| The Mars Volta bottled at Endfest
The Mars Volta walked off stage at the Endfest on Saturday (August 12), after being pelted, in perfect Reading fashion, with bottles of piss. The band were playing the event - held at the White River Ampitheatre in Auburn (Washington State) and also featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Gossip and Wolfmother - when the crowd turned against them. Presumably lengthy prog-rock workouts weren't the flavour of the day in Washington at the weekend. Websites including Pitchfork and NME.com have reported on the incident, but as yet the band have not made any official comment. Reports state that Omar Rodriguez-Lopez smashed his guitar against his amplifier before departing the stage, with singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala asking the crowd to find the offending urine-hurlers.
Larry Martus | Transcendence
Solo recordings have to overcome extra hurdles in order to maintain listener interest. Single-line instruments like the saxophone tend to have the most difficulty because of their limited timbral range and inability to maintain an independent accompanying line. The piano is naturally the most flexible, allowing independent hands to work, but it also has timbral limitations. The guitar is in betweenit can fake true contrapuntal lines, but it also can change its sound through electronics. With Transcendence, Larry Martus has assembled a beautiful collection of original compositions for solo guitar. For the gearheads out there (meaning most electric guitar players of any stripe), a lot of different equipment was used in this recording. Martus lists a 1967 Gibson ES-335, a 1968 Fender Pro Reverb, and an old Fender Stratocaster (with modified electronics, of course) coupled with a 1956 (!) Fender Tremolux and a Roland JC-120 amplifier.
Punktfest 06 - Kristiansand, Norway - Day Two, August 25, 2006
When British drummer Bill Bruford stepped up to the mic for the first time during his engaging and highly playful duet with Dutch pianist Michiel Borstlap, he made the comment that “as a true road warrior, by all accounts this is an incredibly well-run festival, setting a new high bar for overall competence." And those are truthful words from someone with enough years on the road to know. While organizing any festival, especially where numerous acts will appear on the same stage, is a challenge, Punktfest has to be one of the greatest nightmares from a logistical perspective. Chapter Index
Challenges
Hanna Hukkelberg
Karl Seglem
Bill Bruford and Michiel Borstlap
Frode Gjerstad and Jan Bang
Bugge Wesseltoft
The Wagner Reloaded Project (WARP)
Challenges Almost every act incorporates electronics to some extent, so just organizing soundchecks so that acts can set up, make sure everything works, and then come back later for the show with the assumption that everything still works is a big enough task.
The Water Cooler: They should go to 11 - and start with 1
Nigel Tufnel, to put it kindly, seldom has come across as the sharpest guitar pick in the box, but he clearly has his admirers at the University Interscholastic League. A brief review, for those of you unfamiliar with the legendary Spinal Tap lead-guitar player: Tufnel, being interviewed for "This Is Spinal Tap" — a 1984 chronicle of the band's American tour — explained to filmmaker Marty DiBergi why the volume switch on his guitar's amplifier went to 11, rather than the customary 10. DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder? Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not 10. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at 10. You're on 10 here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on 10 on your guitar.
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