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chewie37

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About chewie37

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    Vector,Standard,Chaparral,Daytona,Duotone 12,B12S,Cruise 4
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    Zinky Blue Velvet
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  1. Haven't seen this here yet, but I suck at searching anyway. Was on that side of the bay today hanging out with a former co-worker. The Sam Ash store there (housed in the old Kapok Tree Inn property) was way busier than normal. Because, according to the signs, it's closing. I presume to move elsewhere, but no indication of that. I know the property has a long, storied history overall. The Tampa newspaper had an article earlier this year about some of the family infighting going on with the current LLC that hinted at some financial turmoil. Wondering if time has finally caught up to the place and what the future holds.
  2. This one hurts. My '83 Vector did a face plant, and well, you can guess the rest. The person I'd like to work with is not in the area and silly busy (deservedly so!) If I don't have the patience to wait, anyone have a Tampa area wizard they know about and would recommend?
  3. I know I've probably rambled on way too long here, but . . . 3rd and final show is tonight, 8:20 or so London time, about 3:20 or so EST (I think). Given the woeful security, I'd be very surprised if someone isn't streaming the concert from inside the venue. Little internet searching could produce interesting results.
  4. If you're still awake after my previous post (and if I don't kill this thread, which I seem to do a lot), here's the rundown on the 2 shows. One thing I didn't mention earlier - we quckly got over the lineup. After all how many bands that we grew up with are still around & touring, much less with their "original" members. Besides, I finally got to see Brian live, and the wife got to see Adam. Definitely some fringe benefits there for me . The HMV Apollo is a little bit older (as in still doesn't have air conditioning) and holds roughly 5000 people. Think it's the first time Queen played there since '75 as well. Both nights were sold out, and unlike some venues/events here in the States, it was a true one. I couldn't see an empty seat on either night. And it was definitely a global audience as well. Lots of locals, America represented, as well as other European, South American and Asian countries. Big black & white Queen stage screen (Crown, Lions, Seraphim, Cherubim, Griffin, etc.) facing the audience. Usual miscellaneous "house music" going on in the background. Lights out around 8:20, "Flash's Theme" starts playing in the backround with lighting effects. Boys come on stage behind the screen while this is playing. Screen gets dropped & they open with Seven Seas of Rhye. OMG - here it is live (which I never thought I'd get to experience), the goosebump inducing tone from Brian. Then on to Keep Yourself Alive and a "different" version of We Will Rock You. Not bad, but Adam is wearing a godawful KISS like leather outfit with chrome shoulder spikes. Doesn't quite fit with the toned down outfits the rest of the band is wearing. Then Fat Bottomed Girls - Adam's working the crowd, but hasn't quite got it right. He's rambling on about "fat asses" which is OK I guess. He got it closer on the 2nd show when he asked if there were any "fat bottoms" in the crowd. That went over a little better. One thing through the first few songs - Brian's tone was frickin' amazing. But at the same time, much more guitar heavy than what you're used to hearing on the albums. Makes sense I guess given that he was carrying the load. Still sounded great, but took a little getting used to. Definitely not karaoke like up to this point - Adam was "on" and working the stage & crowd, and Roger & Brian were having a great time. (Hey, if I actually make it to that age, I hope I have that much energy and ability to still have fun too . . . ) Next up was Don't Stop Me Now. Definitely not a song I expected to hear, and I don't think the rest of the crowd did either. This one was right up Adam's alley and he definitely owned it. Roger came out from behind the kit for Under Pressure, and his son Rufus took over. Yeah, maybe a little bit of fatherly ego going on here but Rufus did fine. Next up was I Want It All, Who Wants To Live Forever & A Kind Of Magic. Again, Adam was "on", not trying to sound exactly like Freddy, but weirdly kind of channeling him a bit. Roger & Brian still grinning ear to ear. Roger comes out front again for These Are The Days Of Our Lives. LIttle sentimental with a video montage in the background from their "younger" days, Big, warm crowd reaction when Freddie & John are featured. Little band break next and Brian comes out with the acoustic. Tells a really bad, nerdy joke about the Higgs Boson particle. "So, Higgs Boson walks in to a church and the head priest says 'I'm sorry, this is a Church, not a laboratory. Higgs says, 'that's fine, but without me you can't have mass.'" He then does a snippet of The Show Must Go On, and then Love of My LIfe in full. For the 2nd show, Brian does a snipppet of Somebody To Love and then '39. Personally, I think Love Of My LIfe is a nice tune, but it's a little tired - yes, it's great for