Guitar Licks and Tips

I just got off the phone with a buddy of mine, and he said he just picked up some Montreal Canadiens Tickets and wanted to know if I wanted to go with him. Ha, ha. He knows that I’m an avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan and they will not be playing the leafs that night to boot! Oh, those crazy Les Canadiens de Montréal fans.

As he babbled on endlessly about the history of these guys, I just sat there and had to bit my tongue, or as the French say peu ma langue. He went on about his many visits to promised land and how beautiful their new Bell Centre stadium - he loves it.

As the conversation went on, a little bit more then one sided in my mind, I had to ask him where he got the tickets. Then after hearing the clicking of his mouse he said 2tickets.ca. He said he was searching this afternoon and happened to stumble upon their site. He asked if we had a computer on nearby, he is more then well aware that we are always on line, and wanted me to check out the site.

As luck would have it, my wife was on the notebook and our little puppy had to go outside to … you know … do her thing. This allowed me to check it out and it is a very interesting site.

On their main page you see easy to use tabs so that you can easily search for tickets for concerts, shows and sports. I’ve been to a couple of sites this guy has sent me to and they are often too flashy, hard to navigate and leaving you frustrated after a while. Not this one.

I noticed Madonna Montreal tickets and a bit lower down I saw Celine Dion Montreal tickets. I brought it up, but there was one of those pregnant pauses in the conversation. I thought my mother would love to check both of them out. She is more hip then you think.

I went to see how easy it was to sell tickets and it was really straight forward and with no distractions going on this page. I guess I’m just one of those people who like things simple.

The Sports tab was easy. If in Montreal, I’d love to see the Alouettes de Montréal (Montreal Alouettes) at their new stadium. This site has simple seat viewing that even my dad could figure out, nice.

Well as I talked about winning tickets to see this guy at the Danforth Music Hall on my other blog, my critique about his show gives it a 1 1/2 thumbs up! Seeing Amos Lee on his latest tour, Last day at the Lodge, is worth it.

I came to the conclusion 1/2 way through Amos’s show that this guy really covers his musical bases quite nicely! Motown, Funk, Blues, Jazz, Folk and Southern rock, to a lesser degree, is all there to let the listener soak it all up.
On a side note, I would find it very interesting if he added a bit of a middle eastern flavor to his style. I think he could pull something like this off in a very unique way. I am just throwing that one out there.

His Motown sound was fabulous when he used it! His keyboardist, which was a major contributer to this sound, knew his place in the band. He was very eloquent in his approach to playing this by sliding in and out of a tune very tastefully and in the back ground.

Amos’s sprinkling of his falsetto voice was not over used at all I found. This just added some musical colour to the songs he plays. His guitar playing was very good but not all that technical. I’m almost 100 % sure that he uses a B-Bender on his Fender telecaster.

The one tune that he did, “Won’t let me down”, had this Flight of the Conchords feel to it, honestly. I closed my eyes for a second and pictured the leader singer of the Flight of the Conchords, singing it and it was very believable. I brought this train of thought up to my wife during the show and she couldn’t see though. Musicians always seem to have this different view of how they intemperate music I think.

My favorite song of the show was “Sweet Pea”! It is a short tune that he through in there for the hell of it. I just love that old school big band/jazz feel that his chord progressions nudged us towards. Leon Redborn must of had some sort of influence on this guy at one time throughout his informative days. I think I’ll figure this one out and try it live just for the fun of it sometime.

So I would not mind seeing this guy live if he comes into town next. If anything, he will broaden your musical appreciation for all the different genres that are out there … but not the more contemporary, in your face ones that don’t quite cut it with me.

Keep on Jammin’

The Seattle Pop Festival’s July 1969 dates was a show to rival Woodstock in some peoples minds, just ask the Guess Who, who was there for this monster of a music festival. It was held in in Woodinville, Washington.

Check out the line up for this one! Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Chuck Berry, Santana, The Byrds, Ike and Tina Turner, The Guess Who, Chicago, and Bo Diddley, just to name a few. They played in front of an estimated 40,000 to 70,000 people. Now that was a show to be at. Imagine the ticket prices on today’s market for an event such as this one.

Led Zeppelin fanatics, refer to the sound board recordings, from this show, as the Holy Grail of Zeppelin recordings. The Doors didn’t get off so lucky. Jim was out of his mind, screaming and insulting the crowd. Even Zeppelin felt embarrassed for the other band members! This was Zeppelin talking here, remember their legendary tour shananogins?

Keep on Jammin’

Happy Canada to all of my loyal readers of both this blog and Guitar licks, we’re 141 years young!

Here in Canada we celebrate the 141st anniversary of our Confederation. We also mark and celebrate the founding of the Canadian state 400 years ago; from Champlain to today.

I got up today a little later then normal and had to take our dog Midnight out and heard what sounded like a drum band marching down the street. I soon realized that it was the East York Canada Day Parade. It’s one of those events that happen in your neighbourhood (this is how we spell it in Canada), that you’ve always wanted to go but you either forgot or didn’t have time for. Not knowing how long it would last, I said why not and walked at a brisk pace towards the parade.

By the time we got there the damn thing was over and the crowd was walking towards us! Boy was I a little bit pissed, but there is always next year!

Keep on Jammin’ Canada!

So kidz, who is your favorite modern drummer?

I know that this blog is for the enrichment and the celebration of guitar and guitarist, but let’s not forget the ones who back them up on their musical journey.

The past ones are easy to me! John Bonham, Buddy Rich, ,Carl Palmer and Gary McCracken of Max Webster are just a few to come to mind!

So who are the modern drummers that come up in your mind?

Keep on Jammin’