By Andrew Bansal
[w/ photo contributions by Jay Valena & Chad Alexander]
The Winter NAMM convention has always been hugely responsible in kicking off the new year in the best manner possible for industry folks, gear enthusiasts and music lovers alike. On paper, this year’s edition promised to be the biggest and best of the three NAMM conventions I’ve attended so far, and I have no doubt in my mind that it eventually turned out to be so.
The 2012 Winter NAMM edition was the 110th NAMM show, and in terms of numbers alone, it set a new record. At close, NAMM reported 95,709 registered attendees, a whopping 6 per cent increase from last year. Judging from the endless array of products that were launched this year, to go along with the biggest gathering of music luminaries you can think of, it came as no surprise to me that the event was so well attended.
NAMM is, after all, a trade convention, and for most people, the focus is on new products. While I did keep a close eye on these newly launched products, Metal Assault’s objective was to track the activities of musicians from the hard rock and heavy metal world, and to see how well they represented our favorite genre of music. Here’s my take on what we witnessed at this year’s NAMM:
Wednesday Jan. 18th: While NAMM is a four-day affair for the majority of attendees, it’s slightly different for NAMM press badge holders like us. January 18th marked the media preview day, and mainly consisted of demonstrations of the latest AmpKit and Guitar World Lick Of The Day applications. Besides, ex-Triumph guitarist and prolific session musician Phil X demonstrated the use of the new Yamaha THR amp.
The media preview ended at 2 PM, but there was plenty for us to do. After a while, we headed over to the adjacent Hilton for the Electronic Musician Editors’ Choice Awards, to see Alan Parsons being awarded for his DVD set “Alan Parsons Art & Science Of Sound Recording”. Alan Parsons gained fame through his engineering work with The Beatles and Pink Floyd back in the 60s and 70s, and subsequently through his own musical endeavor, the Alan Parsons Project. It felt surreal for me to meet him in person, and to see him get recognized for some great work on that DVD set, deemed as the best alternative for people who can’t afford recording school.
The evening was far from over. Next, we headed to the Chain Reaction club to see the NAMM Metal Jam event, featuring the main line-up of Berklee musicians Dave Reffett and Joe Gettler on guitar, Rev Jones of UFO, Mountain & Michael Schenker Group fame on bass, original Anthrax singer Neil Turbin on vocals, and Jeff Martin from Racer X on drums. Besides these, Bobby Rondinelli, who has worked with bands such as Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult and Quiet Riot also sat in on the drum kit for a couple of tunes, along with Michael T. Ross on keyboards and Holy Grail’s Eli Santana on guitar.
The group played a delightful selection of classic hard rock covers, featuring bands like Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, Dio, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Deep Purple,
and the likes. All participating musicians did a killer job on the songs they chose to perform, and made it a worthwhile event for everyone in attendance. There wasn’t a single dull moment in the show, but seeing Neil T belt out the vocals on “Rapid Fire” was the highlight for me. It was also hilarious to see Rev Jones sans his ponytail for the first time ever, as he was spinning his head around in exactly the same way he did when he whirled that ponytail. Below is the complete set list:
1. Stand Up & Shout (Dio)
2. Bad Boys (Thin Lizzy)
3. Armed & Ready (MSG)
4. Burn (Deep Purple)
5. Long Live Rock ‘N Roll (Rainbow)
6. Cowboy Song (Thin Lizzy)
7. The Boys Are Back In Town (Thin Lizzy)
8. Don’t Believe A Word (Thin Lizzy)
9. Feels Like A Good Thing (MSG)
10. Highway Star (Deep Purple)
11. Mob Rules (Black Sabbath)
12. Neon Knights (Black Sabbath)
13. Out In The Fields (Gary Moore)
14. Bad Motor Scooter (Montrose)
15. Rapid Fire (Judas Priest)
16. Motorman (Racer X)
17. Painkiller (Judas Priest)
18. Motorcycle Man (Saxon)
Encore:
19. Ace Of Spades (Motorhead)
20. Fast As A Shark (Accept)
21. Metal Thrashing Mad (Anthrax)
Thursday Jan 19th: NAMM officially began on Jan. 19th, with two early-morning product launches to start things off. Mike Portnoy took part in the launch of Sabian’s Players Choice cymbals for 2012, and Rudy Sarzo unveiled the Cirrus Rudy Sarzo Signature Model Bass, over at the Peavey booth straight after. Other than that, I used this day as an opportunity to check out various booths for their respective schedules over the weekend, and catch up with what our heavy metal guys were up to. I happened to see Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain as he showed up unannounced at the Paiste booth, more than willing to hang out with fans. Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner was signing autographs and meeting fans at the Gator Cases booth, while Rudy Sarzo & Craig Goldy were doing the same at the Dean Markley Strings booth, Mark Tremonti at the PRS booth, & Alan Parsons at the Aphex booth. But the biggest signing of the day was at the Samson booth, and featured David Ellefson, Frank Bello, Billy Sheehan & Stu Hamm.