audience participation, but still. And they work a video bit of Freddie singing one of the verses with "live" Brian playing along. On one level, nice nod to Freddie, but on another, well, little video karaoke like. Roger then comes out and they do '39. Band comes back in at this point for another deep cut surprise - Dragon Attack. Good funk background as expected, but a little guitar heavy compared to the original. This leads in to the ubiquitous "solo" portion of the concert - bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, etc. My thoughts here - definitely talented guys overall, but I've never found this part of any show interesting. Everyone comes back in for another big surprise - I Want to Break Free. Another song I definitely didn't expect to hear, and Adam was all over this one too. And again, Roger & Brian were having a great time with it. I still find the original video hilarious, espectially given that MTV banned it back in the day. Then on to Another One Bites The Dust. Good overall, but again, a little guitar heavy compared to the original bass driven version. Still, it's Brian and that "tone" so can't complain much. Adam does an audience participation "scat" session both nights that goes on a little too long for my taste, but the crowd seems to enjoy it. Adam also boogers this one a bit on the 2nd night and comes in too early on one of the verses, but they recover fine. Next up, Radio GaGa and the first big train wreck of the night. (Some minor ones before this point - mostly Adam twisting up the lyrics on some songs). The band was completelly out of sync from the start. Not sure what happened - could have been Rufus (only 21 after all), could have been Adam (caught up in the moment), could have been Roger (weird rhythm from the synth to sync the drums to.) But, strangely enough it was nice to see compared to some of the sterile, album perfect, autotune performances that are starting to become the norm these days. Yes, it started off as a train wreck, but they got back on track and pulled it out. Pretty impressive. And Brian broke at least 1 string, maybe 2 on Somebody To Love which came immediately after. Adam was definitely good on Somebody To Love, but kinda still like the George Michael version a little better. They did nail Radio GaGa on the 2nd night though. On Wednesday, they went from Radio GaGa (full audience handclaps on both nights) to Somebody To Love, to Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Thursday was a bit of a changeup - Radio GaGa to Crazy Little Thing Called Love, then The Show Must Go On. Crazy powerful vocal from Adam on that one. Bohemian Rhapsody was next on both nights. Started out with the full band, but gradually everyone dropped out and it transitioned over to a clip of Freddie and the original video. Pretty powerful overall. That ended the main show, and for the encore on both nights, Brian came out and did Tie Your Mother Down, and then the band came back in and did the traditional version of We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions. Overall, damn glad we went. Like I said earlier, never thought I'd get to see any flavor of Queen live. Adam held his own, even if he did twist up some lyrics here and there. Brian, Roger and Adam seemed to be having a great time, which definitely rubbed off on the audience. Remains to be seen what the future will bring. Whether any US dates come up is certainly up in the air. And whether they try and write any new stuff with Adam is way off the map. For now, just an enjoyable experience and we'll have that memory to tuck away.
  5. Ok, so I'm up and going - kinda. Still waiting for the coffee to kick in. Gonna break this up in to at least two posts I think. This one will be a little about why we went (so you can skip it, unless you really need a cure for insomnia). I've always kind of moved to a different beat than most folks I know - sometimes I'm in step with what's generally popular and cool, but most times not. I like GM products, but not Chevrolet - I have a 77 Trans Am and a GMC Sierra. I like guitars (duh), but not so much Fender or Gibson - Hamers have always done it for me. I've leaned towards music that has good guitar playing/tone at its roots (Queen & Boston), but not always. And I've got a soft spot for power-pop earworm songs even if the band isn't quite so popular (Slade & The Darkness). Wasn't until I got a little older that I finally started appreciating good vocals too - good lead singer, harmonies, studio multitracking tricks, etc. Also have a soft spot for musical theater too, mostly brought out because my wife is big in to it. In any case, I'm at the point where I like what I like even if I don't completely understand why. And since I'm a bedrooom/garage hack guitar player at best, and can't carry a tune in a bucket to save my life, I'm not too critical about music as much as I used to be when I was younger. So back to Queen. I'm of that age where I was a either a little too young or not financially able to catch them in their heyday. So when Freddie passed in '91 and John called it a day ('92 or '97 depending on which performance you want to count.) I wrote Queen off as a "would have been cool to see them, but that's out now" situation. Thought George Michael did pretty well at the Freddie memorial concert in '92, and that Paul Rogers was an interesting