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Ivan, I didn't take it personally, but I did feel bad about missing
the event... I certainly don't have anything against the Shadows! In
fact, it's funny, but my sister's boyfriend is an older British ex
pat... the first time he heard our band (on disk-- he still hasn't
made it to one of our shows), he immediately says, "Sounds like the
Shadows" (we don't particularly, but I suspect he would have said the
same thing about any instrumental guitar based music he heard), which
I guess illustrates your point, but from the English/Euro perspective.
Incidentally, Malcolm's a great guy, a real gentleman and a big
supporter of the local instro rock scene.
Finally, one more TO store worth checking for used/vintage gear is
Twelfth Fret, but it's at the other end of town. All of the places
I've mentioned have websites worth checking.
I do hope to meet you down the road. All the best, Rio.
--- In , "ipongrac" <ipongrac@g...>
wrote:
> Hello Rio;
>
> My little barb was not aimed at you in particular. I just found it
> frustrating when Malcolm told me that there are six freaking surf
> bands in the area, and not one member of ONE of them showed up for
> this event! I am in general quite irritated by the split that some
> surf music fans create with the Shadows - it's like they think
it'll
> taint their purity if they associate themselves with anything to do
> with the Shadows or Euro instro music. To me these genres are
> completely compatible and should be combined for greater awareness
of
> both. Oh well. Sorry you couldn't make it. I understand all
about
> real life intruding.
>
> As far as your guesses about the used shops, you're absolutely dead
> on!! Our drummer bought his snare at Songbird, which is where we
> spent the most time. I couldn't believe how many used Traynor amps
> there were there! I guess they used to be made in Toronto? We
were
> also totally blown away by Tokai reproduction guitars. There was a
> gorgeous white Strat '62 reissue copy w/ tortoiseshell pickguard
that
> played and looked as good as any US Strat I've see - for US$300!!!
> NEW! There were also some Tokai Rickenbacker replicas that were
> simply amazing. I guess Tokai can't legally sell stuff this close
to
> the originals in the US, cause I've never seen them around here.
>
> There just aren't any good used instrument shops anywhere close to
> where I live, and I love 'em. I get quite excited going into
them.
> I'll definitely check out their websites - it didn't even occur to
me
> that they may have them!
>
> We definitely hope to be back in Toronto next year. Hope to meet
you
> then.
>
> Ivan
>
> --- In , "rio452001" <mpietra102@a...>
> wrote:
> > Hi Ivan,
> >
> > I would have loved to have made it, but was out of town that
night
> on
> > a family thing... too bad the rest of our lives intrude on the
> music
> > sometime!
> >
> > From your description, you must have made it to the music stores
on
> > Queen Street... Songbird and Capsule? They carry pretty much
> > exclusively used & vintage equipment, and you can find some
> > reasonably good buys sometime (especially if you're paying in US
> > dollars). Check out their websites, they're updated weekly.
> >
> > Hopefully you'll be back to TO sometime soon.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Rio
> >
> > --- In , "ipongrac" <ipongrac@g...>
> > wrote:
> > > --- In , "Brian Neal" <bneal@i...>
> > wrote:
> > > > Soo...did anyone make it out to Toronto? Ivan, have you
> recovered
> > > yet? How'd it go?
> > >
> > > It was great!! As far as recovery, well, it's taking a while.
I
> > > think I'm coming down with something - let's hope it's not
SARS!!
> > >
> > > Anyway, the show: we got in on Friday night (after a hellacious
> > > drive, being stuck in rush hour traffic around Detroit for an
> hour
> > > and then for another hour at the border - Dane was driving for
12
> > > hours, the rest of us somewhat less), and immediately were
> treated
> > to
> > > a long practice/soundcheck set by Bruce Welch, his lead
guitarist
> > of
> > > several years Phil Kelly (who is as good as Hank and plays with
> the
> > > feeling and excitement that Hank had in the sixties but lost a
> long
> > > time ago), and Licorice Locking, Shadows bassist from '62
to '64
> > > (between Jet Harris and John Rostill). Bruce and Licorice,
while
> > > having spent a lot of time together over the last few years,
have
> > not
> > > PLAYED music together since '64! Seeing them playing togegher
> was
> > a
> > > big thrill. They had a Toronto pro drummer to play with them,
> who
> > > was not a good match - his bag was very obviously country
> and '70s
> > > rock, so he didn't really have that 'swing' to his playing, and
> > most
> > > importantly couldn't reproduce the Shadows signature syncopated
> > ride
> > > cymbal figures. Anyway, they played a bunch of songs while we
> were
> > > just hanging around together with another 10-15 people. That
was
> > > amazing. When they packed it in, I talked with Bruce and
> Licorice
> > > briefly, and asked Bruce if I could play his guitar before the
> > > weekend was over. He offered it immediately! Now, this is the
> > > legendary guitar that Cliff Richard bought for Hank directly
from
> > the
> > > USA in the summer of '59, one of the first Strats in UK. Hank
> used
> > > this guitar to record Apache, Man Of Mystery, FBI, Gonzales,
all
> > the
> > > classis Shadows songs from late '59 until early '61. I found
out
> > > later that the guitar is estimated to be worth a quarter of a
> > million
> > > UK POUNDS!!! Holy s*&#!! Even without knowing that I still
got
> > > shivers as I was putting it on. It's a fiesta red '59 Strat
with
> a
> > > highly figured bird's eye maple neck, and stock gold hardware -
> top
> > > of the line in the '58 catalog. Bruce put on jumbo frets which
> > felt
> > > weird, but the neck was like a dream. I was playing the guitar
> > with
> > > which Apache was recorded!!! Wow. That was awesome.
