Randy Rhoads Remembered NAMM 2014

TICHY/SUTTON PRODUCTIONS presents Randy Rhoads Remembered - An All-Star Celebration Of A Legend at the Observatory, Santa Ana NAMM 2014.

Brian Tichy pulled together not one but two tribute shows this year at NAMM 2014, the first the Annual NAMM Bonzo Bash tribute to John Bonham, and this year added a Randy Rhoads Remembered night, showcasing a plethora of the greatest rock guitarists of our generation to play classic songs from Randy-era Ozzy and Quiet Riot and honor the life and influential career of one of the most celebrated guitarist of our time. The Rhoads family were on hand for the event, with Randy’s sister Kathy Rhoads on hand to reminisce, and brother Kelle Rhoads to sing a few memorable songs for the event.

With a back up band the “Madmen” made up of Rudy Sarzo and Phil Soussan on bass, Stephen LeBlanc on Keys, Robert Mason, Chas West, Neil Turbin and Michael Devin on vox, Brian Tichy on a variety of tasks, including drums, guitar, vocals, conversation, and meandering stories, the night showcased a number of guitarist and guests as they gave us a musical night to remember.

The bulk of the tribute concentrated on the Blizzard of Ozz and the Diary of a Madman albums played in entirity, with a few surprises thrown in throughout the night. From Kelle Rhoads singing Quiet Riot’s “Back to the Coast” and “Killer Girls” with Jeff young on guitar, to Phil X “Stealing Away” the night, Gus G shredding on a “Crazy Train”, Brad Gillis smoking on “Suicide Solution”, the greats kept coming and the solos kept blowing the crowd away.

Randy’s former guitar student Janet Robin soloed with the youngest contributer (her student) Garret Podgorski, who tore up “Tonight” for his first big stage performance. Rowan Roberson ripped through “Revelation Mother Earth” with special guest violinist Armand Meinbardis, Alex Skolnick killed on “Believer”, Kiko Loureiro followed with a powerhouse “Flying high Again”.

Guitarists made a triple attack with Jeff Young, Robert Sarzo and Mike Orlando performing together on “Over the Mountain”, and Nuno Bettencourt totally blew the crowd away with an amazing performance on “Diary of a Madman”. Marty Freidman played a soulful “Goodbye to Romance”, Joel Hoekstra banged his head (and hair) to “Little Dolls”, and Phil Demmel ripped it up on “I Don’t Know”.

Drummer Ray Luzier sat in on drums and Tichy took a turn on guitar for “No Bone Movies”, and drummer Corky Laing pounded out an extended “Mississippi Queen” with several drummers and guest grabbing cowbells and piling on stage. Ron Bumblefoot Thal played a fretless DoubleBfoot Vigier for “Mr Cowley” (yes a fretless Rhoads solo), Brent Woods kicked off S.A.T.O., and Tracii Guns let loose with a mean “Iron Man”. There may be a few missed, there were so many people on stage and coming and going it was hard to keep track, but everyone poured their heart, soul and talents into an unbelievable night and tribute to on of the most loved guitarists of our time.

The finale of the night was a stage full of most of the guitarists from the night lined up on stage doing a group acoustic “Dee”, with Rhoads family and even more of the players watching, for a tear jerking ending to a night of stunning guitar performances and a lot of fun and stories and reminiscing about Randy thrown in. Hope this becomes an annual NAMM event just like the honored Bonzo Bash, the night brought great memories and new ones in tribute to Randy Rhoads.

There are plenty of video and photos out there from this show, YouTube has a ton from almost every guitarist present, and the Randy Rhoads Remembered facebook has links to some and photo galleries from the show. Check out the facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RandyRhoadsRemembered.