I went with a buddy of mine and we arrived after the first band. We got there just in time to watch them setup for God Forbid. They were pretty good for the most part. They had a really rad singer, but their sound setup wasn’t the greatest. You couldn’t hear the guitars over the bass and most of the backup vocals were pretty off key.

The second band up was Chimaira, their sound setup was really quick and very good. All the instruments were really clear. I think they even upped the volume on the lead guitar during the solos so that it was more audible. The lead guitarist was pretty good. He didn’t do a lot of picking shredding, but he definitely had his tapping down. In each solo he had a tapping riff that included tapping and picking and no less than 3- note fretting patterns which I thought was pretty impressive.

Arch Enemy took at least 45 minutes to setup. It looked like they were having a problem with either Michael Amott’s head or something with the bassist’s setup. Finally they got it going and the band came out. For some reason I expected the lead singer Angela Gossow to be really macho and butch, but she was actually pretty feminine (as much as a female metal singer can be). She was pretty playful and looked genuinely happy to be playing Calgary. It was pretty sweet to see them in such a small venue. We were standing at the back of the room but still had a full view of the whole show.

I don’t know many Arch Enemy songs by name, so I couldn’t tell you every song they played, but the few I know that were in the set are Nemesis, We Will Rise, Anthems (instrumental) and Burning Angel. I thought they did a wicked job on Nemesis. It isn’t one of my favorite songs, but it sounded much better played live.

All in all Chimaira was sweet, but I don’t know if I’d make a special trip to see them. Arch Enemy was rad and I would go see them in any capacity, whether it’s a show they are headlining like this one or even if they were just opening.

I have attached a few videos of Arch Enemy to this post below. This first one is actually one from the show that I was at. Someone recorded it and posted it on YouTube.

And then here are some random ones I have found from other shows and stuff.

Alexi Laiho Interview and Instructional Video

This first is pretty sweet it’s both an interview and a practical lesson. Alexi talks about a lot of important stuff like practicing with a metronome, starting slow and building speed, how he writes a solo, and his musical influences.

At about the half way point he does do some hands on stuff on his guitar. He starts off playing it quickly and then slows it right down so you can learn it. He shows off some sweep picking licks with some tapping thrown in and then some chord phrases. At the end of the video he goes through 5 or 6 licks from some of his songs as well.

Alexi Laiho Lesson Riffs

This second is another half and half. There are two sections of Alexi Laiho and his “buddy Robert” playing some licks and two instruction bits where Alexi slows the riffs down.

At about the 4:30 mark Alexi starts to show the licks at a slower pace, however the video is a little blurry so you will have to get the general position of his hand from the video and figure out the rest by ear. At the 8:30 mark there is another demonstration section where the two seem to jam for a bit. At the 13:00 mark more of the riffs are demonstrated slowly. The video is still very blurry though so don’t expect much. I’m guessing that with the original video there is an accompanying tab or sheet music book.

Young Guitar Magazine Alexi Laiho Video

In this next clip its pretty impossible for the average person to determine what Alexi is doing. It is still pretty sweet to watch though.

Children of Bodom playing Downfall at the 2003 Tuska Open Air Metal Festival

To finish it off here is a 4 minute video of Children of Bodom playing Downfall at the 2003 Tuska Open Air Metal Festival in Helsinki. “Ooh Hell yeah!”

So there you go. I hope some people can find what they are looking for now!

It really isn’t all that glamorous, I was in class in college and a friend was on the computer when an IM message popped up on his screen breaking the news. At first we didn’t believe it, but a quick Google news search confirmed the report. That was a pretty depressing time all around.

To the point, I wanted to share this Dimebag Darrell interview with anyone who has not already seen it. In the first video dimebag tells the story of his first and second Dean guitars. He tells of the one that got away and a great friend who got it back for him. The guitar he sold and eventually bought back became his iconic lightning bolt Dean. In an interview taking place after a show in Milwaukee Dime talks about being happy and achieving his dream.

The second video picks up where the first left off. He gives his praise of the new Razorback design for his signature Dean guitar. The video then leads into some joking around between Dime and some of the crew and friends and then Dime heads back out on stage to play the end of their set. I hope everyone enjoys the vids.

Dimebag Darrell Interview at Deanguitars.com

The self taught blues guitarist was nominated for the Juno Blues Album of the Year in 2005 and Favorite Blues Artist in both 2004 and 2005. If you visit his site at www.jimmybowskil.com there a few audio tracks you can listen to as well as 3 video clips. Jimmy Bowskill will be a guy to watch over the next few years.

This first video the guy plays Canon in sort of a neo-classical style. It’s all very precise and reminds me a lot of Joe Satriani or Yngwie Malmsteen.

Wait there’s More… this second video is my favorite of the two. It is very bluesy but at the same time the guy shreds like there is no tomorrow. On top of that he’s still in high school, which makes me very jealous of his playing and improvisational ability. It sort of reminds me of a Zakk Wylde sound from the Pride and Glory days.