I left for NAMM on Thursday at 5:10AM and met up with some friends and made it inside by 9:30.
After trying to catch every exhibit and demo I could, I left around 4:00 to go check in for the Bonzo Bash.
That was a fantastic event. I left around 1:30 and got very little sleep before returning to NAMM the next day.
By this time, I was already feeling exhausted from days of sleep deprivation and being on my feet and walking around for days in a row.
Around 12:00 PM, I unceremoniously threw in the towel and found myself on the beach in Sunset Beach with full plans to return the following day.
It gave me a chance to catch up on all I had gotten footage of over the 30-something hour span.
Besides the unforgettable BONZO BASH, some of the highlights included watching Stu Hamm do a demo in the Hartke booth, seeing Anthony Crawford play bass with a cajon player and guitar player, watching Ben Woods perform his version of heavy metal classics on flamenco guitar, the shredding guitar wizardry on Larry Mitchell, finger-style guitar playing of Laurence Juber (my third time this year being amazed, watched a killer jam with Greg Koch and Roscoe Beck and got some other pictures as well.
Here’s the list of the highlights/ events I attended on Thursday and Friday:
THOMAS LANG NAMM BONZO BASH NAMM JAM 1/23/2014
GENE HOGLAN BONZO BASH NAMM JAM
ATHENA AND EX-WIVES OF ROCK BONZO BASH NAMM JAMM
MIKE PORTNOY BONZO BASH NAMM JAMM HOST, PERFORMER AND INTERVIEWEE THE OBSERVATORY 2014
RAY LUZIER AND BILLY SHEEHAN BONZO BASH NAMM JAMM 1/23/2014
GLEN SOBEL BONZO BASH NAMM JAMM 2014
GREG FINSLEY as Freddie Mercury and Kenny Metcalf as Elton
ARTIST SIGNINGS REMO BOOTH NAMM 2014 RUSS MILLER, DAVE ELITCH, ALEX GONZALEZ and BRENDAN BUCKLEY
DEVADIP CHUNGA AND HEDRAS RAMOS CORT BOOTH NAMM 2014
STU HAMM HARtKE BOOTH NAMM 2014
ANTHONY CRAWFORD AND FRIENDS NAMM 2014
BEN WOODS CORDOBA BOOTH NAMM AND HEAVY MELLOW with LUIS VILLEGAS and MIKE BENNETT Observatory
LARRY MITCHELL MAJIK BOX BOOTH NAMM 2014
MARK SCHULMAN BONZO BASH NAMM JAMM THE OBSERVATORY 2014
LAURENCE JUBER GHS BOOTH NAMM 2014
GREG KOCH AND ROSCOE BECK GHS BOOTH NAMM 2014
WILL CALHOUN NAMM BONZO BASH NAMM JAM 1/23/2014
STEPHEN PERKINS NAMM JAMM BONZO BASH OBSERVATORY SANTA ANA 2014
JOE TRAVERS NAMM BONZO BASH NAMM JAM 1/23/2014
BRANDON KACHEL BONZO BASH 2014 NAMM JAMM OBSERVATORY
BONZO BASH PICTURES NAMM JAMM THE OBERVATORY 2014
RANDOM NAMM SHOTS 2014
Saturday, I skipped going to NAMM in the daytime, as I rested at my friend’s beach house instead. I even took a nap, which was great.
We ended up at the Randy Rhoads Remembered Event in Santa Ana right around start time. It turned out to be a truly historic event.
Every song from Diary of a Madman and Blizzard of Ozz was played live. It was unreal. In several instances during certain songs, everyone onstage was a former member of Ozzy’s band.
Here are some video highlights of the show:
MARTY FRIEDMAN RANDY RHOADS REMEMBERED THE OBSERVATORY 1/25/2014
RANDY RHOADS BRAD GILLIS REMEMBERED THE OBSERVATORY 1/25/2014
PHIL X Steal Away The Night RANDY RHOADS REMEMBERED THE OBSERVATORY 1/25/2014 M4H02721
NUNO BETTENCOURT RANDY RHOADS REMEMBERED DIARY OF A MADMAN THE OBSERVATORY 1/25/2014
DEE BY ALL GUITARISTS AT RANDY RHOADS REMEMBERED THE OBSERVATORY 1/25/2014 00018
BUMBLEFOOT MR. CROWLEY RANDY RHOADS REMEMBERED THE OBSERVATORY 1/25/2014
GUS G CRAZY TRAIN RANDY RHOADS REMEMBERED THE OBSERVATORY 1/25/2014 M4H02730
ALEX SKOLNICK Believer RANDY RHOADS REMEMBERED THE OBSERVATORY 1/25/2014
Sunday, I reluctantly left the beach and paid $30 to park at The Sheraton.
From there, I saw lots of music equipment, a few bands, a couple of demos, went to one signing, grabbed lunch at an overpriced food truck and then went home.
On the way to the Yamaha room, we watched Joe Hardy playing outside, This dude rocks!
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