As promised, I'm finally getting around to posting my experience and thoughts on my very first NAMM show! First, I need to thank my friends Nelson (link) and Jan (link) for bringing me along and showing me the ropes. Also, a huge thanks to my friends at Tycoon Percussion (link) for sponsoring me!
My trip began with a 2 hour drive from Southern Maryland to Washington DC. (Just a few days prior, I had made the move from Philly down to SoMD!) The TSA people were actually quite funny and good-humored at Dulles. From DC, I went to Chicago, had a surprise layover in Kansas City, and eventually wound-up in LA where I met-up with Nelson and Jan.
We were all famished and slurped down some delicious, local Mexican food then made our way to Anaheim and made preparations for the days ahead. This was what my walk looked like every morning:
The poor Southern Californians were suffering through a cold front with highs in the mid 60s. My Philly friends told me they got snow dumped on them right after I left. This picture was from Day 1. In the coming days, the sidewalk would be filled with musicians. Just to rub it in, here's a shot from the balcony of the convention center:
Unfortunately, I didn't take too many pictures as I was overwhelmed with the orgy of musical goodness happening around me. Over the course of the convention, I rubbed shoulders with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Alice Cooper, Eric Johnson, Andy McKee, and Thomas Leeb (more on that later). In addition to every music-related product you could think of, they had some things you probably didn't know existed like a cube that worked as a versatile percussion instrument, a stick that played both bass parts and percussion, and a full drum set you could play with your feet:
More pictures on the way in Part 2!
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