Alain Johannes...

["Matthew J. Pogue" <mjpogue@csulb.edu>]

Hey all,

Great to see all the talk about Nels... Yea, he is one amazing musician
and I've also been fortunate to see him live many a time...

However, I went to see Chris Cornell on Friday at the Wiltern in Los
Angeles, and aside from being impressed with his guitarist Alain
Johannes' work done on the album, I was even more impressed to see his
set-up live!  I was too far away to really see all what he was using,
but about 2/3 into the set everyone went off the stage except him, and
then he just UNLEASHED with this amazing feedback/loop/solo that he had
going on for a few minutes on his own.  I was totally blown away-- it
was very full and lush and beautiful!  And he was just attacking his
guitar...  The pedal down there that may have been his looper (among
many), was a black pedalboard/multieffects looking thing that had two
expression pedals built into it...  One of which he was using as an
octaver while playing (similar to the Digitech Whammy...)  Seemed he was
using that at the beginning and end of his solo extraviganza!  Not being
versed in what's out there, I don't know what that could be, but it sure
as hell was looping...

Also, he had three Line 6 amps up there on stage creating his tone,
which was quite impressive (and I am very much a tone purist who
normally shy's away from anything digital in my guitar chain)...  I
don't know what models they were-- if they were pure tube amps or the
modelling amps I've seen at the store-- but they really sounded great...

Anyway, check his stuff out with Chris (great sounds...), and hopefully
we'll be seeing more of him in the future!!!  And more solo work!

-M