Tuesday, 11 November 2008

Music Live 2008

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Last Friday I was at the NEC all day reviewing Music Live 2008 for Birmingham Live. I had a great day, playing guitars and watching bands for hours on end - brilliant!


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I got to play on my dream guitar - a green PRS like Mark Tremonti of Alter Bridge uses...VERY nice!


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As well as the trade show, there were also a number of bands playing throughout the day, and I photographed the lot of them. First up were Riot:Noise. The Bristolians did OK, but were nothing special.


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Second on the bill, Electric City, whose generic indie-ness was not at all my type of thing.


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After that, I took a bit more time to wander round and see some more of the trade show...


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Then it was back into the performance area for great set from local boys Mexicolas, whose set I really enjoyed. Very stoner-esque groovy rock - awesome!


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Then, we were treated to a very special acoustic performance from Blues legend in the making, Joe Bonamassa, which was, quite simply, stunning.


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Then it was back to the trade show, where I was confronted with the hideous sight of a whole range of Spongebob Squarepants musical instruments - oh dear oh dear oh dear.


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I then decided to take in a drum clinic conducted by Robin Guy, which was fantastic, if a little pounding on the ear drums!


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Then it was back to the stage on last time for the final, and probably least impressive, band of the day, Essex's Koopa.


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I then did a bit of celebrity, well rock star, spotting - meeting Dave Mustaine and Shaun Drover, both of Megadeth fame.


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Then it was back off to enjoy the last hour of the show. I thought that the pure black cymbals were pretty damn cool...


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And that was it, a great day out. Stay tuned for another post with my pictures from Guitarfest, which was held in the evening after my day at Music Live. It'll be on here soon!


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