> > >
> > > The next morning we had a lengthy soundcheck, and we played a
> bunch
> > > of songs, cause we were nervous as hell and thought that would
> > help.
> > > Hung out with Bruce and Licorice more. We played one
relatively
> > > obscure Shadows song from '65 to which Bruce responded with a
> > > question: "What song was that?" He couldn't remember the name
of
> > his
> > > own song! Our drummer Dane practiced four songs with Bruce and
> > co.,
> > > since the other drummer didn't know them or couldn't do them
> > justice
> > > (he hurt his wrist, or something): Guitar Tango, Shadoogie, The
> > > Frightened City, and The Savage. Then Dane, our bass player
Jim
> > and
> > > I got in the car and hit about five different music stores in
> > > Toronto. Two of them were mostly used gear, and they were
> > absolutely
> > > incredible. I hadn't seen anything like it in years. Dane
> bought
> > a
> > > beautiful and great sounding blue Yamaha birch snare that he's
> been
> > > wanting for a while, which matched his set. He was over the
moon
> > the
> > > rest of the day b/c of this snare.
> > >
> > > When we got back the second half of the evening was starting,
> > meaning
> > > all the real bands (rather than club members). I missed almost
> > > everything in the beginning cause I was in my room warming up,
> > > getting dressed and trying to shake off the nerves. I missed
> > almost
> > > the entire set by the New Fentones. The old Fentones were
> Shadows-
> > > soundalikes in the sixties. They only released two
singles, "The
> > > Breeze and I" (the first rock instro version of this song that
I
> > know
> > > of) and the incredible "The Mexican", a truly awesome song.
Both
> > > were just moderate hits The only original member of the
Fentones
> > on
> > > Saturday was the bass player, but the others did very well. I
> only
> > > heard their last two songs: "The Mexican" and Bach's "Jesu, Joy
> Of
> > > Man's Desire". The former was good, but way too slow, and the
> > latter
> > > was incredible, I'd never heard such a cool arrangement of that
> > > piece - lot of guitar pyrotechnics. The crowd of 300 (not bad)
> was
> > > on their feet afterwards.
> > >
> > > We went on next and played a great set, relatively mistake-
free.
> > Had
> > > a really fun time. The guitar amps were provided for us, and I
> > > should mention something for the gearheads (i.e., everybody on
> this
> > > list!). The Vox AC30 I was using for lead featured this little
> > > device called the Vintage Unit. It's an add-on preamp that is
> > easily
> > > wired into the amp, and acts as a whole new channel! Why, some
> of
> > > you might wonder? Well, it's a preamp designed around the EF86
> > tube,
> > > which was used in the early AC15 amps AND the very early AC30s
> > (they
> > > eventually switched to 12AX7s cause EF86 are less mechanically
> > stable
> > > and fail quicker due to vibrations from high volume, especially
> > when
> > > bass is played through the amp - this is also what necessitated
> the
> > > introduction of the Top Boost, to recapture some of the tone
lost
> > by
> > > the switch to inferior 12AX7s). Hank recorded all the Shadows
> > early
> > > songs (until '62 probably) with either AC15s or early AC30s, so
> the
> > > guitar sound was based around the EF86 preamp. Well, I kept
> > > switching between the ordinary AC30 channels and the Vintage
Unit
> > > while playing the show, and the VU definitely recreated that
> rawer,
> > > more rock'n'roll sound of the early Shadows! I was quite
> thrilled,
> > > and will be getting it for myself. Here's the best news: it's
> only
> > > 115 UK pounds!! Check out the website here:
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Our setlist, for those interested:
> > >
> > > Temptation
> > > The Rumble
> > > Shindig
> > > Blue Shadows
> > > The Frightened City
> > > Find Me a Golden Street
> > > Big Boy
> > > National Provincial Samba
> > > 36-24-36
> > > Fandango
> > > Bossa Roo
> > > Main Theme
> > > Round and Round
> > > Genie With the Light Brown Lamp
> > > My Resistance is Low
> > > Midnight
> > > Little 'B'
> > > The Lost City
> > > Gonzales
> > > Man Of Mystery
> > > Shadoogie
> > >
> > > And, BTW, Malcolm, Man Of Mystery is one of the best known and
> best
> > > loved songs by the Shadows. Dan Forte AKA Teisco Del Rey in an
> > > article for Guitar Player mag a few years ago put it in upper
> five
> > of
> > > the best rock instro songs ever, and I gotta agree with him.
