Went to SchenkerFest last night in Chicago! Great Show!

harddriver

Well-known member
A good friend and I decided to go to SchenkerFest last night and we were glad we did as being an old Schenker UFO fan I had never taken the time to see him live. I was really an enjoyable show, Michael while at 63 now was in rare form and just played his ass off for three consecutive hours pretty much with no breaks. He had all his singers that played with his and through the years, Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet(Alcatraz), Robin McAuley, Doogie White. I was really surprised how good everyone sang. Gary Barden was about the same, he never had a strong voice back in the day but he did well. I expected catastrophe with Graham Bonnet but I was proven wrong he sang his ass off and was really strong. McAuley was great as well and the new guy Doogie White was good too.

They each played all the well known songs from each album like Attack of the Mad Axe man as well as a couple of new ones which were alright and sometimes the other singers came out for added harmonies and everyone really seemed to be enjoying themselves and having fun with no rockstar ego shit. Michael smiled all night and talked with the crowd alot which was out of character for him usually he just puts his head down and plays.

It was standing room only general admission and at about 4 1/2 hours in we were about to call it a night but but we were holding on for the encore of UFO songs and it was worth the sore legs. Rock Bottom, Shoot Shoot, Natural Thing, Lights Out. Doogie and McAuley sounded the best on the UFO tunes but Gary and Graham did a few verses. Michael played and extended solo in Rock Bottom that was way longer than any live performance with UFO that I know off and he just kept going it was great. We were afraid he wore himself out but he followed up with three more UFO tunes. I can't believe the guy can still play like that for over 50 years it was awesome to see one of m early heroes ripping it up. If you are a Schenker fan I highly recommend the show.

Oh yeah since this is rigtalk... he was playing his usual two full Marshall stacks, 1960B cabs and 2205's 50 watt heads, he must have a good amp tech keeping these things going which says alot for the model's engineering, they were flawless with the Schenker tone and his line of Dean V's one that was semihollow bodied and a wha wah pedal could not see what brand of wah.

Here what you're in for if you go: It's not my video.
 
LP Freak":3sg63vvq said:
Very cool :rock:

We went to a venue we had never heard about before and we know most of the music halls in Chicago, it was called the Concord Music Hall. One guy at the show said the place had been around about 20 years but just recently switched to rock shows. It was a really nice place with great acoustics, they had acoustic tiles on the ceiling and walls and the sound was really full and tight with great dynamics, it was loud but you could talk loudly without all out screaming so it was about right for a rock show. The standing for over 4 hours sucked since were not kids anymore but it was a nice place to see a show for sure and there was some bench seating strategically place through out the building if you needed to take a break and it had full bars both upstairs balcony and floor.
 
harddriver":2in6gbxn said:
LP Freak":2in6gbxn said:
Very cool :rock:

We went to a venue we had never heard about before and we know most of the music halls in Chicago, it was called the Concord Music Hall. One guy at the show said the place had been around about 20 years but just recently switched to rock shows. It was a really nice place with great acoustics, they had acoustic tiles on the ceiling and walls and the sound was really full and tight with great dynamics, it was loud but you could talk loudly without all out screaming so it was about right for a rock show. The standing for over 4 hours sucked since were not kids anymore but it was a nice place to see a show for sure and there was some bench seating strategically place through out the building if you needed to take a break and it had full bars both upstairs balcony and floor.

I love the Concord. It used to be a dance club then the Riot Fest guys took it over and turned it into a rock club to rival the Metro/Vic but in the Bucktown/Logan area. I saw Primus there a couple of years ago and the sight lines and sound were awesome.

Glad you caught a great show!
 
Man, I would LOVE to see this show, but he's not coming anywhere near my area and my work schedule, unfortunately, is preventing me from going. Glad you got to go and it sounds like it was a hell of a show!! Schenker's always been one of my favorites.

:rock:
 
I'm going to the show tonight at the Cabooze in Minneapolis. The last time I saw Schenker was in '79 with UFO. He is one of my favorites so I'm really looking forward to tonight.
 
It's sad that they are doing so few dates in general and that there was only one canadian date in MTL. A few hours from here but I just couldn't make it out to that. Guess I never will get to see Schenker live and that's a shame because he is in my top 5 for sure.

Anyone get a look at his pedalboard lately? It is never anything fancy but I wonder if he pushes those amps with a boost now and again and what wah he has settled on. (if not the dime wah)
 
Kapo_Polenton":k3mgc09e said:
It's sad that they are doing so few dates in general and that there was only one canadian date in MTL. A few hours from here but I just couldn't make it out to that. Guess I never will get to see Schenker live and that's a shame because he is in my top 5 for sure.