With a heavily packed schedule lined up for the next 2 days, I knew that Thursday and Sunday would be my only chances to check out some of the gear on display, and to test out the changes NAMM brought to their food department. There is no secret to the fact that I’m not a Motley Crue fan, but I must admit, Tommy Lee’s drum kit (in picture here) is quite a sight to behold. As for the food, NAMM partnered with In-N-Out burgers this year, which turned out to be a godsend for us all, because even though it was overpriced, I’d always rather pay for an overpriced In-N-Out burger as opposed to any of the other food items that were on the menu in past NAMM conventions. Overall, it turned out to be a rather busy Thursday in terms of usual NAMM standards, which was great to see, and there was something in it for everybody.
Friday Jan. 20th: Even though Saturday is always considered as the biggest day at NAMM, with pandemonium breaking out everywhere, this year was an exception to the norm as Friday actually ended up being the most action-packed day. There were artist signings everywhere, and plenty of performances and booth demonstrations to watch. The biggest signings were undoubtedly those of Alice Cooper at the Shure and Fender booths, signings that almost brought the entire NAMM convention to a standstill. The lines of people waiting to meet the legend were easily the longest I had ever seen, so much so that it was hard to even walk around these booths.
The most ‘metal’ signing though, was at the EVH Amplification booth, all the way up on level 3, with Craig Locicero & Steve Smyth from Forbidden, Ken Susi & Buz McGrath from Unearth, Eric Peterson from Testament, Tommy Victor from Prong & Ola Lindgren from Grave. Other than that, Samson once again gave metal fans an unbeatable line-up of artist signings, none more so than the one featuring Nicko McBrain, Kerry King, Frank Bello & Mike Inez.
In terms of booth performances, It started off with The Faceless bassist and solo artist Evan Brewer playing a short set of tunes from his solo album “Alone”, to demonstrate his 5-string bass at the ESP booth. It was a pleasure to watch the guy perform in such a unique, one-on-one type setting. I also managed to catch Jeff Duncan at the Krank booth, and Alex Skolnick at the Agile Partners booth. There was also a clinic by DevilDriver guitarists Jeff Kendrick & Mike Spreitzer at the Korg/Blackstar Ampliftication booth. Then there was the Living Legends Jam on the main lobby stage consisting of an endless list of musicians taking part, Nicko McBrain, Chris Slade, Bobby Rondinelli, and members of the Dio Disciples being the most notable ones of interest to us.
The Living Legends Jam ended at 6 PM, and with it the doors to the convention center started to close, but the day had only reached half-way point. The Hilton hosted the 27th annual TEC awards which started exactly at 6. Guitarist Steve Vai was awarded with the Les Paul award, and he later joined Billy Sheehan, Orianthi and a few others for a musical performance.
Next up, we headed to the Marriott, just in time to catch Alex Skolnick Trio’s hour-long set on the lobby center stage. I cursed myself for missing AST’s set at last year’s NAMM, but this time their set was top priority for me. I knew it would be amazing, but it was even better than I had expected. They played six tunes, and each of these was an extended variety of its corresponding studio album version. They sounded absolutely brilliant, and this was exactly what I needed after a hectic day at the convention, something to replenish my batteries and refresh my mind. It was incredibly great to see Alex Skolnick perform on such a small stage, proving his versatility as a live musician, with able support from his mates in AST.
