So last night for my husband’s birthday, we went to see Generation Axe, an amalgam of 5 top guitar soloists in the rock/metal/instrumental genre, if I didn’t just make that up.
I love live music. I do. I swear. But this concert…not so much.
I’ve been doing a postmortem the day after trying to figure out why I didn’t like it.
Normally, I’m a huge fan of guitar virtuosos, really enjoying when they cut loose during a solo and take the music to unexpected places. These guys? Not so much.
If I filter out all of the other externalities that lent themselves to a less than enjoyable experience (my God, but it was loud! I had ear protection and was about 10 rows away from the very back of the theatre, yet my ears are still ringing 18 hours later! It was way too warm in there! The concert was 3.5 hours on a Sunday night!), I think I have discovered why the event was not to my liking. Too many chefs. Not enough cooks.
These 5 guitar soloists are all well-known and can be considered leaders in their respective genres. They are huge parts, if not leaders, of their own separate bands. They are each used to the spotlight (hence the term “soloist”). And here they were together, sharing the stage, each doing his own “thing” with the hair, the kicking, the strange stage moves, the fog machine. I didn’t know who to look at first! It was as if each one was screaming LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT MEEEEEEE!
In theory, this should have been an amazing show. Instead, it was a hodgepodge of individual personalities and styles, not at all pleasing.
Not sure what the message is here, but I’m fairly certain there is one hiding somewhere. I’m just too tired to figure it out. See for yourself:
