Congratulations to Max Levi of Boston, MA who was the winner of a new Gibson Les Paul “BFG” guitar courtesy of Gibson Guitars! Max stopped by Daddy’s Boston during the “2007 Product Preview Show” and was one of hundreds who registered to win it! Congrat’s Max!
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Max Levi and Daddy’s Boston GM Hirsh Gardner
So last night, a couple of friends of mine, Bill “Dollar Bill” Johnson (who is one of my closest and dearest friends. I would love to tell you what he does for a living - but then I would have to kill you. 
Let’s just say that all the cool kids know Bill - he’s the BEST and I could gush about him for days…) and Chris “CT” Tamburello (I explain him below) had an extra ticket to the Justin Timberlake / Pink show at the Verizon Wireless Arena here in Manchester and called to ask if I wanted to go - of course I said yes - it’s the hottest ticket in town, who wouldn’t want to go.
So I have compiled a list of the 10 things that I learned at the show last night….
1. Pink is surprisingly little. Not that I expected her to be a giant, but she’s tiny - very tiny, like I could put her in my pocket tiny.
2. Both Pink and Justin Timberlake are, without question, THE REAL DEAL! Period. Vocals (yes, live) were spot on, their performance was beyond top notch and the stage production was some of the most impressive I have seen in recent memory. This show was “in the round” which means that these two had to spend virtually the entire night running around so that they could be seen by everyone. I’m not usually a fan of “in the round” performances, but these two pulled it off BIG TIME!
3. Justin Timberlake has freakin’ John Blackwell playing drums! Are you kidding!?!? In fact, its my understanding that most of JT’s band are former Prince band members. Ahhh…to be young, uber famous and disgustingly wealthy with enough credibility to have members of Prince’s band in your band. Clearly it’s good to be Justin.
4. It occurred to me last night that there is a clearly a difference between the rock shows that I am used to (ie Aerosmith, Journey, Sevendust, Godsmack etc) and shows like Justin Timberlake & Pink. They are a different kind of celebrity. It was clearly an MTV crowd in there which is when it occurred to me that there in lies the difference - Steven Tyler and Aerosmith - no MTV, no paparazzi / tabloids etc, Justin Timberlake - “owns” MTV, can’t get away from paparazzi. Once that concept hit me like a ton of bricks is when I noticed all of his personal security - dressed in suits, talking to their wrists, sneaking JT from one place to another in the venue under a box of sorts. VERY odd.
The other thing that occurred last night that really made me take notice of this “MTV” generation was walking around the venue with my friend CT (I mentioned him to you earlier). CT, as some of you may recognize from the photo below, is a cast member from MTV’s “The Real World”. Now, going to bars, clubs, restaurants with CT can occasionally get a bit awkward, but for the most part its smooth sailing. However, last night he was like a freakin’ rock star in that venue. It was VERY weird. Cameras flashing, people screaming “CT!!!!” etc. I walked away with the conclusion that its MTV’s world and we just live in it.
5. I’m getting old. Beside the obvious fact that I am old enough to have given birth to most of those kids in there last night, I went to bed with and woke up this morning with my ears ringing from the screaming girls in there last night! Those toe curling, ear bleeding screams! So loud that MANY times throughout the show you could barely here the music. Bringing “Sexy Back” is painful.
6. Not that I didn’t already know this, but merch prices at these shows have gotten WAAAAY out of control. Now, in case some of you don’t realize this - when a band comes to a venue for a show and sells T-shirts etc, the venue takes a cut of that. What the band usually does is factor the cost of the venue split into the cost of the T-shirt so if the band wants to make $30 per shirt but it works out that the venue is taking $5 bucks of that - they will raise the price of the shirt to $35 bucks. I realize this when I am at a show and most of the time, I don’t care as I am a big fan of the concert “tank top” (you all know which ones I’m talking about, but I am attempting to be politically correct here :)) - not last night though. We here at Daddy’s obviously know what the cost is of getting t-shirts made (and by the way, it is standard operating procedure with anything you order in bulk that the more you order the cheaper the price is per piece) so when I saw the said “tank top” for sale at $40 each, I just about fell over! Are you kidding me - if that thing cost you more than $3 each to make I’d be shocked! Needless to say I didn’t get one and my Britney Spears “tank top”, much like Britney herself, will have to live without JT next to it.
