Guitar Legends goes off
https://www.southlandmusos.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/20210513_231923-1024x768.jpg 1024 768 Southlandmusos Southlandmusos https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/edc577ca76d14e8473db43cfed86dc67?s=96&d=mm&r=gGuitar Legends is over for another year, and this one was a beauty.
The show ran over two nights, May 12 and 13, 2021, with a full house on the Thursday night and a great atmosphere in the Rhythm Lounge.
This was the 14th year the club has staged this exhibition of local guitar talent since and musos club president Trevor Daley reckoned it was one of the best yet. It would have been the 15th consecutive show if Covid-19 hadn’t got in the way and forced its cancellation in 2020.
Initially Trev had envisioned that the show would be a one-off when he produced the first one back in 2007, but the concept has proved enduringly successful, unearthing new talent each year. This year audiences saw a bunch of talented newbies who haven’t performed in Guitar Legends before, plus a host of well-known regulars. The newbies included Jimmy Anders and Tom Kilkelly, from Dark House, George Charleson, Sam Herring and Tyler Reynolds, as well as Tanzin Rika, who played in the backing band. All of them brought plenty to the party. As well, we had notable regulars including Ross Ogilvy, Simon Thompson, Vance Manu, Peter Colvin, Warena “Waz” Brown and John Amos, plus guest vocalists including Steve Russell, Jo Ward and Cathy McRae.
Trev thinks the concept for the show works so well because of the high standard of musicianship on display and the wide variety of musical genres represented. This years there were performances of pop, jazz, blues, hard rock, thrash metal and progressive metal, with almost everything in between. Southland guitarists performed their tributes to artists ranging from Sting to Dire Straits to John Mayer to Thin Lizzy to T Rex to Iron Maiden to Pantera to Dream Theatre, with some unexpected surprises.
Rehearsal for this year’s show. Jo Ward, Marcus Crowe, Roger Chilton, Brad Smart and Tanzin Rika.
“It’s good to see a lot of guitarists doing something they wouldn’t normally do with their bands,’’ Trev says.
The house band made up of Roger Chilton (drums), Chris Chilton (bass), Marcus Crowe (keyboards) and Tanzin Rika (guitar) backed most of the guitarists, but there were guest appearances by several other bands, as well as a roster of lead vocalists. Long-time MC Carl Mills again fronted the show.
It was a big show, with around 25 songs, and the standard of guitarists on show was relentlessly high. Nobody seemed to mind that the show kicked on until around 11pm, because there was so much going on on stage.
“I think only the Southland Musicians Club could pull this off,’’ Trev reckons. “There could be another show in New Zealand like it, but I doubt it. It’s a pretty unique show, and I always appreciate that all the guitarists are keen to do it.”
Bring on next year’s show!
