Local heavy metal label, Rock Empire (
While the popular heavy metal label's previous master class -- which was hosted by Neil Zaza, a touring representative for guitar manufacturing giant Peavey -- was not as successful as organizers had hoped, tickets for Friedman's are selling well and the gigs are expected to be sellouts.
Better known for his work with thrash-metal combo, Megadeth, Friedman has, in fact, been on the cutting edge of the shred-guitar music scene since the 1980s, releasing his first solo effort, Dragon's Kiss, in 1988.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ROCK EMPIRE MUSIC
Friedman first cut his teeth in the world of shred-guitar in 1987, when, clad in tight leather pants and bedecked in a bandanna and other such kitsch 1980s attire, he teamed up with Jason Becker to form the neo-classical-metal combo, Cacophony. Following the release of the band's debut album, Speed Metal Symphony -- an album packed with warp-speed riffs and edge-of-the-seat solos -- Friedman quickly became an air-guitarists' wet dream and an icon for the speed-metal hardcore.
Cacophony imploded in 1989, and while Becker went on to replace Steve Vai in David Lee Roth's backup band, Friedman went on to join thrash-metal quartet Megadeth, where he remained for 10 years.
His 1990 debut album with the band, Rust in Peace was to prove Friedman's crowning moment. The album is still regarded by many as one of the most technically accomplished thrash-metal albums of all time. Friedman stunned heavy/thrash-metal fans in 1992 when he teamed up with Japanese star Kitaro for the dreamy, Asian-tinged instrumental album Scenes. After 10 years and six albums Friedman parted company with Megadeth in 2000 in order to pursue his solo career.
Earlier this year Friedman released his fifth and first pre-Megadeth solo effort, Music for Speeding, a fiery instrumental rock album on which Friedman shreds his guitar through what one popular UK music magazine dubbed "rock 'yer ass off straight shootin' no bullshit rock."
Shred guitarists who can't make Friedman's gigs need not worry, as Rock Empire's master classes will continue in mid-December, when Reign of Terror's Joe Stump will be bringing his own brand of neo-classical heavy metal to Taipei and Taichung.
Marty Friedman will be appearing in Taipei at 7:30pm tonight at the The Youth Cultural and Artistic Center (
7:30pm. On Sunday, Friedman will be performing at Blue Fantasy's Wufu branch (
Tickets for all shows cost NT$500 and are available at the door. For further information call (02) 3765 1861.
A vaccine to fight dementia? It turns out there may already be one — shots that prevent painful shingles also appear to protect aging brains. A new study found shingles vaccination cut older adults’ risk of developing dementia over the next seven years by 20 percent. The research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, is part of growing understanding about how many factors influence brain health as we age — and what we can do about it. “It’s a very robust finding,” said lead researcher Pascal Geldsetzer of Stanford University. And “women seem to benefit more,” important as they’re at higher risk of
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
Last week the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that the budget cuts voted for by the China-aligned parties in the legislature, are intended to force the DPP to hike electricity rates. The public would then blame it for the rate hike. It’s fairly clear that the first part of that is correct. Slashing the budget of state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) is a move intended to cause discontent with the DPP when electricity rates go up. Taipower’s debt, NT$422.9 billion (US$12.78 billion), is one of the numerous permanent crises created by the nation’s construction-industrial state and the developmentalist mentality it
Experts say that the devastating earthquake in Myanmar on Friday was likely the strongest to hit the country in decades, with disaster modeling suggesting thousands could be dead. Automatic assessments from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow 7.7-magnitude quake northwest of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing triggered a red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” it said, locating the epicentre near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, home to more than a million people. Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Saturday morning that the number killed had
RSS