The Melbourne Guitar Show.. Wow!!

This was an amazin' wow and the experience of a lifetime never to be had again. Yes, that reads never again. This had to be the most horrendous musical experience I've ever experienced.
I thought I'd take a casual look on the Saturday but expected nothing like I was about to face. I've never seen so many blokes in one place and older blokes at that. It must be these blokes that keep the guitar industry turning over or why would they be there? Many of the stalls (after all it was a market) were retailers flogging their wares, clip on tuners, straps, strings and maybe a guitar or two. The other stalls were made up of wholesalers but their displays were rathe limp as they can't sell direct to the public. Unfortunately the four items I wanted to see were either not represented of simply not there.

So just how many versions of 'Smoke On The Water' can one handle played at once by many an aspiring Ritchie Blackmore (read: noisy kid). The racket really was unbelievable and beyond description. I did a couple of laps downstairs on the electric guitar floor and just one lap upstairs on the acoustic level. I then found my way to the venue to take a well welcomed seat in the auditorium (cough: canteen) to wait for Albert Lee's appearance.

Well Albert and his band finally took to the stage and during a break when the stage was reset I managed to move up front just a few rows back. I thought I had a great viewing spot to see every chicken pluck Albert made on his lovely cherry burst Musicman Albert Lee model. Yeah cool I thought but I hadn't taken into account I was in the direct line of fire from Albert's Fender Twin Reverb. The old Fender Twin Reverb has always been a fav of mine but It wasn't until Albert hit the stage that I realized these thing can draw blood. After the Smoke On The Water kids downstairs I thought I could live with some loud guitar. Wrong!!

Albert was exactly how I thought he would be. He didn't say much, only the song titles. The band (his own US band) piano, bass and drums were okay, nothing more. The sound was pure roadie, lots of woolly bottom end and sizzly highs which made the piano sound like an old upright honky-tonk. Albert sat his guitar on middle and bridge pickups through out the whole set which got a bit much after an hour. I know this is Albert's 'sound' or perhaps he chooses this for its hum cancelling benefits? Dunno, but it eventually drove me nuts and I wished I could have escaped to the kids down stairs.

Anyhow, I got to see the great Albert Lee in person, got ripped off for a sandwich, got beaten about in the crowd of old blokes, well and truly deafened by kids but did manage to see a few nice instruments. I know where I won't be this time next year.