> Also,
> > > The Cruel Sea was definitely originally by the UK band the
> > Dakotas.
> > > They had several other great songs, they were produced by
George
> > > Martin, and they often used a 12-string guitar (Fender?) for
> lead,
> > as
> > > they did in the original version of the The Cruel Sea, which
was
> > > written by their lead guitarist. I think the Ventures covered
> this
> > > song before the Challengers, but I'm not sure about that.
> > >
> > > Finally, Bruce, Licorice, and Phil. Their set is a blur, cause
I
> > was
> > > still high from our set, and cause I was quite relieved to be
> > done!
> > > But they played a bunch of classics: Dance On, Foot Tapper, The
> > > Savage, Guitar Tango, Shindig, Nivram, Theme From Deer Hunter,
> > > Atlantis, Theme For Young Lovers, Peace Pipe, Atlantis, Spring
Is
> > > Nearly Here, FBI, Apache, a bunch of others. Bruce and Phil
were
> > > extremely good, and Licorice was INCREDIBLE (I often thought of
> him
> > > as the weakest bassist the Shadows had, but he showed on
Saturday
> > > that was totally wrong - he played an amazing improvised jazz
> solo
> > in
> > > Nivram that blew me away, and peppered all the songs with
> > imaginative
> > > bass fills). But the highlight of the entire night for me was
> when
> > > Dane played The Savage with them. He played all the floor tom
> > parts
> > > flawlessly, and as it came to the end of the song he had to do
a
> > few
> > > fast snare fills. Well, he played the first one in what can
only
> > be
> > > described as an explosive manner! Bruce, Phil and Licorice
just
> > > turned around and looked at him with amazement on their faces!
> It
> > > doesn't get better than that. Oh, BTW, Bruce introduced The
> Savage
> > > by saying that as a young man he had a very fast right hand.
> > > Uproarious laughter from the audience. He went on: "Playing
this
> > > next song only gets harder with age, though nothing else
does"!
> > Then
> > > he said something about "Sherman Tank", and we had no idea what
> he
> > > was talking about. Only later did I find that he's referring
to,
> > > ahem, an activity similar to polishing the gun on a turret of a
> > > Sherman tank. :) I guess it's a British thing. Well, a
British
> > > TERM, anyway! I pointed out to him later that there was a guy
by
> > > name of Rip Thrillby who ascribed this same factor to guys'
> greater
> > > ability to play double-picked surf guitar parts, which he found
> > > entertaining.
> > >
> > > Anyway, they played a great set, and things wound down. We
tore
> > down
> > > the equipment, and all went to the hotel bar at 1am, and stayed
> > there
> > > til 3am. I got to talk to Bruce a LOT, which was amazing.
> > > Apparently just a few weeks ago, the Brit music industry
> > association
> > > gave the lifetime achievement award to Pete Townshend and Pete
> > > personally requested ahead of time that Bruce introduce him at
> the
> > > event. When Bruce did that, Pete said that when he was growing
> up
> > > and learning to play the guitar, everybody wanted to be Hank
and
> > play
> > > lead guitar. Then he said, "Not me - I wanted to be him" -
> points
> > to
> > > Bruce and starts strumming an air guitar. Pretty cool, eh?
> Heard
> > a
> > > lot of stories like that, and much more talk about Sherman Tank
> and
> > > such.
> > >
> > > After five hours of sleep, we all gathered again for
breakfast.
> > > Great camraderie all around, and I got to talk to Licorice
quite
> a
> > > bit. Bruce, Phil and Licorice are SUCH nice people, it was
quite
> > > amazing. Such talent, too. Anyway, we left around noon, and
I'm
> > > still not completely recovered. We were lobbying very hard to
be
> > > invited to next year's Shadowmania (the real one, in London,
> > > organized by Bruce), and I think we have a shot at it. We'll
> see..
> > >
> > > Man, I'm tuckered out, too much writing. Sorry about that, got
> > > carried away. Nice to meet you there Malcolm, and I was sorry
> that
> > > no members of the six Toronto surf bands were present, I would
> have
> > > enjoyed meeting them.
> > >
> > > Ivan
