Review & videos by Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Brad Worsham]
Put together by Bass Player, the most prestigious bass-specific music magazine in existence today, Bass Player Live is an annual event that took place in New York from 2004 to 2007 and has had a home in Hollywood every year from 2008 onwards. In many ways, it can be described as a mini-NAMM convention, but with bass players only. This year the two-day event was held at Hollywood’s SIR rehearsal studios on the November 9-10 weekend, along with an all-star concert last Saturday night. Besides reviewing concerts and interviewing bands, Metal Assault loves branching out to these kinds of events as well, where the focus more on the technicalities and finer points of the music that we all love. This was Metal Assault’s first time covering Bass Player Live, and judging by the manner in which the entire event occurred, it certainly won’t be the last.
Day 1: November 9th
Our team arrived at SIR Studios at around 10 AM, and the first item on the agenda was a conversation series at 10:30 featuring bassists David Ellefson of Megadeth, Rex Brown of Pantera and Kill Devil Hill, Frank Bello of Anthrax and Billy Sheehan of Mr. Big and The Winery Dogs. This panel of master bassists sat next to each other on a stage in Room A of the venue, and two representatives from Bass Player magazine sat alongside to interrogate the quartet on subjects like how to ensure your bass sound is audible in a band, tone, pedals, coping with their respective guitarists, lyric writing, singing, and Geezer Butler’s influence, among a few other things. The four panelists were not only glad to answer all questions thrown at them but made the conversation extremely engaging and entertaining by sharing some funny stories from their past experiences relating to these topics. To witness this conversation in an intimate room with what couldn’t have been more than 30 people, it was a special treat not merely for bassists but for fans of any of these four musicians. Watch two video clips from it by using the playlist below:
Next event for us to cover was Billy Sheehan’s individual clinic in Room B which was scheduled to begin at 12:30, but as it turned out, Billy started the clinic a lot earlier than that and when we entered the room at noon, he was already set up with his gear and was talking to the audience. I witnessed a Billy Sheehan clinic at Guitar Center West LA a few months ago, and in all honesty, when it comes to doing clinics he’s probably the most enthusiastic musician I’ve ever seen. His clinic at this event was no different in that regard, and he had absolutely no problem talking about any and all kinds of things in what ended up being a 90-minute session. He addressed queries about strings, finger technique, the various bands he’s played in past and present including The Winery Dogs and Van Halen, gear setup, and lots more. But it was not all talk, as he demonstrated his points by playing bass at opportune moments. A very unique aspect of his clinics is his readiness to give away merchandise freely to anyone who asks a question. Quite a lot of the CDs and DVDs he gave away are Japan-only releases, so the ease of winning any such item was an added bonus for attendees and a special souvenir to take away from the clinic. Yours truly walked away with a Portnoy-Sheehan-MacAlpine-Sherinian (PSMS) Live In Tokyo DVD. Watch a playlist of four video clips from this clinic below:
From 2:30-3:30, Sheehan did another clinic in the Yamaha exhibit room, where the discussion was more specifically about his Yamaha bass instrument, and this one was also being shared for non-attendees via a live webcast. This was the last item on Metal Assault’s agenda as far as the daytime part of the first day of Bass Player Live was concerned, and we headed to the concert at this point. But before we get to that, enjoy a photo gallery from the events I just described.
The activity shifted to the Fonda Theatre down the street, where a red carpet was slated to begin at 5:30 PM, followed by the all-star Bass Player Live concert at 7:30, including a special tribute to Black Sabbath headed by Geezer Butler and featuring some of the biggest heavy metal luminaries. Here are the photos from the red carpet. The personalities that walked the red carpet (in order of appearance in the photo gallery below) were Zakk Wylde & JD DeServio (Black Label Society), Rudy Sarzo, Dug Pinnick, Rex Brown, Billy Sheehan, Corey Taylor (Slipknot), Charlie Benante & Frank Bello (Anthrax), Jason Newsted, Jim Norton, Chris Broderick & David Ellefson (Megadeth), Mike Dirnt (Green Day) and Lee Rocker:
The red carpet was not as star-studded as was anticipated, and some of those expected to walk it didn’t show up. But soon after, everyone headed inside the Fonda Theater and preparations began for the start of the concert. This event was hosted by Jim Norton, and rockabilly bass legend Lee Rocker opened the show with a short set showcasing a style of musicianship that we hard rock and heavy metal fans don’t really get to witness. Next up was young jazz rock sensation Tal Wilkenfield, who received the ‘Young Gun’ award from Lee Rocker and blew away attendees with music that was completely different from that of Lee Rocker, and gave hard rock/heavy metal fans yet more material they were unfamiliar with. Following that was a special Willie Dixon tribute put on by Rolling Stones bassist and collaborator Darryl Jones. The mere mention of Willie Dixon was instantly reminescent of Megadeth’s cover of Willie Dixon’s “I Ain’t Superstitious” on the Peace Sells album, so this tribute set to the great man went down rather well with this audience. Here is a photo gallery of the three opening acts:
On to the big one, then. All was in readiness for the Black Sabbath tribute set to unravel itself upon this eagerly awaiting audience, a good portion of which was full of Sabbath and heavy metal fans who were here in anticipation of witnessing something special, and very exclusive to this night only. One by one, some of the most celebrated musicians of our beloved genre descended onto the stage and in various combinations amongst themselves, they played a full set of Black Sabbath tunes, some of which, the likes of ‘A National Acrobat’ for example, haven’t been heard live on stage for a while, not even by the original band. The musicians that performed this tribute were very well-chosen, with Dug Pinnick, Corey Taylor and Sebastian Bach doing a mighty fine job on vocals, monster bassists Ellefson, DeServio, Bello, Rex and Newsted doing their bit and towards the end handing over the bass to Geezer Butler himself, Charlie Benante killing it on drums for the entire set, and guitarists Chris Broderick and Zakk Wylde rounding off an incredible lineup and performance. Los Angeles is fortunate to get these kinds of one-off events every once in a while, and this one was as special as anything the people in this audience had ever seen. So much so that the attendees were talking about the concert even the next day. Below is the full set list, followed by a photo gallery.
Set List:
1. Supernaut – Billy Sheehan (bass), DUg Pinnick (vocals), Charlie Benante (drums), Chris Broderick (guitar)
2. A National Acrobat – David Ellefson (bass), Corey Taylor (vocals), Charlie Benante (drums), Chris Broderick (guitar)
3. Hand of Doom – JD DeServio (bass), Corey Taylor (vocals), Charlie Benante (drums), Chris Broderick (guitar)
4. Hole in the Sky – Rex Brown (bass), DUg Pinnick (vocals), Charlie Benante (drums), Chris Broderick (guitar)
5. Heaven & Hell – Rudy Sarzo (bass), Sebastian Bach (vocals), Charlie Benante (drums), Chris Broderick (guitar)
6. The Wizard – Frank Bello (bass), Corey Taylor (vocals), Charlie Benante (drums), Chris Broderick (guitar), Zakk Wylde (harmonica)
7. War Pigs – Jason Newsted (bass), Corey Taylor (vocals), Charlie Benante (drums), Zakk Wylde (guitar)
8. Fairies Wear Boots – Geezer Butler (bass), Corey Taylor (vocals), Charlie Benante (drums), Zakk Wylde (guitar)
9. N.I.B. – Geezer Butler (bass), Corey Taylor (vocals), Charlie Benante (drums), Zakk Wylde (guitar)
Day 2: November 10th
It was back to SIR Studios for day 2 of Bass Player Live 2013, and the first thing Metal Assault covered was a clinic by Evan Brewer at 12:45 PM in Room B. Evan is primarily known to metalheads as bassist of the extreme metal band The Faceless, but of late he has branched out to release two amazing solo albums called ‘Alone’ and ‘Your Itinerary’, wherein he plays nothing but bass. I truly believe he is redefining modern-day bass playing with his insane usage or the bass techniques that he learnt in his Nashville, Tennessee upbringing, and he is applying those techniques in ways unimaginable for most bass players. His clinic got really technical and in-depth, but had its funny moments as well. Watch the video of the entire clinic in five parts using the playlist below:
The only other rock/metal event on hand during day 2 of Bass Player Live 2013 was the joint clinic/performance by David Ellefson and Frank Bello which immediately followed the Evan Brewer clinic, in the same room. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Ellefson has got to be one of the most professional, coolest, most humble and down-to-earth guys in the industry at the moment, and the enthusiasm with which he imparts and shares knowledge in a clinic-based setting seems completely genuine. Ellefson was already humorous enough with his Megadeth and bass-related stories, but the influx of Frank Bello and his interactions with Ellefson made this clinic absolutely hilarious for one and all. The duo also talked about doing a project together early next year, which got this crowd very excited, and they even went on to perform a song from this project, tentatively titled ‘Altitudes & Attitudes’. Aside from everything the two of them talked about and performed during this hour-long clinic, the audience’s excitement knew no bounds when Ellefson mentioned the possibility of more ‘So Far So Good, So What?’ songs in the set list for the next Megadeth tour. After the conclusion of the clinic the duo gladly signed autographs for the fans. Watch video of the entire clinic in four parts using the playlist below:
Overall, Bass Player Live was a very unique event, and the Metal Assault team was pleased to attend and cover it. People had traveled from everywhere to attend, San Jose, New York, Washington DC to name a few. While the intimate setting at SIR Studios was extremely enjoyable and made it special for those in attendance, this event has the potential to be organized on a bigger scale.