Anyone get a look at his pedalboard lately? It is never anything fancy but I wonder if he pushes those amps with a boost now and again and what wah he has settled on. (if not the dime wah)

I saw a few effects pedals plus a wah and a volume pedal. I really didn't hear any chorus in the clean passages at all or bumps is gain ala a tubescreamer(which he has had in the past) unless it was on most of the time, I only really seem him step on the wah wah all night. He played that semihollow Dean V which had a softer/warmer attack which I didn't care for but he seemed to like it and played quite a few songs with it. Judging by the amount of gain he had I would have to say that he was pretty much straight into the Marshall 2205 with the cocked wah for the mid boost like he has done for years. It really it a cleanish gain tone he just digs in and plays percussively with alot of palm muting, his playing did get a bit sloppy by his standards at the end of the show but it was still stellar my god he's 63. I love his improvisational phrasing that I never get tired of and he is fun to watch play to see what he does next as it is always tastefully done. John Petrucci and Vai while excellent techinically I get tired of after awhile.

I assumed he used Gibson T Top or the equivalent Dirty Fingers Gibson, but I just read he had Duncan JB's loaded into his Aria Schenker V's starting around 1980 and maybe towards the end of his tenure in UFO. I would have never guess that so that definitely pushes the amp some besides the wah. Not sure what he was using in the early days of UFO but judging from some old vids from 1974-75 it sounded like a stock Gibby pickup at that time, By stranger's in the night in 1978 I think he was using the JB or some higher output pickup because he had picked up noticeable gain when you compare the 74-75 vids but still not alot by today's standards.
 
harddriver":v0v9hrch said:
Kapo_Polenton":v0v9hrch said:
It's sad that they are doing so few dates in general and that there was only one canadian date in MTL. A few hours from here but I just couldn't make it out to that. Guess I never will get to see Schenker live and that's a shame because he is in my top 5 for sure.

Anyone get a look at his pedalboard lately? It is never anything fancy but I wonder if he pushes those amps with a boost now and again and what wah he has settled on. (if not the dime wah)

I saw a few effects pedals plus a wah and a volume pedal. I really didn't hear any chorus in the clean passages at all or bumps is gain ala a tubescreamer(which he has had in the past) unless it was on most of the time, I only really seem him step on the wah wah all night. He played that semihollow Dean V which had a softer/warmer attack which I didn't care for but he seemed to like it and played quite a few songs with it. Judging by the amount of gain he had I would have to say that he was pretty much straight into the Marshall 2205 with the cocked wah for the mid boost like he has done for years. It really it a cleanish gain tone he just digs in and plays percussively with alot of palm muting, his playing did get a bit sloppy by his standards at the end of the show but it was still stellar my god he's 63. I love his improvisational phrasing that I never get tired of and he is fun to watch play to see what he does next as it is always tastefully done. John Petrucci and Vai while excellent techinically I get tired of after awhile.

I assumed he used Gibson T Top or the equivalent Dirty Fingers Gibson, but I just read he had Duncan JB's loaded into his Aria Schenker V's starting around 1980 and maybe towards the end of his tenure in UFO. I would have never guess that so that definitely pushes the amp some besides the wah. Not sure what he was using in the early days of UFO but judging from some old vids from 1974-75 it sounded like a stock Gibby pickup at that time, By stranger's in the night in 1978 I think he was using the JB or some higher output pickup because he had picked up noticeable gain when you compare the 74-75 vids but still not alot by today's standards.

Good review and info.. I too have noticed that the clips from the last few years are a bit sloppier and more improvised than in the past. Right after he got out of rehab he was playing crazy good up until about 2015 and then it has gotten a little looser and sometimes a little behind the beat. Still awesome though so can't really complain. The wah I don't think is ever full on and only engaged when he wants to play it over the song or in parts. I think it is mostly the 2205's then with eq to taste.
 
I never knew there was video from one of the Chicago shows in 1978 but here it is... Michael as his best with UFO before he walked away. Note he only steps on a Wah pedal. White Gibson V.
 
Found the answer to my question if anyone is interested... looks like the latest album promo vids flashed a few floor shots for gear nerds and he uses a really stripped down setup. Assuming the delays are in the loop by the way they sound live. No way they are out front. CFH wah as I thought.
 

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