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The NAMM Show '94
Well, I finally attended the NAME show this year; I say finally
as I have been writing rock-related pieces since 1990. The scene
is somewhat funny, as a wide range of personalities attend. The
dress was hilarious with (few) three-piece suits (aside from
display people) intermingled with rockers in torn T's. I could
probably do a "best and worst dressed" list, but considering my
preference for jeans and a t-shirt, no one would be interested.
I met a few individuals from "Hot Guitarist" video, a company
that releases instrumental performance/teaching videos. They are
to send some material for review, so stay tuned. Amongst the
personalities, Jeff Watson (ex-Night Ranger) was present for a
while at the Guitar Recordings booth. He was not very talkative,
seeming almost "stand-off-ish," so I didn't break his bubble. By
the way, nice beard/mustache Jeff (kinda looked like a Turkish
swordsman)!
So, what's in these shows anyway? I have long since given up my
(pitiful) attempts at musicianship. If you are an artist, there
were literally hundreds of manufacturers booths full of
equipment. There were also millions of sales people trying to
make a buck; not a too attractive sight! A few performances were
intermittently scattered at these booths. One of note was a young
lady (I think her name was Dragon Plaid) at the Celestion booth,
who plays the hell out of the guitar. Following her performance
about thirty people converged on her, so I didn't. She probably
plays better than any woman I have ever seen with a nice dose of
sequenced runs. If I find her (or visa versa), I'll be reviewing
her stuff almost definitely.
Rock-It comics was present with a slew of books featuring the
like of Ozzy Ozbourne and Metallica. They wouldn't supply samples
for yours truly, so no review coming up on them. The bottom line:
if a company wants a review (which I equate to free publicity,
regardless of my opinion), then they can front the material. I am
not going to pay to advertise for them.
I guess that concludes the memorable portion of my NAME '94
experience. Overall, if you are satisfied seeing a few "stars,"
or are yourself a musician, it was probably a worthwhile trip.