I’ve been avoiding this blog — most things online, really, except Twitter ’cause it’s too damn easy — since I got back from the NAMM show last weekend. It’s such a maximum saturation of sound and technology and booze and rich food and loud personalities and non-stop business… I always need time to decompress once it’s over.
At this point, however, I’ve gone through all my photos, fulfilled my NAMM-related day job duties, and effectively gotten over the feeling of sensory overload.
Since I spent the whole time I was there firing off Twitter posts about the experience and photos from the showroom floor, I’m not all that inclined to rehash it all through some novel-lenth blog post. It suffices to say that it was everything I expected — washed out rock stars who now earn livings as gear endorsers; the worst fashion sense ever; the same damn guitar riff / keyboard run / bass tapping / techno mixing emanating from every booth on the show floor, played by throngs unimaginative musicians from all over the world; lots of non-stop running around and business wheeling-and-dealing; and lots of booze.
But it’s not all bad. I witnessed marathon performances three days in a row from Dr. Lonnie Smith at the Hammond organ booth, which was conveniently located just down the aisle from my company’s booth. I played a lot of instruments I would otherwise never touch, like a seven-thousand-dollar ukulele; and I even bought a new musical toy after a few shots of tequila, some playtime with the thing, and a good deal offer. I always see a handful of people whom I only ever get to see at this show — some friends, and some business associates who I actually genuinely like as people and would hang out with outside of work. I had a great meal, and drinks and cigars around an outdoor fire pit, with with some good people at a posh spot on the hill overlooking the OC. I slept in a company-funded hotel room with a California King bed all to myself and a bathroom sink full of ice, beer, water and coffee.
Despite the grumbling I may do about the things I don’t like about NAMM, and despite the fact that I’m pretty much done buying large pieces of musical equipment, I’m always glad that I went.
Besides, what it’s really all about is gear porn:
