Concertologist

SHREDFEST 5!! (brought to you by Shred Kids’ Cancer). What an incredibly awesome cause this benefit show was. I saw the description of this event and immediately bought a ticket unsure of whether or not I could actually attend. Then, the next morning I saw the complete story on KTLA and was very moved and enthused about attending the event

As a parent and avid concertgoer, I couldn’t help but be impressed by Teagan Stedman, the amazing young man and incredible visionary behind this event. Not only did he start this annual event when he was only 8 to support his friend with cancer, he has secured some really great sponsors and musicians to back this wonderfully brilliant effort. In addition to a silent auction and other festivities, they held a “battle of the bands” for young, upcoming acts to showcase originals and cover songs in a wide range of music.

Even though I just came home from Hollywood 11 hours earlier for the last concert I attended, I completed the return trip and it really made for an excellent afternoon. I live for cool events like these.

I loved how there was an itinerary for the event. I wish all concerts had a set list with times. That’s some tremendously valuable information right there. I could tell when I walked into the House of Blues Sunset that this event was very well run. It was on time (unfortunately, I arrived a few minutes late) and the first band, Public Strangers, a female-fronted hard rock/ metal band, finished with an Avenged Sevenfold song that rocked pretty hard. The singer has a good voice and good stage presence. I’m not familiar with the song they were covering, but it sounded good to me.

I then ran upstairs to view the charity auction items. I could see Zakk Wylde, Shavo Odadjian and the rest of the judges from the top of the stairs.

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Once upstairs for the auction, I was majorly impressed with the quality of the memorabilia and equipment that were up for bids. A signed guitar by Led Zeppelin? Another by Paul McCartney? A top hat signed by Slash? Signed drum heads from Ringo Starr and U2? There were also classic albums that were nicely framed, autographed Rock Science games (which I’m looking forward to playing someday) and other really great items. I hope they made a TON of money…

While I was upstairs drooling over all the cool stuff, the next band to play was The Negotiators. They were a group of little guys that rocked. The crowd really liked them and they jammed.

The Krooks were up next and they rocked out for the crowd.

RIP Adam Buttons absolutely rocked. I thought they jammed and their tunes were catchy. I liked their song about The Beatles – “Paul is Dead”. They even covered a Misfits tune. I had them as the early favorite to win the battle of the bands.

The band that followed was called Clockwork City. They were another good band and the singer could really belt out the vocals. Without a doubt, that was one of the top vocal performances of the day.

This little girl with the most adorable voice named Ava Domini came out and introduced herself. I think she won over the crowd before she even played a note. To be so young and have the courage and confidence to play solo in front of a huge crowd is something quite magnificent. She had a very soulful voice and her guitar playing was really good. You could feel the music she was playing. She did an Oasis song much better than Oasis does it. She also did The Beatles (“Come Together”, complete with some good guitar work) and some other cool tunes. After her short set, I was pulling for her to win. She’s a winner for getting up there and being so entertaining and inspirational. If I had a record label, I think I’d sign her.

The seventh act was called Melted Vinyl. These guys rocked. The guitarist threw down with some excellent guitar playing that was way beyond his years. They jammed Hendrix and the group played exceptionally well throughout their performance.

The band that followed was called Colorblind. They played good music for the younger crowd in attendance. Their youthful energy made me feel old.

The last band to play was called Galvanized Souls. They were pretty heavy and really brought it. That was a rocking way to end out the competition.

After the last band played, Bonzo Bash alumni Matt Sorum played “Kashmir” with the Public Strangers. I just saw him play with Sebastian Bach and Steve Stevens last week (and a few times recently with Steel Panther as well). Matt completely rocks and is way cool. Then, Slash came out to join Matt and played “Slither” from Velvet Revolver.

Matt then took the side of the stage as Slash rocked with Clockwork City on “Paradise City” with Shavo and Matt singing background vocals. It was incredible. One of the coolest parts was Matt going back and encouraging and playing along with the drummer behind the kit. I thought that was really cool.

