Kapo_Polenton
Well-known member
So I saw Malmsteen last night in what has been billed in the Canadian market as a " masterclass" or " intimate night" with Malmsteen with limited tickets. This essentially means that he was able not to pay his band and they strung together 4-5 days in a row where he plays a show starting in Quebec city and working towards Toronto. I'm sure they will cram a few more in before he goes. Format is simple, you are told at the door NO cameras or video and if you take it out, Lord Malmsteen will leave the stage and refuse to play. According to the security guards, the show almost didn't happen because someone took a vid the night before and posted that he was sloppy or something. As such, the fury was felt and the world almost burned.... luckily it id not. He floated down the stairs at 10:30 pm ( did not come out from the back room like all other acts) and went right on stage. Wall of Marshalls, pedal board, mic stand with a thousand picks, light show and even a smoke machine! It was hilarious. I had posted on the club site a while back asking if he'd have a smoke machine and these guys came through. Timed perfectly with the end of the songs and a few kicks.
So essentially he comes on and plays 8-10 songs and answers a few questions in between the songs. If questions are interesting, he will talk a bit, if not he just rips. Song choices were more of his modern " compositions" which let's be honest, are a complete mess. Technically proficient yes but he's always rushing the tempo and trying to cram as many arpeggios and notes into a bar. Nothing breathes anymore. Still fun to watch and get your ears blasted though.
The questions were mostly from a mic being passed around up front and were from people wanting to profess their love to the lord and how great he is. We get it, he's incredible but we don't need your life story, what is your question? A few juicy answers though which are Rig Talk worthy:
We Are Stars with Dio - He said he went in there and waited forever because Brad Gillis took over 4 hours to record 4 bars lol. Wanking away on his whammy bar. Then Lynch took 2 1/2 hours to do the same. He took 9 minutes and reminded them that it is only 4 bars... I loved that because when you listen to the extended version with all the solos, Yngwie destroys pretty much everyone.
He learned all of Blackmore's licks on Made in Japan by the time he was 9. He loves Ritchie but thinks he plays simple stuff. Pentatonics are simple. He then played a bit of lazy and honestly, I thought that was the best part. That guy has incredible blues chops. Same 5 notes anyone can play but the way he attacks them is insane.
His influences are Bach and Pagannini etc.. we've all heard that before. Pretending that Uli Roth and Michael Schenker never did anything melodic and classical sounding and that he was the first. He did have a unique taste on it but come on, selective history here.
What does he listen to in his car? The sound of a twin turbo v6 pushing out over 1000 hp. music to his ears. Ferrari logos everywhere from pedal board to guitars. I checked out his pedalboard, looked like the old Dod YJM sig model but could have been the Fender. More is More so everything was pinned on the thing. Vol/Gain max.
Spoke with guitar tech. Tried to get the tuning secret but he was a bit reluctant it seems. Essentially oil the nut and trem and work it in as I have seen on lots of tuning tips vids. Lube it, stretch strings, but then initially dive - retune, dive-retune, play it retune, until it more or less holds. Gotta suck to have to change strings and redo that frequently but that is also why he had 3 guitars with him. You can probably get more life out of the strings and tuning that way.
For Psycho Dave.. leather pants and black pirate shirt, dyed hair and chains everywhere. So consistent, I love it. Def. has the look.
Funniest part.. Yngwie is unique in that he can be funny / friendly but a dick at the same time. Ego def. on play as about half way through the set he starts counting down the songs. " ok, I've got four songs left and after this, I'm outta here. If you have questions, now is it"... " like i said, 2 songs left and I'm gone" .. " Remember, this is it, I'm out after this one". Boom, Far Beyond the Sun, guitar off and left on speaker, he's out stage left and up the stairs. See ya later mortals!
Anyway long post but the whole thing was amazing because it delivered everything I needed to see and already knew. Amazing player, huge ego, kicks and pick flicks, smoke machines. 80$ a pop, 300-400 people in each venue, that's bank. The guy can probably make 50K a week. I was glad I could help him put that towards another Ferrari while not even knowing what city he was in. Amen.
So essentially he comes on and plays 8-10 songs and answers a few questions in between the songs. If questions are interesting, he will talk a bit, if not he just rips. Song choices were more of his modern " compositions" which let's be honest, are a complete mess. Technically proficient yes but he's always rushing the tempo and trying to cram as many arpeggios and notes into a bar. Nothing breathes anymore. Still fun to watch and get your ears blasted though.
The questions were mostly from a mic being passed around up front and were from people wanting to profess their love to the lord and how great he is. We get it, he's incredible but we don't need your life story, what is your question? A few juicy answers though which are Rig Talk worthy:
We Are Stars with Dio - He said he went in there and waited forever because Brad Gillis took over 4 hours to record 4 bars lol. Wanking away on his whammy bar. Then Lynch took 2 1/2 hours to do the same. He took 9 minutes and reminded them that it is only 4 bars... I loved that because when you listen to the extended version with all the solos, Yngwie destroys pretty much everyone.
He learned all of Blackmore's licks on Made in Japan by the time he was 9. He loves Ritchie but thinks he plays simple stuff. Pentatonics are simple. He then played a bit of lazy and honestly, I thought that was the best part. That guy has incredible blues chops. Same 5 notes anyone can play but the way he attacks them is insane.
His influences are Bach and Pagannini etc.. we've all heard that before. Pretending that Uli Roth and Michael Schenker never did anything melodic and classical sounding and that he was the first. He did have a unique taste on it but come on, selective history here.
What does he listen to in his car? The sound of a twin turbo v6 pushing out over 1000 hp. music to his ears. Ferrari logos everywhere from pedal board to guitars. I checked out his pedalboard, looked like the old Dod YJM sig model but could have been the Fender. More is More so everything was pinned on the thing. Vol/Gain max.
Spoke with guitar tech. Tried to get the tuning secret but he was a bit reluctant it seems. Essentially oil the nut and trem and work it in as I have seen on lots of tuning tips vids. Lube it, stretch strings, but then initially dive - retune, dive-retune, play it retune, until it more or less holds. Gotta suck to have to change strings and redo that frequently but that is also why he had 3 guitars with him. You can probably get more life out of the strings and tuning that way.
For Psycho Dave.. leather pants and black pirate shirt, dyed hair and chains everywhere. So consistent, I love it. Def. has the look.
Funniest part.. Yngwie is unique in that he can be funny / friendly but a dick at the same time. Ego def. on play as about half way through the set he starts counting down the songs. " ok, I've got four songs left and after this, I'm outta here. If you have questions, now is it"... " like i said, 2 songs left and I'm gone" .. " Remember, this is it, I'm out after this one". Boom, Far Beyond the Sun, guitar off and left on speaker, he's out stage left and up the stairs. See ya later mortals!
Anyway long post but the whole thing was amazing because it delivered everything I needed to see and already knew. Amazing player, huge ego, kicks and pick flicks, smoke machines. 80$ a pop, 300-400 people in each venue, that's bank. The guy can probably make 50K a week. I was glad I could help him put that towards another Ferrari while not even knowing what city he was in. Amen.
His backing tracks weren’t mastered at all.
