Posted by & filed under Gigs.

Paul Gilbert Header
So, Paul Gilbert….. If you are unsure who Paul Gilbert is and are a fan of rock guitar playing, you need some PG in your life. Paul was touring with his first band Tau Zero at the age of fifteen, and later found fame with shred rock outfit Racer X and later left to join Mr Big. Since then he has gone on to build an exceptional solo career and has become a rock guitar celebrity, releasing tonnes of albums, tutorial dvds, doing masterclass/clinic appearances and also doing lots of other internet and magazine based tuition.

If you like your playing fast, ludicrous, and mindblowing whilst still managing to be ‘musical’…… seriously, go check him out.

http://www.paulgilbert.com
Paul Gilbert
If you know me or are a pupil of mine then you will definitely know that I am a HUGE Paul Gilbert fan! Aside from meeting him at a guitar clinic, this was to be my first time seeing Paul perform a full gig. If that were not exciting enough, I also had the fact that his last album Vibrato, completely blew me away and is now one of my favourite albums of all time so I was beyond excited to see him play the stuff from Vibrato. I went with my good buddy and fellow guitar tutor Justin and we were pleased to find the venue was a ‘cosy’ one, a pupil of mine played there 2 weeks earlier! We got right to the front with a beer and settled in for what was sure to be an epic night of rock guitar fun.
Paul Gilbert
Paul didn’t disappoint. The band opened up with the opening track from vibrato and it was evident from the first few notes that this was going to be both a highly polished and flawless performance, but also, as with everything that Paul does, incredibly fun! They continued to blast out tracks from the new album, all of which I had been eagerly anticipating since I bought the ticket and I found that it was impossible to stop myself grinning like a complete idiot the whole time.

There was plenty of interplay between all the members of the band and it was evident that not just the crowd were having a great time. There was even a point at which the whole band swapped instruments, leaving PG with the sticks, a job that he did incredibly well too!

Once the majority of the Vibrato album had been played the second half consisted of a lot of blues/rock covers including an absolutely stunning version of the late Gary Moores ‘Still got the blues’. Personally I’d have loved to hear more stuff from his earlier career and that of his solo albums although I cant exactly complain as I enjoyed every second of the gig. We did get treated to the shred classics such as ‘technical difficulties’ and ‘scarfified’ along with a fantastic solo medley of his solo work and mr big classics.

For this tour they have released 6 VIP tickets for every city. From what I recall, a VIP tickets basically means you get to spend the afternoon hanging out with and being taught by PG, as well as getting a t shirt, a dvd, and of course admittance to the gig. Unfortunately, due to having bought a new Cornford amp, booking a holiday, and other annoying financial commitments I couldn’t find the 200 and something pounds for a VIP ticket but I am officially starting a VIP ticket fund for the next time he comes round as I would love to have that kind of opportunity!

I better get practicing too!
Paul Gilbert

Comments are closed.