Guitar shredder Yngwie Malmsteen kicked off his U.S. tour last night at House of Blues. Mugging for the photographers in the pit at the front of the stage, he posed more than he played and the performance unintentionally came off as parody. The evidence: he played in front of a giant stack of precariously balanced Marshall amplifiers, only two of which appeared to be turned on; he flicked so many guitar picks into the audience that a roadie had to come out and restock his supply on a regular basis; he wore tight fitting leather pants and a black unbuttoned shirt; he was selling T-shirts that read “Yngwie Fucking Malmsteen.” Enough said.
This article appears in Apr 17-23, 2013.
Joe Kleon should have stayed home! Terrible review. He’s so amazing and able to play songs one-handed that he CAN pose for pics for his fans without missing a note. He was absolutely incredible. His playing was so effortless that he makes it look easy. Thank goodness he DIDN’T turn on all the stacks! He probably couldn’t due to city ordnances etc or the venue wouldn’t allow it. I saw him play 8 yrs ago at Peabody’s Down Under and he had ALL his stacks turned on and it was incredibly loud that it was almost unbearable to tolerate for the first 30 minutes…killer show but the soundwaves were rattling my body…too intense. This time it was loud enough to enjoy. So, no…you DON’T know what you’re talking about, Joe. Obviously you’re not a guitar player or a fan of Yngwie…or even a fan of guitar or else you’d appreciate his virtuousity! He IS among the greatest living guitar players in the world today along with Satriani and Vai. Metallica also flicks out tons of pics…so do many bands. Yngwie has been doing this since the 80’s. But he’s not stopping the show to just re-stock…although there were technical difficulties with a few guitar pickups or volume knobs since he switched to Seymour Duncans. But the sound was awesome! Great pickups! Malmsteen’s outfit is a little retro for today but he’s cool enought to pull-off that look because he delivers the goods with his guitar playing and stage presence. His t-shirts tell the truth…unlike you! Shame on such a superficial review. Scene should hire ME and fire your butt!
Geez, try to say this name five times fast, lol.
Heck, try to say that name at all, no offense or anything.
”Enough” WHAT, you dullard? If you want to put forth an argument, you have to back it up with convincing explanations. So what if he throws his picks? He’s been doing it for almost 40 years, yeah that’s a lot of picks, so what. He wore this. He did that. So what, dullard. There’s stuff I like about Malmsteen and things I don’t like about him, but one thing is certain: he’s not the mediocrity YOU are. Enough. 🙂