One of my favourite displays at Gear Fest was the Gibson bus. You could walk onto the bus and look at the all the cool stuff on display. It had such an amazing ambiance inside, I can only imagine how awesome it must be to actually travel on it. I just had to share some photos with you guys.
The next day (Saturday), we were able to spend the whole day at Gear Fest, so we arrived in the morning and got into the vibe. Jonny headed out into the blue yonder that was the Pro Audio section and I meandered around the acoustic guitar areas, testing out some nice guitars. One of the highlights for me was jamming "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and "Runnin' Down A Dream" by Tom Petty with a whole bunch of guys in the acoustic guitar room - we even had a little audience watching us!
Another highlight of the day was seeing Terry Bozzio's drum kit. I've never seen such a big drum kit in my life! I'll let the pictures do the talking.
In the afternoon I attended a workshop in the performance theatre by Chris Lord-Alge, an American mix engineer. Chris has worked on a ton of great records by artists such as Muse, Green Day, Dave Matthews Band, Switchfoot, Smashing Pumpkins, Third Eye Blind, Paramore, Underoath, etc. He is known for his use of dynamic range compression in both hardware and software plug-in versions. I sat in the front row and really enjoyed the workshop. He even showed us how he mixed some of Green Day's "American Idiot" album. He also showed us how to use his signature plug-ins - very cool stuff indeed!
Next up was the grand finale - The Gretsch 130th Anniversary Show featuring Joe Robinson and Fountains of Wayne. Jonny and I made sure we had front row seats and the show did not disappoint! Fred Gretsch, the owner of Gretsch Music Company, welcomed everyone and introduced the bands. First up was Joe Robinson, a 22-year old Australian guitarist and singer. Jonny and I were completely blown away by his band's performance. Think John Mayer meets Joe Satriani - well, that's my description anyhow. His tone was phenomenal and his performance was excellent, you just have to check out his stuff. He even jumped down into the crowd to do a solo in front of Jonny!
Finally, the moment I had been waiting for, Fountains Of Wayne took the stage. They are one of my favourite bands and this was the first time I was seeing them live. I knew every song and sang along - it was so flipping cool. I've been a fan of them ever since my brother Nic picked up their debut album in the mid-90's. They played an awesome set and I made sure I got hold of their set list, courtesy of their guitar tech Jimmy. After the show I was able to meet the guys and get some photos with them. What an awesome day!
June 21 photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/110099947824844872398/June212013
June 22 photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/110099947824844872398/June22201304#
