John Hendow

 My first gig with Black Celebration was last Saturday night and it went pretty well. I had a limited amount of preparation time, so it was a bit of a scramble to prepare for this show. The show was quite a lot of fun and I look forward to working with them again. The band members are good friends of mine, and I’ve worked with them all in numerous musical settings. It was a comfortable and professional atmosphere, and overall I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

Because Depeche Mode has such a dense texture in their arrangements, I was trying to be careful of filling too much space. In this context my guitar parts were generally percussive and sparse. I did a lot of palm muting to keep from muddying up the balance of the mix, and my effects patches were completely dry (no reverb or other guitar effects). The songs with signature guitar parts, such Personal Jesus and Enjoy The Silence were the most challenging to nail. For these, I approached the songs by transcribing the guitar parts myself to ensure accuracy. As much as I appreciate online sources of shorthand and guitar tablature, the versions made available online are never sufficiently accurate or complete.

Read the rest of this post for the set list and other details.

Set List from 5/5/2007

behind the wheel
world in my eyes
lie to me
blasphemous rumours
question of time
shake the disease
fly on the windscreen
strangelove
policy of truth
people are people
just can’t get enough
master and servant
personal jesus
enjoy the silence

ENCORE SET

halo
rush
i feel loved
but not tonight
it’s no good

– – –

Whenever I get a chance to play my black Stratocaster onstage, I am reminded of what an incredible instrument it is. I am lucky that it found me. Between the magic pickups and the amazing setup, it’s a slice of guitar heaven.  

Another interesting point from last Saturday night was the other band on the bill “Sky’s Gone Out”, a tribute to Bauhaus. I have always loved Bauhaus… they’re probably one of my top 3 favorite bands. The tribute was very good and nice guys to boot. I look forward to sharing bills with them in the future.