SLITHER: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE: SHAVO ANNOUNCE:

These young musicians must be beside themselves after jamming with such incredible rock stars.

SLASH INTRO

Shavo came out to conclude the event by announcing the top 3 original bands and the top cover band. Congrats to all the bands!!

I had to get on the road, but on the way out I ran into Nik Kai, his mom and friends from Rock N Roll Industries Magazine. Nik was sporting a Motorhead shirt and will be opening for Motorhead and Anvil coming up soon at Club Nokia. What a gig.

Shavo acknowledging Teagan’s mom. Good job, Teagan’s mom. You must be beyond proud…

Pretty sure that’s Teagan up there rocking out with Slash:

I also liked the announcing throughout the event. Good job, announcer…

I said hello to Matt outside on my way to the car. He said he had a lot of fun up there playing. What a cool dude. He’s always happy to take a picture and talk with his fans. He’s definitely one of the nicest and most talented musicians around.

ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE OF THE EVENTS (more clips of the bands):

Crowd shots:

HEAVY MELLOW is an incredible band where Benjamin Woods and Luis Villegas join forces on guitar to perform incredible flamenco guitar versions of familiar heavy metal classics.

Having Having just played on 3 consecutive cruises (Monsters of Rock, Cruise to the Edge, and Moody Blues Cruise), they delighted old and new fans with their musicianship and clever musical arrangements.

Joined by percussion master Mike Bennett, they played a thrilling performance of songs in an extended set at the Hard Rock Hollywood. Ben, Luis and Mike performed together at the HRC Hollywood last November. This is a nice, big room for live music with an excellent sound system, which nicely showcases this band. And, like last time, this was another incredible show.

Just hearing Ben and Luis warm up on stage for the show is a show in itself. Luis’ speed picking is reminiscent of Al DiMeola and Ben’s flamenco extraordinary flamenco techniques, such as his “sweep picking” and arpeggios, is a sight and sound to behold.

That’s Shane Tucker pictured behind Ben in the picture above. Shane is the Stage Manager for the Hard Rock – he’s a great guy and he really knows his stuff. Credit him and music guru Noelle Kim Retes (on the right below) for making these Heavy Mellow shows happen at the Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood.

This music seems to move everyone that hears it and is especially of interest to fans of guitar music. Whether or not you like metal and are familiar with the songs they play, the music itself can be appreciated by practically anyone.

Here is the list of songs they had at their disposal to play for the evening.

Highlights of the set were “Over The Mountain” (what a brilliant version of the Ozzy classic), “Rainbow In the Dark” (another genius arrangement), “Sails of Charon” (neo-classical greatness flamenco style), “Holy Wars” (the way they play the intro is magnificent and the Middle Eastern type lead in the middle of the song sounds wonderful),and a very polished of “Cemetary Gates”.

They even took a break from the “metal theme” for a song and played a tremendously cool surf medley.

Heavy Mellow’s recent double-album release includes all these metal songs arranged for flamenco guitar:

Aces High- Iron Maiden
Bark at the Moon- Ozzy
Gates of Babylon- Rainbow
Welcome Home- King Diamond
Eyes of a Stranger- Queensryche
In My Darkest Hour- Megadeth
Sails of Charon- Scorpions
Spill The Blood- Slayer
I am a Viking- Yngwie Malmsteen
Tears are Falling- Kiss
Wasted Years
Rainbow In the Dark
Indians- Anthrax
Nothing Else Matters- Metallica
Cemetary Gates- Pantera
Mr. Scary- Dokken
Over The Mountain- Ozzy Osbourne
Too Young to Fall In Love- Motley Crue
Electric Eye- Judas Priest

They played over half of these songs live and everyone in attendance was quite amazed.

Ben and Luis are both prolific artists. Their work with Heavy Mellow, along with their respective works, are all quite astonishing. Ben has around a dozen solo albums and Luis’ new album comes out towards the end of the month.

Heavy Mellow YOUTUBE Videos