Malmsteen had decided to drop by at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney, located in the sunny city of Anaheim. I, along with my cousins and parents in tow, anxiously awaited the arrival of our beloved guitar hero outside of the venue. With the exception of my father, none of us really got patted down. Yet again I have been seen as harmless and as much of a threat as a three-week old kitten, but at least I wasn't the only one. We had to scale a flight of stairs in order to even get to the stage where Malmsteen would unleash his fury. Thankfully there was no opening act for the night (I say thankfully because I wasn't in the mood for some mediocre power metal group attempting to amuse us like a pack of clowns), so it wouldn't be too long before I could see his insane skills live for the first time in my young life.
We had actually arrived a bit late, but we had enough time to check out the merch table. I nearly slobbered all over the poor merch guy's station. Vinyl records, bandanas, concert tees, drum heads, and guitar picks all emblazed with Yngwie's logo decorated the place, and it took every inch of willpower I had to not go and buy every single thing there. Well, that and the fact that I didn't bring any money with me, but that was beside the point; Yngwie Malmsteen's team knew how to produce quality merchandise.
After my cousin purchased a t-shirt for my absent uncle, we headed into the staging area. I had no idea that the House of Blues had such an intimate setting; I mean, I could practically touch the stage if I pushed my way through the crowd and to the front, and I could probably touch Malmsteen if I felt daring and creepy enough to. This completely psyched me out, even though I wasn't going to harass the guitar god in any way, shape or form. It was still incredible to know that I would be that close to my childhood hero. The stage itself was lined with his famous stack of Marshall amps. And when I say lined, I mean I thought the wall was made up of Marshall amps. They were stacked almost across the entire stage, and were stacked almost to the ceiling. I knew he had a legendary stack of amps, but seeing it in person was absolutely breathtaking.
Although I adored the whole setup of the venue, there was one small snag. Due to our late arrival (courtesy of my father's lack of a concept for time) the areas designated for the audience were practically filled to the brim, and the area in front of the stage was already packed. With my short stature, and the short stature of my companions, it would be nigh well impossible for us to even get a glimpse of Malmsteen, which sort of ruins about half of the concert experiance. Thankfully the House of Blues staff was quite friendly and personable, and when the bartender saw our predicament, he offered to let us sit on top of the bar when the concert started, giving us a full view of Yngwie and his boys. Everyone working there, from the manager who greeted us to the friendly security were quite nice and only brightened up my already starry mood.
Once we situated ourselves near the bar area to the left of the stage, the concert began. The lights went out, and we could hear the distinct feedback of Malmsteen's guitar coming from backstage. Of course, I started to scream my lungs out, but then a thought hit me. I had no idea who was singing for him tonight. I had asked around my circle of Yngwie fans (which was embarrassingly small) and they had no clue who would it be. My mind ran through all the possibilities, but I was definitely not prepared for the surprise that marched across the stage and took the microphone. Tim "The Ripper" Owens was actually fronting Yngwie's band for the night. Yes you read that right folks; Tim Owens of Judas Priest and Iced Earth fame was singing tonight, and I almost lost my mind when he opened his mouth to sing. He is an amazing vocalist live, and he even sang some of the most popular Malmsteen songs better than the original frontmen had. I sincerely hope he stays with Malmsteen for any new projects the guitar god may have in the works.
Of course, how could I forget the entrance of the man of the hour? He jumped onto the stage with an inhuman amount of energy. And when I say inhuman, I mean inhuman; he tired me out just by looking at him. He was a true performer and an even more amazing guitarist than I could even imagine, and I already had him up on a pretty high pedestal.
The songs came one after the other in a barrage of raw rock'n'roll energy, and I was screaming and headbanging my brains out. One of the many highlights of the concert was his mash-up of three of his most famous instrumentals; he combined the intro to "Icarus Dream Suite Op. 4," the melody of "Far Beyond the Sun," and the main riff to "Trilogy Suite Op. 5" and created a heavy metal chimera that blew everyone away. During his guitar solo, he had taken a pause for dramatic effect. A concert goer had seized the opportunity to voice what was on every single one of our minds: "You are the greatest fucking guitarist ever." Malmsteen simply smiled and continued on, but that man couldn't have said it any better than that.
The setlist itself contained a fair combination of Malmsteen classics and new releases such as "Rising Force," "Dreaming (Tell Me)," and "Heaven Tonight." He even briefly played "The Star Spangled Banner" and saluted his audience, which deeply amused me. How did he make our country's national anthem sound so metal?! I have to say, however, I was deeply pleased and ecstatic to hear his cover of Rainbow's "Gates of Babylon" being played, for I did not even expect him to play any songs from his tribute album. That particular song had always been one of my personal favorites, and I had been dying to hear it live since elementary school. My wish had been granted that night, and it couldn't have gotten any better than that.
The concert ended way too early; the setlist was only an hour and a half long including the encore, which is only a little bit short for a performance. However, this was Yngwie Malmsteen we're talking about. I'd watch him for twenty four hours straight if I could! He did end the night with a bang, playing the classic "I'll See the Light Tonight" and throwing as many picks into the audience as possible (he was showering us with his picks the whole peformance, but I didn't catch one sadly). With Malmsteen throwing his guitar back to his roadie (literally), he and his fellow bandmates took a bow and exited the stage. The audience including I stayed there for a good few minutes before filing out, hoping that he would grace us with his presence once again, but sadly that would have to come at another concert.
While I nurse my harsh bout of post concert depression, I'll just run every single Yngwie Malmsteen record I have into the ground. This may seem like just a fangirl's rave review of her favorite guitarist's show, but everything I described here wasn't even doing the man justice; he truly is a guitar god, and anyone who is a music fan has to seriously see him live. You would not be disappointed, not in the least bit.
No comments:
Post a Comment