The show that I was building this guitar came and went last Friday. I had the guitar intonated about 2 hours before the show. It was very tight but I was able to finish it and use it for the show. It was awesome. I am going to write up a review for this show as well as talk about our set a bit. First, the bands that played were The Unthinking Majority, Sleeps Six (my band), Corporate Saturday, Rockasaurus Rex, and Credible Witness. There was another band that opened up but they were not part of the battle and did I don’t think they told anyone their name.

I will begin with them then. They were cool. They weren’t an “official” band hence why they didn’t want to be judged. It consisted of a guitarist and drummer. The drummer didn’t really stand out to me. I no sense was he bad, but I’ve seen some incredible drummers around here and he’s not quite in that category. The guitarist, on the other hand, was incredibly good at guitar; very strong technically. There isn’t too much I can say about these guys because they played for about 15 minutes and it seemed like one 15 minute song.

The Unthinking Majority played first in the judged portion of the show. They were your standard alternative rock band. They did a couple Chili Peppers’ covers and they matched the rest of their set really well. Sound-wise they were very RHCP-style. The singer had a very controlled and powerful voice. One thing that caught my attention during this band and whole show was the vocals for each band; all were very strong. Like the show I went to last week where all the drummers stood out to me, it was the vocals that stood out this time. Overall, they were a tight band and although it was a bit generic for my liking, they were good at what they did and were awesome guys to talk to afterwards. 3/5

We played second and I hated our set. The sound guy kept screwing with my amp so I was either way too loud (to the point where I was annoyed) or not playing at all. It threw off a lot of timing within the whole band, especially at parts where only I played. I was also expecting to have a monitor but it just sat there for stage decoration or something because no sound was coming out of it. That made me angry. We got good feedback from the crowd afterwards despite all the technical difficulties. We had practiced a lot with the guitars and vocals because we knew each other so well so we intended to be very active on stage. We had major drummer problems over the last couple of weeks though so our last resort drummer had to learn very short notice and a lot of our last days of practice went to making sure he had it down, not our actual show. I also spent the entire show listening into my amp to see if there was any sound coming out so it didn’t go as well as I had hoped. Luckily Crystal (singer) is incredible and she could be heard well so that worked out for the best. I’ll leave us unrated.

Corporate Saturday played after us and pulled out an acoustic set. They were the battle winners and rightfully so. These guys are awesome at what they do and work so hard. The whole band is ridiculously tight and they know what it takes to put on a good show, including how to tell a good story. Said story had something to do with XXL women’s underwear, an Aero chocolate bar, and a band sleepover. I’ll let you imagine how it ended. Anyway, these guys have some of the best music in Windsor, in my opinion. I love their sound and they are all very talented at their respective instruments within the band. Rob is one of those elite drummers in the local region, Brendan can shred like no other (even on an acoustic guitar), Austen has serious vocal range, and Chris is short. Really, Chris is a great bassist with sweet backup vocal abilities. I’ve seen these guys twice since they wrote and released the new music and both times have been acoustic. I am so excited how it all unfolds when they play full band and I hope I can catch a show soon. 4.5/5 (I’ll leave that last 0.5 for when they amaze me with the full band)

Rockasaurus Rex was next up. I left. They consist of a bass player and a drummer and are really boring. They are both good musicians, but as a band they are lacking a lot of depth. There is only so much variety one can get from the rhythm section of a band and I found myself bored pretty quickly. 1.5/5

Credible Witness was the last band on the bill and once again they rocked the house. I’ve seen these guys so many times now and have been good friends with most of them for quite a few years now. Their live show never gets old though. Lead singer Walter is always a crowd pleaser and has a goofy attitude, always interacting with the crowd. Mike D (guitar) is one of the best guitarists I’ve met even though he kind of humbles himself playing in a pop/punk/rock band that isn’t very guitar-oriented. From what I’ve seen though, he has an incredible knowledge of theory and anything that has to do with anything related to guitars. Ryan (drums) has become one of the better drums I’ve seen around the local scene. He’s very controlled and knows what he’s doing; a huge step up from when we were in our little crappy pop-punk band together four years ago. These guys rocked and if it Corporate Saturday hadn’t taken the title, these guys would have won for sure. 4.49/5 (because Corporate Saturday had to win)

For a first show, it was fairly successful. One thing we told Crystal to do was make sure she talked to the crowd in between songs. She didn’t really and that’s where we lost points. I’m not too worried about it. As she gets more experienced with the band setting, it’ll come to her. We have two more shows this summer for sure (hopefully more) and so there will be a couple more reviews up as those shows come around.

-- Mike

I have decided on a pickup set. I am going with the KH-20 pro series pickup combination that features an EMG 81/S/S configuration (Check the specs). I am very excited to get this. I just need a job to be lined up before I go ahead with the purchase. I also need the guitar body to be painted and passed on back to me. I am very excited about this as well.

There has been a lot of excitement around here lately. The show set up for mid-July has been a very large factor in that excitement. Getting back into the band swing of things has really got my blood rushing. I’ve been learning covers, attempting to write some originals, and preparing myself for the upcoming weeks of practicing.

Being in a band again has brought about a few things that are new for me this time around. None have taken very long to get used to and all have proven to be rather interesting.

1)      I am no longer a frontman. Most of my previous band experience has had me doing a lot of leading vocally. I wasn’t always lead singer, but I took on a prominent role in the vocal portion of the band. This time around, I am just the guitarist. I may throw in a few backing vocals here and there, but for the most part, I am the guitarist. This hasn’t had too big of an impact on my though this time because it’s given me a chance to work on my stage presence and my recent outburst of love for guitar has not hindered me at all. Being out of the band scene for a while, the thought of going back on stage has my mind dancing already and when it comes time to perform, I won’t be stuck at the mic and will be able to “rock out hardcore”.

2)      The lead singer is phenomenal. My past bands have always had mediocre singers, myself especially. Playing alongside an exceptional singer allows me to be extremely confident in the music we plan on playing.

3)      I have been looking at music theory quite a bit lately. My friend Jesse has a guitar lessons blog on which he has posted multiple articles about theory (Check it out here). As I attempt to write down chord progressions, lead parts, and harmonies, I have found myself constantly referring to the notes he has posted. And it has helped greatly. I am confident in the fact that this is some of the best music I have ever written solely because I understand what I’m writing. It also has sparked more interest in learning more theory and digging deeper into the art of guitar playing.

4)      I am challenging myself much more. Normally I practice and play music within my limits. If I get to a lead part that I believe I will never master, I play the rhythm section. I have found myself reaching out much more this summer. Sitting down and taking the time to slow down those hard riffs and learn them to perfection. I have found my guitar playing abilities have multiplied by countless amounts because of this.

Though this post has nothing really to do with my new guitar, I am not too worried. I was thinking about what would happen when I finished the guitar. What would become of this website? I will likely continue to use it as my general guitar blog. This is certainly not the last project I will undertake and so this site will continue running as long as I do.

Cheers,

-- Mike