John Hendow

This Saturday the Dudley Manlove Quartet will be taking the stage at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard, hosting our annual Halloween Ball! Every year the band performs part of the night as another band. This year we’ll be performing a number of David Bowie songs, which is going to be a lot of fun. Bowie has had some formidable guitar slingers in his band and I’m enjoying learning their parts for these songs.

Come on down to the Sunset and join us for a fun night for costumed madness. We’ll dish up some GLAM to make the night warmer!

On Thursday 10/14 The Dudley Manlove Quartet performed at Experience Music Project in Seattle. From 2000-2005 I worked for Experience Music Project in the IT department, and it is always a pleasure to return to the museum to see the latest exhibits. During load-in and throughout the evening I encountered familiar faces. Bonds of friendship with co-workers are always wonderful, especially among those who participated in the construction and grand opening of the museum facility. We played in the Sky Church, a large performance space with beautiful lighting and sound. The stage was generously large and we made good use of the free space to roam. I discovered during our first set that my wireless guitar system was giving me trouble; it should have occurred to me that the museum is very high-tech and there are a lot of wireless signals bouncing around inside the building. My wireless system is a pure digital bitstream but relies on a carrier signal at 2.4 Ghz, one of the most crowded consumer frequencies. During the set break I switched over to a guitar cable and had no further problems.
We played a fairly typical set for this kind of show. The audience seemed interested in the music but no on really danced until late into the second set. By the time we hit the stage for the third set everyone was happily dancing and enthusiastically shouting requests. If you made a graph of “patron enthusiasm vs time since no-host bar opening” you might discover a meaningful pattern…

On Thursday 10/14 The Dudley Manlove Quartet performed at Experience Music Project in Seattle. From 2000-2005 I worked for Experience Music Project in the IT department, and it is always a pleasure to return to the museum to see the latest exhibits. During load-in and throughout the evening I encountered familiar faces. Bonds of friendship with co-workers are always wonderful, especially among those who participated in the construction and grand opening of the museum facility. We played in the Sky Church, a large performance space with beautiful lighting and sound. The stage was generously large and we made good use of the free space to roam. I discovered during our first set that my wireless guitar system was giving me trouble; it should have occurred to me that the museum is very high-tech and there are a lot of wireless signals bouncing around inside the building. My wireless system is a pure digital bitstream but relies on a carrier signal at 2.4 Ghz, one of the most crowded consumer frequencies. During the set break I switched over to a guitar cable and had no further problems. We played a fairly typical set for this kind of show. The audience seemed interested in the music but no on really danced until late into the second set. By the time we hit the stage for the third set everyone was happily dancing and enthusiastically shouting requests. If you made a graph of “patron enthusiasm vs time since no-host bar opening” you might discover a meaningful pattern…The event had another stage in the Science Fiction Museum area, where the Michael Powers band was playing. He is a great guitarist and I’ve always admired his playing. A friend of mine (also a former EMP employee) is his bassist. We shared one large dressing room with the other band, so there was the traditional swapping of strange road stories and musical jokes. Always a pleasure to spend time with friends in other bands. At the end of the night we managed to load out and get home at a fairly reasonable hour. Another great show with the Dudley crew, and we’re looking forward to our big Halloween extravaganza!

Over this past weekend I spent some time working on the David Bowie songs we’ll be playing at the Dudley Manlove Quartet’s “Scary Monsters Halloween Ball”. We’re doing a bunch of great songs and it’s always interesting to learn the guitar parts from these classic tunes. Over the year, Bowie has been visited by pantheon of guitar deities: Mick Ronson, Earl Slick, Robert Fripp, Carlos Alomar, Peter Frampton, Reeves Gabrels, Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Torn, and Adrian Belew. Recreating the tones and notes of such distinctive guitarists is a treat, and it’s something I approach with respect and admiration. I’m always amazed to look at the long career Bowie has had, and consider that during all these varied decades, he’s remained musically relevant and a trendsetter. I regard him as one of the most influential and important musicians of the past 50 years. Halloween will be great fun and I am really looking forward to playing these songs. Join us for a fun night of music and dancing.