came out of the control room and had us
play by ourselves, offering comments in
a calm demeanor. Even after decades of
engineering incredible albums with some of
the greatest artists ever to write a song, he
clearly still knows how to have fun and keep
himself firmly grounded. It made my personal experience even better when he had me
play, and then grabbed the neck of my guitar and started to play a tapping solo! I had
no idea what to do, except yell, “Hey Bruce!
Get a photo of this!” while I goofed off and
played another tapping line a string higher.
That moment of hilarity was one of the best
memories that I have of the camp: the time
that Eddie Kramer and I did a ridiculous EVH
impersonation together.
Put on the spotlights one and all
Our arrival at The Whisky A Go Go was
accompanied by the strangest feeling—it
was so… empty. After a moment, we were
refueled by the realization that in a short
time it would be packed to the brim with
spectators there to be entertained. I probably spent five minutes just staring at the
stage itself, reminding myself that this was
where Otis Redding recorded In Person. It
was pretty cool getting to walk around the
place in silence, wondering what idols had
sat in those comfy leather booths, and how
many times Motley Crüe had gotten wasted
at the bar upstairs.
When the time finally came, we were ready.
The set started off just as we’d planned,
ripping into “Helter Skelter,” and boy was
it a rush! When I looked up after slamming
that G-chord after the intro, memories of
all four days rushed together all at once.
It felt freaking awesome. I recall some of
the shows I’ve played with my own bands
as high points in my life, and this one most
certainly ranked up there with them. When
we closed the set with our original and then
“Highway to Hell,” we knew had owned
that stage, if only for a short while. Just
when the moment couldn’t have gotten any
more amazing, I looked up and saw Todd
Jordan with Share Ross.
