Live From The 2009 NAMM Convention Floor

The Anaheim Convention Center in sunny Southern California once again played host to the annual NAMM (NationalAssociation of Music Merchants) Show that ran January 15-18th. The NAMMconvention is supposed to be the place where music gear companies show offtheir latest toys to perspective merchants, and yes, I'm sure a lot of wheelin'and dealin' was going on. But really it's more like a giant schmooze-fest.Every guitar company, drum company, software company, amp company, etc. istrying to get the most attention for their booths, and the best way to do thatis to get big-name endorsees to appear for autograph signings. That makes sensebecause let's face it, people get into the "music industry" becausethey're fans of music.

The other big attention-getters are the showcases afterthe convention itself closes for the day: The nearby Hilton and Marriottmeeting rooms are turned into concert venues so patrons can really hear thegear in action, plus they get to see some amazing artists in tiny and intimate venues.

The first night of the 2009 convention was deemed as "IndustryOnly," so there really weren't many signings or showcases, but the bigevent was the Tama/Ibanez Simon Phillips Tribute at the Marriott hotel'sballroom. Most would know Simon Phillips as the drummer for Toto, but do asearch on his name and you'll find he's played with the Who, Jeff Beck, MichaelSchenker, Jack Bruce, Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Gary Moore, 10cc, MickJagger, Asia, Stanley Clarke, Derek Sherinian, and even Judas Priest, to name afew. Simon has been endorsed by Tama drums for 30 years now, and to celebratethe milestone, Terry Bissette of Tama said, "We've created a 30thanniversary retrospective concert at the Anaheim NAMM Convention on Thursdaynight, January 15, 2009. This event will include Simon and his band Protocolfeaturing guitarist Andy Timmons, a special opening 'drum circle' includingseveral special guests, as well as a star-studded, special guest-filledretrospective portion that will see Simon run through songs he has recorded andperformed throughout his career."

I was excited until I heard the phrase "drum circle."Isn't that what the hippies do down on Venicebeach at night? Isn't the drum solo the point of the concert when people run tothe bathroom and grab another beer? Well, I'm glad my jaded concert of "drumcircles" didn't turn me away, because it was downright cool. The stage hadfive drum sets, with Simon's in the middle; the other drummers were CharlieBenante (Anthrax), Ronald Bruner Jr. (Stanley Clarke/Suicidal Tendencies),Brian Frasier-Moore (Madonna), and John Tempesta (The Cult/Rob Zombie). Thiswas the coolest drum circle I'd ever seen. It was more like a drum duel. Andthe best part was it was over before I was wondering when a band would come on.

They then tore down four of the five drum sets, leaving onlySimon's onstage for a Jazz/Fusion set. It was around this time that I found outthat the majority of the 800-plus people packed in the ballroom were waitingaround expecting to see a special performance by Joe Satriani at the end.Unfortunately, Satriani didn't make it to the NAMM show at all this year, butthat didn't really spoil the fun at this event.

The final set of the night was Simon's career retrospectivewith the help of guitarists Andy Timmons (Olivia Newton John/Danger Danger) andChris Broderick (Megadeth) and bassist Mike Szuter.The set included "Sinner" and "Dissident Aggressor" byJudas Priest, "East Of Asteroids" by 801, and "Armed And Ready"and "Feels Like a Good Thing" by Michael Schenker. For the firstsongs, they had a singer from a Judas Priest cover band decked out in full RobHalford leathers that even fooled some buzzed fans in the back of the room. Forthe Michael Schenker songs, they had former MSG (McAuley Schenker Group)vocalist RobinMcAuley make a grand entrance...well, it wasn't so grand. The poor man had a Spinal Tap moment when hemissed the last step on the stage and fell flat on his face. He recoverednicely at sang his ass off.

In the VIP area on the side of the stage, you could see JasonBittner and Matt Bachand of Shadows Fall, Charlie Benante and Rob Caggiano ofAnthrax, and  John Tempesta watching theshow. In the front of the house I ran into Peter Iwers of In Flames (who waswaiting for Satriani...ouch). All in all, it was a fun first night at the NAMMshow.

Friday morning at the NAMM show is the first real day ofartist appearances at the various booths. For an idea of just how manymusicians are actually at this convention, I had to make a rough list of thescheduled signings. Below are just the scheduled signings I saw beforehand, andit's probably only a third or less of who was actually there:

Just walking around the conventionfloor, I saw Chuck Billy of Testament chatting with some folks near the DeanGuitars booth as Dave Navarro walked by, then Dave Mustaine of Megadeth turnedthe corner to do a signing at the booth. It might have seemed like there wasnothing but hard-rockers at this convention, but that really wasn't the case.There were a ton of other genres represented as well, but if a guitar companywas going to really show off their instruments, they wanted their "Guitar Heroes"out there. That was pretty much the case for any instrument: The fastestguitarists, bassists, and drummers all play hard rock/metal.

Some highlights from the convention:

● My coffee barista saying, "Gene Simmons was a douchebagyesterday; he wouldn't pose for pictures or sign anything for fans that came upto him."

● Dino Cazares of Divine Heresy/Fear Factory wearing a "F**kBush" T-shirt, so if any fans wanted to take a picture with him, that'swhat they'd see.

● Some dude who repeatedly going up to musicians asking ifthey'd slap him in the face on video. I got a photo of Dino Cazares helping himout.

● Due to heightened security and maybe the economy, this year'sshow wasn't nearly as packed as it has been in years past.

● The girls. The girls. The girls. NAMM is pretty much asausagefest, but this year it seemed like more companies wised up to the factthat girls dressed in next-to-nothing will bring just as many people to yourbooth as a big-time rock star.

● Matt Bachand (Shadows Fall) tryingto break his beer-drinking record. He was already up to over 200 beers Fridaymorning, with a goal of 500 beers in 10 days. While he was signing at theIbanez booth Friday he had to take a break because he thought he was going topass out. He downed some water and was back in action in no tim, though.

● My amazement at the length of the line for autographs byJack Blades and Tommy Shaw.

● Waiting forever in the longest line I saw throughout theconvention to get my photo with the living legend, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth,only to have my friend take an out-of-focus blurred photo of us.

● Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor walking by the Ibanez boothshouting at Jason Bittner (Shadows Fall) like they were gonna fight orsomething, trying to jump over the signing table, then finally posing forpictures. Funniest part is it didn't seem like any of the fans had any idea whohe was without his mask on.

The real "scene" was the Hilton bar from about 8pmonward. By then everyone was done with the convention, had eaten some dinner,and was ready to party. Walking around the Hilton lobby I saw Charlie Benanteand Frank Bello of Anthrax with John Tempesta (the Cult), the Offspring'snewest member Andrew Freeman chatting with Lizzy Borden and Marten Andersson(Lizzy Borden), Uli Jon Roth (Scorpions) hanging solo near FatesWarning/Redemption singer Ray Alder, and Tim King of Soil chatting with DallasCoyle of God Forbid in the bar, Death Angel drummer Andy Galeon standingnearby, hanging near the front entrance was Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth. And thatwas just the tip of the iceberg.

Unfortunately, I missed the Racer X and Alice Coopershowcases Saturday night; I really wanted to see both shows, but there was onlyso much standing I could do after living on coffee and four hours of sleep anight for the last three days. But I survived yet another NAMM show, and what ablast it was.

See All NAMM Convention Photos 

See All Simon Phillips Tribute Show Photos