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November 13th, 2009 by Foxopoly Guitar Hero: Page HamiltonThursday November 5th I met a true guitar hero.
The legendary Page Hamilton was in Anchorage, Alaska the first week of November. Not entirely sure what brought him up, but it sounds like he just had the opportunity and the small opening in his schedule to make the trip. In the spirit of some of the old blues guitar players it was a chance for him to go somewhere foreign sans band and jam with some unknown musicians- and jam Page did. I’d known for a couple of weeks that something called “Alaska’s Helmet Featuring Page Hamilton” was going on at the world famous Chilkoot Charlie’s bar on November 6th. Anchorage is famous for events cancelling last minute due to whatever..ie, weather, volcanic eruptions, low ticket sales, so I was not sure what to expect out of this if anything at all. It was also near impossible to get any other info on this appearance though not from a lack of trying. A buddy texted Thursday afternoon that Page would be making an appearance at local music store Mammoth Music to put on a short guitar clinic. There was virtually no time to promote this though Mammoth had run a radio ad and made some fliers to post around. With my family in tow we ventured out and waited patiently for Page to show. The clinic was fantastic with a decent turnout regardless of the lack of notice. Page explained that the clinic came to light when he was at the downtown Mammoth earlier and they just happened to have one of his signature ESP guitars in the store (LTD Signature I in aluminum finish). Mr. Hamilton explained a lot of his musical history, told some hilarious anecdotes, and was eager to answer any and all questions that anyone may have had. He took us through his signature ESP’s creation and showcased some sweet licks. Partly Jazz and partly Helmet riffs though he never once stomped on his distortion pedal….a little bit agonizing…I know I was not the only one that wanted some VOLUME! Little did I know that I would soon be present for possibly one of the most intimate Helmet shows ever put on. The clinic went on for a good two hours and was very enlightening. Page talked about some lessons from his new DVD ‘Sonic Shapes’ and shared some insites to some famous Helmet chord progressions. He told many personal stories and talked about his 20 Years of Helmet visual art endeavor. It almost felt like he would have gone on all night, but Page was also interested in going out and grabbing some food and a beer! Who could blame him? I would have loved to tag along, but it was time to get my family home and my young son in bed. Some day he will be amazed to have been in the presence of such greatness. We stayed after the clinic to meet Page presonally, shake hands, tell him thanks. Earlier that afternoon I had taken the front license plate off my truck. I was just going to have him sign it, but decided quickly that I really wanted to just give it to him. When your plate reads UNSUNG who else would you give it to? He was enamored with the gift and seemed genuinely thankful insisting that he knew right where he was going to hang it. I was over the moon. He signed my copy of ‘Betty’ and posed for some pics and we called it a night.
Jump to Friday. A buddy and me made our way to Koots still not knowing what to expect. We had no idea what musicians had been selected to back up Page. There were two opening bands for the show (Evil Ted and the Thick Pink Antiseptic & Dopiate) and while enjoying them and talking to others in the small crowd I was able to piece together who some of the musicians were going to be. Page hung out near the sound board and watched the openers too. Soon after Page made his way to the stage and started to set up his own gear. As far as I could tell it was a JCM 900 head with an unknown make of 4 x 12 cab along with the Sig ESP from the night before. Possibly all borrowed equipment courtesy of Mammoth minus his pedal board. Page took the stage with members of Dopiate for the first half of the set and Saturday Sleeper for the second half. Without being said the show was stellar. Eight crushing, classic Helmet jams. This is the set list as best I can remember. May not be 100%, but is close: Unsung Talked to Page again for a minute after the set and he gave me and my buddy each a guitar pick. Hope that he knew how gracious I was. Damn, what a night to remember. Huge thanks to Alcatraz Records, Chris, Forrest at Mammoth, members of Saturday Sleeper and Dopiate and most of all PAGE!!!!!! |