7. I also realized that if I was a teenage boy or a 20-something guy, I would SOOOOO go see JT in concert - there’s like a 50 girls to every guy ratio there! Jeez….
8. The concert camera policy - I don’t get it. You can’t bring a camera in, but by all means, bring in your camera phone (which by the way mine rocks! - all of the pics below were taken from my camera phone!) which will not only take digital shots, but will also shoot video and audio. I shot both
9. I learned that even though Justin Timberlake is like 12 years old (how old is he? 24? he might as well be 12) I now have a huge crush on him. Is that wrong?
10. And the last thing I learned was that although going out on a Monday night to see Justin Timberlake and Pink put on an amazing concert and to hang out with good friends was really fun - It caused me to freakin’ miss “I Love New York” on VH1 and now I have no idea what happened! Anyone care to fill me in on last nights train wreck of an episode? PLEASE!!!!
Bill, Pink, me, CT and Ken
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MIKE PORTNOY IS COMING!!!!!!
Legendary Dream Theater drummer, Mike Portnoy will be appearing at a FREE in-store meet & greet at Daddy’s Junky Music, 165 Mass Ave. in Boston, MA on Friday, April 6th at 2pm! Mike will be on hand to greet fans for ONE HOUR prior to his appearance at the G3 show that night at the Orpheum Theater in Boston! We will have plenty of Mike Portnoy signature series Promark sticks, Mike Portnoy signature series Sabian Cymbals, and the new Mike Portnoy Sabian T-shirts on hand and on sale - those always make great items to get autographed!
And if all that is not enough to get you out that day - I hold in my hot lil’ hands a pair of FRONT ROW SEATS (courtesy of our pals at Live Nation)to see G3 live at the Orpheum Theater in Boston that night! And you can only register to win at the meet & greet! See you April 6th!Â
As most of you have probably heard by now, legendary ‘BOSTON’ singer Brad Delp was found dead in his Atkinson, NH home yesterday. He was 55. From all of us at Daddy’s, our deepest sympathy goes out to his family and bandmates. I can tell you, Brad truly was THE nicest guy in rock n’ roll. He will be missed.
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Thanks to all of you that came to the Boston store a couple of weekends ago for our first
Product Preview. Our intention was to present to you, for the first time in this area, some of the coolest stuff we saw at the NAMM show in Anaheim in January. I think that mission was accomplished. If you were there you saw the first Vox AC-15 in New England and you heard Korg/Marshall clinician Freddy DeMarco perfectly replicate Jimmy Page’s tone off the first couple of Led Zep albums with this amp and a Strat, it was scary. You also would have seen the Ibanez’s reissued ‘80’s icons the RG-550 with color coordinated cases and their RG370 with graphics inspired by the motorcycle industry, very cool.
Hoshino’s Northeast District Sales Manager, Marcel Lessard with the Ibanez RG-550 reissues.
The Tama StarClassic Bubinga kit in Scorched Copper Burst also was a strikingly beautiful example of Hoshino’s (parent company of Ibanez and Tama) committement to presenting lots of exciting new product for 2007.
Speaking of the ‘80’s, Roland/Boss brought in Robert Marcello, a Swedish shred master currently touring with Danger, Danger, to demo the new Boss FDR and FBM pedals which turn any amplifier into a ’65 Deluxe Reverb or a ’59 Tweed Bassman. This is the first Fender/Roland cooperative venture and is a precursor to the highly anticipated Fender VG Strat, due any day now. Robert Godin, the owner and chief architect of the Godin guitar lines, made an appearance on Saturday and thrilled the many buyers of his guitars by personally autographing each new purchase. Digitech presented a working prototype of the new VL-2, an intelligent vocal harmonizer that is easy to use and is extremely accurate, look for this product to hit Daddy’s stores later this month or in early April.
These are just a few of the exciting new products that appeared for the first time in this area. If you didn’t catch the show this year, we’ll be doing it again in ’08, watch for the announcements!
Some old business, my February trip to the Behringer factories ended with a gala banquet and celebration of the anniversary of the formation of Eurotech, the manufacturing branch of Behringer. We were greeted at the entrance to the banquet hall with a band enthusiastically playing traditional Chinese music on instruments that I had never seen before!
Very interesting and it was a precursor to what would turn out to be a fascinating look into how the Chinese celebrate. We entered a large hall that was filled with factory personnel and their families (3500 strong) giving us a standing ovation with plastic “thunder sticksâ€.