There was one more event to attend, the Sabian Live jam at the Sheraton Park hotel featuring Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan, Tony MacAlpine and Derek Sherinian. Just like the AST performance, this one also turned out to be a very soothing experience, and this intimate gig was the icing on the cake, the perfect way to bring this memorable day to an end.
Saturday Jan. 21st: Despite the fact that there was an endless number of artist signings taking place, for me Jan 21st will go down in memory for the booth performances more than anything else. I got yet another taste of Alex Skolnick’s guitar wizardry, this time at the Peavey booth. Then there was a short jam featuring Dave Reffett & Neil Turbin over at the Eminence Speakers Booth, followed by Chris Poland and Rob Pagliari from OHM at the same booth.
Then I rushed over to revisit the Krank booth, as Jeff Duncan had Phil Sandoval for company, and the two of them did a set of instrumental versions of Armored Saint tunes including “March Of The Saint” and “Reign Of Fire”. Besides the fact that I got to hang out with Nicko McBrain, the drummer from the one band that’s primarily responsible for the existence of Metal Assault, watching those Armored Saint tunes really made my day. This jam took place at 3 PM, and I would have been perfectly happy even if this was the last act of the day, but of course it wasn’t. Renowned producer and musician Roy Z did a short performance at the Fernandes Guitars booth, much to the delight of the small group of people that had gathered to watch him.
In terms of the signings, Rob Halford took the cake as the biggest signing of the day. Even though the line was cut off after a certain number of people were already in it, Halford clarified that he wanted to meet each and every fan. He took the time to sign multiple items and pose for pictures, and even indulged in conversations with all of them. Along with Lemmy and Nicko McBrain, Rob Halford sets the best example for musicians and celebrities on how to treat fans, and it’s great to see him always abide by it, no matter what. Other than his, there were plenty of other signings including those by Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Mike Portnoy, Megadeth members sans Mustaine, John 5, Alexi Laiho, Gary Holt, Jeff Loomis, and many, many others. All in all, it was a day that was busy and relaxing at the same time.
Sunday Jan. 22nd: I thought the final day at this year’s NAMM had more to offer as compared to the previous two years. Last year, Dave Mustaine was the only high-profile musician involved in a signing, as opposed to Paul Gilbert, Michael Anthony, Nicko McBrain and Vinnie Paul all doing signings this year. The people with Sunday-Only badges were allowed to enter today, so the lines were long, specially for Michael Anthony, who ended up signing autographs for almost the entire day.
There are only two negatives I can think of from the 5 days of the convention as a whole. First was the photographer area, or lack of, at various booths. The security personnel at these booths obviously had no idea what a press badge meant, and did not let us take even a single picture of an artist during his or her signing. Our photo coverage would have been a thousandfold better if these people had co-operated with us. Very few booths, such as Marshall and Samson, had the right idea. Nonetheless, we did our best, but we hope for better treatment from next year onwards.
The other negative was the press conference held at the PRS Guitars booth on Friday. We attended it mainly because the Opeth guitarists were part of it. To put it in layman’s terms, it was a giant clusterfuck, and that in itself is an understatement. The manner in which it was conducted by the PRS staff made it into an absolute joke, but at least we had the satisfaction of saying hello to the Opeth guys.
But overall, NAMM definitely took things up several notches as compared to the past two years, in terms of new products, amenities, artist signings, performances, and after-shows, and our favorite genre of heavy metal was excellently represented by some of its biggest luminaries. Other than the regular artist attendees that I see every year, there were plenty of new additions this time, with members of bands such as Unearth, Animals As Leaders, Between The Buried And Me, Grave, The Faceless and a few other smaller acts, which is a great sign for us as it proves that the industry is more & more willing to accept metal musicians to endorse and represent its products.
If NAMM 2012 is any indication of the growth of the music industry, we’re in for an amazing year ahead.
588 Replies to “NAMM 2012 Serves As Giant Melting Pot For Heavy Metal Greats”
Comments are closed.