Warmup exercises added

As mentioned previously I’ve been working on the addition of an Exercise section to the site and finally I’ve done just that, well… started by adding a section covering some warm-up exercises. The Powertab links should work O.K but I’ve still to put up the video for the exercises.

Due to the arrival of a shiny new PCI firewire card I’ve managed to begin processing the video captured from this year’s Jemfest. I only have 100MB of webspace so will probably just grab highlights from the day’s performances in a space friendly format or pass them onto Ibanez Register or Jemfest.com.

Till then here ( 25 MB *.wmv file, yes yes I know, I’ll sort out the formats when I have a bit more free time ) is a little snippet of one of Rob Balducci’s new songs, which I love, performed at Jemfest.

Jemfest UK 2003

Jemfest!

Last weekend I travelled down to London to attend this fine festival of guitars and had a thoroughally fantastic time. After the pre-fest drinks on the Friday night at Intrepid Fox and Garlic & Shots, sampling the London Rock Scene, I was up early on the Saturday to start a fun packed day. Arriving at the South Bank Union after a mild detour via Denmark St.’s Guitar shops I added my Jem to the guitar gallery then setup the digital camcorder ready for the live music.

Due to a slight running order shuffle Alan Lennon was first on. What an opening act! For me this guy was one of the surprising highlights of the day. His playing/music was simply awe inspiring, tasteful phrasing, note choice and knew when to stop shredding ;). Definitely someone to keep an eye on for the future.

Next up was Stefan Lindholm who had just been up on stage with Alan Lennon for a stunning impromptu Blues jam/duel. Ripping into his first song Stefan immediately stood out as a player with flawless technique but after the 3rd sweep/tap combo I was left cold. Just too many notes strung together for my tastes. It would have been nice if the flurries were left to link melodic ideas together.

After Stefan the band EverRain took to the stage. The first few songs were solo pieces from their guitarist Mark Gibson, once again solid technique on display and some good musical ideas, before the band let rip. Doing a couple of covers as well as some originals they had a great tight sound with some fantastic crunch riffing.

Next onstage was Cereal Killer featuring one of the Jemfest organisers, Simon Wilkins. A thankful break from the ’shred’ factor (though very capable of doing so) they proceeded to play through covers of great well known songs with great humour and energy.

Next up was Wipeout who played a great professional sounding set of covers with a few originals. Jamie and Darren, who both play guitar in the band, are trully awesome players with great stage presence. Their Dad, who plays drums in the band , though, stole the show with a improvised drum solo which involved him leaving his kit and walking around the room drumming on any object that was near from glasses to bins to people! A fantastic set.

Following Wipeout was the one, the only Clive Murray ;). I was looking forward to Clive’s set and he didn’t disappoint. Playing a mix of some great covers and originals for his CD he stood out as another highlight of the day. I particularly liked the high quotient of Vai related covers in the set with great covers of ‘Ladies’ nite in Buffalo’ and ‘Viv Woman’. Oh yes. It was also great to hear Clive’s solo work performed with a live band which added a great dynamic to his songs.

Next up was the Ibanez Endorsed Tony Hernando. Playing his set to a backing track he predominantly played originals with a few covers. Once again this was a guy who could really play but left me a bit cold. I’m not sure if it was the lack of live band dynamic or something else. In saying this he did play an amazing arrangement of Vai’s ‘For the Love of God’.

Finally the headline act , the Rob Balducci band, took to the stage. From the very first note on the guitar it was clear that Mr Balducci has that ’something’ that great guitarists have. His note choice and touch were simply of a different class and the crowd was gifted with a thoroughally professional set. Playing songs from his first two CDs we were also given a sneak preview of a couple of new songs from the upcoming CD which sounded fantastic.

All in all a fanastic day of music and mingling with other musicians passionate about the guitar. I’ll definitely be there next year for Jemfest UK 2004!

I recorded over 5 hours of video footage from the day which I’ll endeavour to get online asap, just need to free up some disk space ;). Till then check out Jerry’s, Ibanez Register site which has photos and vids up already.