John Hendow

This week I’ll be prepping another round of new songs for 80s Invasion. I need to finish programming tones and “put the eyebrows on*” some of the guitar parts. These songs will be performed on New Year’s Eve in Portland, but we’ve also added two Seattle shows (12/15 at the CHAC and 1/9 at the Triple Door), so I’ve got a bit of practicing ahead of me this week.

Among the new tracks is one of my favorites from the 80s: “Big Country”. I never saw this band perform live, but I have seen a few of their concerts on DVD. They somehow got their electric guitars to sound remarkably like bagpipes. My tone programming will be a challenge.

The other pressing challenge this week will be learning some new backup vocal parts. Until I started to really dig into some of these songs, I hadn’t realized how complex some of the vocal arrangements were. Those Duran Duran songs in particular… zoinks! I haven’t decided what to wear for our gigs. I don’t remember what I used to wear back in the 80s. I am pretty sure it was black. I could go sort of generic new wave, but it would be fun to balance the rest of the band’s look with something a little more rocking. I wonder if I could get my hair into a crazy mowhawk like I did in high school… 

For these gigs, I will probably use my standard guitar rig:

• Audio Technica wireless 
• Line6 Pod XT Live
• TC Electronic G Force processor
• Stewart 60W power amp
• 2 Mesa / Boogie guitar cabinets
• Fender Stratocaster (main guitar)
• Fender Stratocaster (backup)
• Jackson Soloist (alternate – for rock tones)

* I borrow this term from Frank Zappa, who used it in reference to putting the finishing details on a piece of music.