Metal favourites Porcupine Tree are set to return to the UK in November
for two dates in Oxford and London. Further dates are also expected to follow
in December.
In a moment of musical history that will no doubt leave Sheffield’s finest The Arctic Monkeys cringing, Welsh crooner Tom Jones picked the Concert for Diana to unveil his version of I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, the massive hit that cemented the Monkeys’ rise to fame.
American alt-legends Sonic Youth have stunned their fans by announcing the release of a new compilation album… through Starbucks. The album is due to feature at least one new Sonic Youth track and will be available for sale throughout the Starbucks chain.
Never mind the Concert For Diana or Live Earth – July 9th is the date when the new Wembley Stadium will really get put through its live music paces as Metallica thunder into town for the stadium’s first ever metal gig. The bill just got heavier as well, with Metallica’s Bay Area buddies Machine Head joining the party as the main support act.
Midlands guitar heroes Editors crashed back into the album charts on Sunday as their second album An End Has A Beginning debuted at number one. The four piece from Birmingham beat Kelly Clarkson to the top spot.
“Oh my gosh, Heartbreaker. That was the track
for me when I was kid. The reason I started playing
guitar was that solo! It was funny because I knew it
was kind of reckless and crazy and I remember when I
first understood the concept of overdubbing, I thought
that he was overdubbing. I thought there were like three
guitars or something on that solo. I used to bring my
friends over and I’d say ‘Listen to this
¬– that’s one guitar!’ and I thought
I was lying!”
Given that so many contemporary rock bands are taking
inspiration from Vai’s playing, might we ever
see him as a member of a band again? His famous stints
in groups such has David Lee Roth’s touring band
and Whitesnake, not to mention Frank Zappa’s band,
now seem an awfully long time ago compared to his seminal
solo work.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Vai isn’t so keen on
leaping aboard anyone else’s musical bandwagon.
“I should never say never. If the right situation
came along and the people involved were really…
If there was a chemistry there that would work, I’d
think about it,” he reasons. “But really
I’m very selfish when it comes to making my own
music. Like many artists. You get a vision in your head
and it’s a particular way and because I have the
opportunity to make that vision real and undiluted,
why not? That’s the thing that excites me most
of all.
“You know, the record companies usually mentor
or work with the artists who need the help. With me
they’re like, ‘Okay this is Vai and whatever
he gives us is whatever we’ve got’. It’s
not that I don’t like working with people. I’ve
been a very dutiful soldier. All of the other bands
I’ve been in, whenever I’m working with
somebody, I know what’s expected of me as far
as my contribution is concerned and I work my hardest.
A band is about contributions from everybody.
“But when it comes to my music I hear it a certain
way and that’s it and that’s the end of
the story and there’s nothing else.”
The thousands of fans cramming into Excel to catch a
glimpse of Vai would probably be very glad to hear that.
Perhaps more than any other guitarist, Vai represents
an artistic and creative freedom that most players only
fantasise about. His is a lonely but inspired journey,
and it couldn’t really have ever been otherwise
from the day he was born, with all those sixes pointing
the way.
