Tryphoon’s Lair

Time flies… It has now been a couple of month since Camp Freddy took residency at the Roxy Theater for a full month. As memories tend to fade and it would have been to much to detail each gig, I thought I should give you a little video mashup of that month.

For those of you who don’t know Camp Freddy, who never heard of Camp Freddy or simply have a doubt, the band is made of several of the best rock musicians available these days. The current line up is made of:

• Dave Navarro - Guitar (Jane’s Addiction, The Panic Channel and Red Hot Chili Peppers)
• Billy Morrison - Guitar (Circus Diablo, The Cult and Doheny)
• Matt Sorum - Drums (Velvet Revolver, Guns N’ Roses and The Cult)
• Donovan Leitch, Jr. - Vocals (Nancy Boy)
• Chris Chaney - Bass (Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders, Jane’s Addiction and The Panic Channel)

Just this to me justifies to attend any of their gig anywhere in LA.

We used to listen to their radio show when we used to live in London (not in real time though) and I must admit that some of the life described during these weekly shows might have been one of the selling points when it came to move to California! And you have to agree that Sunset Boulevard and The Roxy, being two of the major landmarks of rock history, were the perfect place for these guys to enjoy a full month of residency.

What makes this band so special? Apart from the fact that they are possibly the best in their individual fields and sound terrific? They have tons of friends and the trademark of Camp Freddy is to have them perform randomly at each gig!

The list is too long to detail but the main acts I can remember during this month of gigs are Nuno Bettancourt (Extreme), Billy Duffy (The Cult), Billy Idol, Brett Scallions (Tools), Chad Smith (RHCP), Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), Corey Taylor (Slipknot), Cypress Hill, Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe),Duff McKagan (Guns’N'Roses, Velvet Revolver), Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Juliette Lewis, Lemmy (Motorhead), Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray), Robbie Krieger (The Doors… Yes, The Doors), Slash (Guns’N'Roses), Warren DeMartini (RATT), Wayne Static, Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard), MacQueen. Basically, 90% of my dream team when it comes to playing or listening to music!

I should have blogged on a weekly basis as so many things happened there but the highlights of this month to me were:

• bumping into Lemmy on day one and being given “the look” as I was still dressed in “Corporate America” style (including a pink shirt)
• a monstrous rendition of “Paradise City” by Slash, Duff and Matt Sorum (60% of the Old GnR), sung by Chester from Linkin Park. I went berserk!
• a masterpiece version of “All Right Now” sung by Corey Taylor (Slipknot)
• Tommy Lee breaking a drum kit (or so we were told, as Matt Sorum though he was too drunk to play another song)
• having a couple of beers with Chad Smith (RHCP) and some of his friends (Sarah went nuts)

Most of the pictures for these gigs are to be found under the “PrettyPics” section, sorted by gig; Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 and Week 5.

And even more interesting, here are links to a couple of videos I shot and YouTubed of Jerry Cantrell and Billy Duffy playing Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak” and Juliette Lewis singing AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)”.

It is definitely good to live here when it comes to rock music!