' music fans from all over. And everyone in the house was stoked! I think we blew these guys off the stage with our response to their playing. They were grinning ear-to-ear. What a night, and it was just beginning.

http://vimeo.com/3831684

Not since.

Not since the first moment I listened to Stevie Ray Vaughn so many years ago has a new guitarist made me feel the way this kid does. Before I went to the show I ordered all his cds and downloaded the new "Live from Bonnaroo" off Itunes. In fact the live download is actually my favorite. I cannot quit listening to it.

OK I will settle in a bit and say first off that Davy is not SRV. But he is very very good and very young. He has so much potential in his playing I really cannot wait to hear him in ten years. He already sounds like he has been playing 30 years...

http://www.myspace.com/davyknowlesbackdoorslam

Go watch this video, the solo intensity is off the meter:

http://vimeo.com/5643078

Davy Knowles!

http://www.davyknowles.com/

One word about this player. Incredible. Davy came out with his band to open for Chickenfoot. I knew he was opening and in fact a chance to see him perform was part of my justification for this road trip. I had to see this kid perform.

Back to my story from a moment ago. I got inside the venue pretty fast and landed center stage three feet way. The first person I see in my new friend Craig. We laughed and talked a bit about what was going to happen. As Davy started playing I started looking over and him to see in his eyes what he was thinking. We both looked at each other and I shouted "Yeah." I looked Davy dead in the eye on stage a few feet from me and I raised my fist to him. I shouted again. "Yeah." Awesome.

The view Saturday Night....

This was my view Saturday night at the House of Blues Myrtle Beach. This whole story started a few weeks ago in Cary, North Carolina at the Robert Cray show. I was sitting on a bench with a few people and struck up a conversation about music....as I always do.
I have to say one of my favorite parts of going out to see live music is to meet people and share war stories about concerts. That is living in the first person. Anyway so I meet this guy who tells me his name is Craig. We start sharing stories back and forth and he says..."Have you heard about "Chickenfoot?" I thought...hmmm I have heard the name, oh I read a blurb about them in Rolling Stone and I saw an advertisement for them at the House of Blues in July while I was there for Jacob Dylan. Anyway I said not really tell me more...and he started telling me all about them. By the time I arrived home I had picked up the story in the magazine and gone online to check tickets. In a few minutes I had tickets, a room at the beach, not to mention an online order for the new Chickenfoot cd.

The story doesn't end here. After a four hour road trip arriving at the HOB I sat out back having some Cabo Wabo http://www.cabowabo.com/Default.aspx blue margaritas at the bar chatting to my favorite bartender Christa from Charlotte I thought...hmmm time to go get in line. Not before a bit of dinner inside which will get a customer towards the front of the line at the HOB.

By the time dinner was over, the line was in the parking lot! Not just in the parking lot, no it was maybe 1000 feet into the parking lot. I have never seen this many people at a show here. I am thinking I will be wading to my position through a sea of people...Wow.

Les Paul....

Yesterday Les Paul died. It took me a day to think about it. It is not sad. This dude lived 94 years! Way more than most and think of the people he met. I have seen pictures of anyone who is anyone in the music "bidness" with him. So I celebrate him and his life. As I write this I am listening to Les Paul and Friends....want to listen to samples?

http://www.amazon.com/American-Made-World-Played-Friends/dp/B000A9QKMI

Rock n Roll Hoochie Koo..and of course Steve Miller....on and on.....

Meanwhile here is a picture of my 1976 Les Paul Deluxe Gold Top guitar, ok just the cool part...I will leave out the mother of pearl inlay...in his honor. Without Les this and a whole bunch of wonderful things musical would have never happened. So tonight I hoist one in your memory Les! You rocked and you always will. 'Nuff said.

Anna Popovic...

http://www.anapopovic.com/

Anna rocks. I have not seen her live yet. The key word is "yet." She is one of my facebook friends and I am ready trying to get out to see her live. Meanwhile where is a video I really like. Recent vintage, vintage Stevie Ray Vaughn. Thanks Anna, I will see you soon!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3UObCpkpy8

George Taylor Morris....

The world lost another great dj last week. George Taylor Morris. I have been missing him as I used to love to hear him talk about the tunes on XM Deep Tracks. He was around for many years but I knew him as the guy who played some very cool sets on Deep Tracks. His interviews were awesome and the cadence of his radio voice was just perfect.

For people who know me well you know I am never without my music. Sat radio, ipods, cds, vinyl, on and on...Deep tracks was and still is one of my favorite channels on the sat radio deal...GTM was actually my favorite dj other than my friend Steve Huntington. http://www.radiomargaritaville.com/staff.htm Well I should probably mention my pal Bill Fitzhugh from the old WQQZ FM days in Jackson, Mississippi. http://www.billfitzhugh.com/ Ok while I am on a roll, another name comes to mind, Dusty Street over on Sirius Classic Vinyl. http://www.dustystreet.net/index.html Live from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame her show is very cool and i am known to tune in just to listen to her breaks. To me radio should never be without a great person talking you through the day and relating what you are hearing to our day to day lives. That is why I am celebrating GTM's life here on the blog. He was one of those guys I would listen to early in the morning or late at night and just relax to some great tunes.

In 1996, Morris was the subject of some worldwide media attention for passing along a puzzling musical oddity often referred to as 'The Dark Side Of The Wizard Of Oz' where, by pairing Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon' album as the soundtrack for the film, a wide variety of coincidental music markers come into play. Morris always contended that he was 'just the messenger' for story (it originated on the still new world wide web), he was nonetheless sought after by media outlets like NPR's 'Weekend Edition' and from as far away as Japan and Russia to guide listeners through the maze of clues.

Man I have been missing your voice on my radio for months and now well.. I guess I have some cool memories. I can still hear that voice in my head. Rock on GTM. Thanks for some great radio.


http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/08-02-2009/0005070171&EDATE=

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-morris_obitaug04,0,835917.story