Live at Budokan

The top pic is of me at the famous Budokan. This is the place where The Beatles first preformed in Japan. It is also the place where numerous live albums have been recorded including "Cheep Trick", Deep Purple", and Ozzy Osbourne, among others. As far as I can tell not too many concerts take place there now. The band Asia will be preforming a the CC Lemon hall, which I happen to run into last week in Tokyo. As far as I know the concert is sold out. Not only that but I would not be able to take off work to go see it because it falls soon after my summer break.

By the way: For those of you who don't know, I will be coming home Aug 3rd thru the the 16th. Hope to see most of you then. It will be nice to see my friends and my family.

Tribute

When I first started getting serious about guitar, one of my major influences was this album. Or maybe I should say this guitar player. Randy Rhoads was not only a influence but a inspiration to me. It's been over 20 years since his death and I feel it's time to pay my dues to this man.
One thing that still amazes me is the difference between the studio albums and the live performances. Randy did not just reproduce what was one the album, but he redefined it. The recording was the score but the live performance was the life of the music. For me this was not just "cool " music to listen to, but it was a way in which a person can progress as a musician.
I never respected Ozzys music until this album came out.
One thing I want to make clear is that my guitar playing does not sound like Randy's. But from what I have read about him as a guitar teacher he would not want me to sound like him. "Find your own voice." For me that is what this album represents. On the other hand, when playing Crazy Train, it's best not to stray away from the original solo too much. Some things are best left just as they are.