take, but neither never really caught my interest. Then along comes American Idol Season 8 (yes, my wife is prompting me with the details here.) Love him or hate him (and I went down each of those roads as the season went on), Adam was definitely a standout. He definitely has a stage presence, has an impressive vocal range, and has power. But, with that, I still think he gets a little shrieky when he hits his upper range. Regardless, when he and Kris Allen did the medly with Queen there was definitely something interesting going on. Still, that was a "made for TV' performance and didn't think much of it at the time. Sure, there was a little discussion in our house as to how it was kind of neat, but neither one of us expected much from it. Jump to early spring of this year when it's announced Queen + Adam are lined up to play Sonosphere. Generated some interest in the household, but neither one of us were looking forward to slogging around in a field for a multi-day outdoor festival. Guess we're finally getting old & grumpy. Then when Sonosphere got cancelled, that seemed to close the books on seeing any incarnation of Queen again. But then odd things started happening - a series of dates gets announced starting in Kiev, with a 2 show (ultimately 3) finale at the Hammersmith (now HMV) Apollo in London. So that kicked off some more discussion and it boiled down to a few things. We've been sitting on a cache of frequent flier miles for a while and saving them for "something silly." We both like London and haven't been there in a few years. We had the vacation time. My wife's other favorite singer (Michael Ball) is playing the lead in Sweeney Todd at the moment. Things lined up for free flights, hotel & show tickets, so off we went.
  6. Just got back home after seeing the Wednesday & Thursday shows and a little jet lagged at the moment. Will provide a bit more detail over the weekend if anyone is interested/cares. Quick thoughts though - not at all what I was expecting; surprising moments all around; some good as well as some not so good.
  7. So, went to the show in Tampa last night since the wife won tickets from a radio station. Have to admit that just like Air Supply & Abba that Gaga is a bit of a guilty pleasure. (Hey, I like what I like - what can I say). Not a fan of every song for sure, and I definitely think she's a little . . . odd. But some random thoughts in no particular order. - Fun show, good crowd. Low stoner factor (at least in the section I was in) compared to the Ozzy show here last month (that one had me worried about the "test" for my next reserve weekend). - Attractively inappropriately dressed ladies. Gotta love the wife for pointing out some of the better examples! - Very much like a modern Broadway show. (not much plot but interesting visuals tied together with songs). - Seems like she can actually sing. - Surprised by the live band. Figured the music would be all pre-recorded; not sure how the drummer didn't explode like a Spinal Tap sit in. - Some songs work better live than they do on the albums. - When she let her guard down she was actually kinda cute. - She talks too much between songs. 2 hour set could have easily been 90 minutes if not less without some of her ramblings (and costume changes). - Wife likes her, fringe benefits for me . . . - Would probably go to a show again.
  8. Probably going to make some folks grumpy with this, but, as much as I would love to see new versions of the "classic" shredders re-appear, I'm afraid it's just not gonna happen in the USA line. While I agree with most of the opinions already stated as to why, let's not forget a couple of the other reasons. Even though the vast majority of us here are just a bit nutty about Hamers (with many of us owning more than one), I think we really are a minority in the overall scheme of things. Would you be willing to gamble with the bottom line of your company for a relatively small group of people? Couple that with the fact that when Hamer has shown willingness to do something outside of their current "standard" line (such as a limited run of custom orders), just about everyone who has said "I'd buy that if it was available" suddenly disappears when it's time to pony up a deposit. So, what choices are there? Well, to state the obvious: - Buy an import. Several of the classic shredders have been reintroduced as imports. It's a good way for Hamer to stick their toe in the pool regarding shredders without impacting the USA line. Is it as good as a USA model? Subjectively, probably not, but if you get one, are you going to feel as bad about dinging it up as you would with a 20 year old "rare" USA model? - Find a used USA version. Easier said than done and getting harder to do these days. I think we've all had sellers remorse about regarding that Vector, Chaparral, Diablo or Californian (or Miller graphic) we used to own. So when one turns up for sale they tend to get grabbed and not go up for sale again. But are you going to gig with an older USA given the relative rarity of the model? I still think the build quality of Hamer guitars is, on average, better than other manufacturers. In fact, barring any clearly stated problems, Hamers are the only guitars I will buy sight unseen. But, I think the days of USA shredder models are sadly gone.
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