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Well, I spoke to John 5 last night.
Before I get to the one burning question I once again asked him, let me talk a little about John's show last night. Man, can that motherfucker rip on a guitar. I've seen him with Manson and with Zombie, but I've never seen him solo. It was him, a bass player and a drummer. All instrumentals. This show was at a very old bar called The Token Lounge. This was a homecoming of sorts for John, as he's from Grosse Pointe, and went to Grosse Pointe South High School. He specifically wanted to play this place, because he played there when was "13 or 14 years old". He did a bunch of his solo tunes. He did a ripping version of "Beat It", because that's the song he did at his High School talent show. He ended the night by ripping into one great guitar riff after another. He started that medley with "Somebody Get Me a Doctor", then played one recognizable riff after another, for about 10 minutes. It was nothing short of phenomenal. If this guy comes to a venue near you, I'd highly recommend you going to see him, if you like instrumental guitar rock. There are no vocals, unless you are lucky enough to be at a show where a guest like Mike Anthony shows up. This show was recorded and will be released as a live album and DVD.
Now, the million dollar question.
Me: "Why can't you guys release the album?"
John 5: (With a big grin on his face) "He's in Van Halen".
Me: "What's that got to do with it?"
John 5: Throwing his hands out, palms up, and still grinning, "He's in Van Halen".
I did not press that issue any further, and cannot speculate as to what that exactly means. I can say, both times I've spoken to him about this album, he was very positive about the recordings, and how good they are. I of course wouldn't expect him to tell me (or anyone) the songs suck, but man, he lights up when talking about it. He is genuinely excited about how these songs turned out. I will choose to believe this album will one day come out. I sure hope so.
I did not get to hear any of the music, as he literally had nothing with him. All of his stuff was at his Mom's house. When we were walking out of the venue, one of his buddies picked him up in an older Ford Taurus to take him back to his Mom's house! He's a really down to earth dude, and just extremely nice.
Before I get to the one burning question I once again asked him, let me talk a little about John's show last night. Man, can that motherfucker rip on a guitar. I've seen him with Manson and with Zombie, but I've never seen him solo. It was him, a bass player and a drummer. All instrumentals. This show was at a very old bar called The Token Lounge. This was a homecoming of sorts for John, as he's from Grosse Pointe, and went to Grosse Pointe South High School. He specifically wanted to play this place, because he played there when was "13 or 14 years old". He did a bunch of his solo tunes. He did a ripping version of "Beat It", because that's the song he did at his High School talent show. He ended the night by ripping into one great guitar riff after another. He started that medley with "Somebody Get Me a Doctor", then played one recognizable riff after another, for about 10 minutes. It was nothing short of phenomenal. If this guy comes to a venue near you, I'd highly recommend you going to see him, if you like instrumental guitar rock. There are no vocals, unless you are lucky enough to be at a show where a guest like Mike Anthony shows up. This show was recorded and will be released as a live album and DVD.
Now, the million dollar question.
Me: "Why can't you guys release the album?"
John 5: (With a big grin on his face) "He's in Van Halen".
Me: "What's that got to do with it?"
John 5: Throwing his hands out, palms up, and still grinning, "He's in Van Halen".
I did not press that issue any further, and cannot speculate as to what that exactly means. I can say, both times I've spoken to him about this album, he was very positive about the recordings, and how good they are. I of course wouldn't expect him to tell me (or anyone) the songs suck, but man, he lights up when talking about it. He is genuinely excited about how these songs turned out. I will choose to believe this album will one day come out. I sure hope so.
I did not get to hear any of the music, as he literally had nothing with him. All of his stuff was at his Mom's house. When we were walking out of the venue, one of his buddies picked him up in an older Ford Taurus to take him back to his Mom's house! He's a really down to earth dude, and just extremely nice.
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