Behringer founder, Uli Behringer and Group CEO, Michael Deeb lead the parade into the banquet hall.
I had never experienced such an enthusiastic welcome from a large group of people who had no idea of who I was! I’m sure that the Chinese employees understood that we were some of the people from out there in the other parts of the world that buy the products they produce every day and that we were important for that simple reason. Still, the experience was exhilarating, seductive and ultimately, just plain fun.
The banquet was very good, featuring chicken, duck (with head still attached), rice, noodle dishes and I couple of things that were undetermined but it was all good.
Say, did that duck wink at me?
While the meal was served there was constant entertainment in the form of dance groups, singers, and musical groups (contemporary and traditional).
The local take on the hip-hop culture was very interesting and not terribly flattering. In between acts, factory personnel would wheel a computer onto the stage and the machine would randomly pick Behringer employee numbers that were projected on large screens. If your number was picked you won, I believe, a cash prize and as the evening wore on, the prizes got bigger and bigger.
The big event of the evening was the crowning of the King and Queen of Eurotech. Selection for the contestants was made from the many groups of the evening performers.
The candidates for queen, all attractive young ladies between the ages of 18 and 28, were lined up on stage, each holding a cup. Various members of the audience were then called to the stage, given a rose which they would then deposit in the cup held by their favorite. Uli Behringer was called up first and made his selection I followed him some minutes later and it was accidental that Uli and I picked the same girl, I swear! As I was leaving the stage, the English-speaking MC grabbed me and said, “Please tell these people where you are from.†Never at a loss for words, I leaned into the mic and said, “New Hampshire.†Probably not the answer he was looking for, since I’ll bet very few people in that building knew or cared much about New Hampshire. Well, at least I was representin’
The same procedure was repeated for the kingly candidates and the lucky couple was led off the stage to begin their reign. Unfortunately, our girl didn’t win, proving that the contest was not fixed!
By the time the last dance troupe had danced, the last singers had sung and the last lottery numbers had been pulled, it was a mere 5 hours later. It was time to go back to the hotel.
Up at 6 the next morning to begin the 30 hour trek back home to New Hampshire, my day began with the ticket taker at the ferry to Hong Kong refusing to take my ticket, saying that it was no good. For an instant, I quickly reviewed my options. Being stuck in China, taking up residency and maybe even landing a gig at the Behringer factory, well, I think I could do it if I needed to. Sure I’d miss the folks back home and my decadent Western lifestyle, but I’m adaptable, I’m an American, dammit, or I used to be.
At that very moment, the missing portion of my ticket fluttered to the floor. I quickly scooped it up and handed it to the uniformed young lady who had blocked my exit from China and I was home free. Frankly, I really think she took one of her collected tickets and let it drop at my feet, saving grace for everyone involved. She knew I could never hack the Chinese thing, they work too hard! Later.
But things are heating up here in the Daddy’s Promotions Department! We have some VERY exciting events coming up so let’s get to it!
First, I hope those of you (and there were ALOT of you) who made it out to the Stu Hamm/Hartke clinic last week had a great time! Stu had a ball with all of you!
Don’t forget March 27th is the next “6 O’Clock Hang” with the great Jon Finn Band! The “Hang” is ALWAYS a great time - musicians hanging out with other musicians, talkin’ shop, listening to some great live music and of course FREE Dunkin’ Donuts coffee! The April 10th “6 O’Clock Hang” brings us none other than jazz great Ralph Peter and his trio! And while you are there, don’t forget to check out Ralph’s signature series Sabian cymbals!
I am very happy to announce that on Wednesday, April 4th @ 4pm, Daddy’s Boston will be hosting a very rare acoustic performance with no other than LACUNA COIL! Lacuna Coil are currently out on the Jagermeister tour with Stone Sour and Shadows Fall and will be popping over the Daddy’s Boston to perform for a bit and meet with fans! How cool is that!?!?!? Best of all - it’s FREE!!!!
Things are really coming together for our upcoming MAPEX clinics with none other than GREGG BISSONETTE! Tickets are on sale now at ALL Daddy’s locations - seating is VERY limited so I would suggest that you get them early!
I’ve got a couple of things on the fire, but not officially confirmed - I expect them to be confirmed within the next week and once they are, you guys will be the first to know!