2009 Kickoff Event: Michael Lee Firkins

[lipeguitars]

Michael Lee Firkins is one of the most tasteful and original player's I've ever heard he was is and always will be my hero .

[HappySpaceInvdr]

Went o see Michael Lee Firkins at the Venue in Edinburgh back in 1991 after his first album. The best guitar instrumental gig I've ever been to; although he got a bit pissed off at some of the sarcastic comments from the audience during a Q&A session in the middle of the gig. Someone asked if he could make his guitar sound like a helicopter...

[pushbuttonhorse]

Carmine Appice is the drummer the best ever!!!!

[buergie]

@pushbuttonhorse

Maybe - but this has nothing to do with this video. :)

[pushbuttonhorse]

@buergie Really? Do you see the other comments? Maybe you see somthing different than I do? But he is the drummer in the video,and they pan to him alot but I guess thats nothing! lol! Thanks for the help budgie.

[jimmyleppard6]

name of the song please

[wizardozzz]

wow I love his playing, love the tele to

[Jazzymood1980]

Michael is a mix of Jeff Beck, SRV and Scott Henderson !!! That why Michael is obviously a (more than) excellent guitar player ! :D This guy should be out there at the top, with the greats !

[moosepoop69]

He plays this much better in the other video when he's younger

[theTIck197]

One of my all time favorites

[Chris741113]

Aha, so Fender went out and bought another guitar player hu? A good one too..Guess Yamaha didnt pay him enough..

[Chaif15Let]

4:48 LOL at the drummer!

[soobeng]

Perfection

[UnderMediKated]

SIMPLY AN AWESOME GUITARIST!

[UnderMediKated]

Steve L.  kicks ass.

[UnderMediKated]

Safe plane trip!

[UnderMediKated]

See you tomorrow at home? Talked to Jason earlier.

[guillotinedeath]

i wanna see this guy live bad

when is he playing again

[GabrielRO8]

Steve Lukather on drums! OMG this guy is SO talented!

[Vordrab]

@GabrielRO8 What? It's not Lukather...

[GabrielRO8]

@Vordrab Ha, i know!

[vazon69]

He would sound SO much better if he got his hair cut! He's a good looking dude under that hair. Such a shame! (But, man can he play!!!!)

[erolr900]

@vazon69 Why the heck does that matter?

[vazon69]

@erolr900 Well, Van Halen played some of his best stuff when he had short hair, so I just thought that if Mikey did the same.....

[erolr900]

@vazon69 I think he could just get worse with a haircut. He'd look like a regular guy he isn't :)

[ReinaldoHellraiser10]

Amazing techinic

[UnderMediKated]

He can flat out JAM, trust me!

[ferlinmogot]

to me MLF playing sounds like a slide gtr instead of a whammy bar fx.. very unique sounding player..

[xxguitarhero48xx]

Apparently some of you haven't heard John Mayer play with a whammy bar.

"whammy bars are for sissys" - Brad Paisley

[badfinger848]

@xxguitarhero48xx I remember when Guitar Player released the issue with the interview with Paisley in which he said that...the month after, a lot of readers wrote in making fun of his pink guitar. The funny thing is, none of those readers who wrote in to complain seemed to realize he was joking or that he's a great guitarist.

[BurtDeWees]

MLF has allways used the bar to great effect. Reminds me of Jeff Beck in that regard.

[iodo2004]

Great guitar player but like most greats, they're much better @ playing than singing...the only shredder w/ a solid voice is Paul Gilbert that I can think of

[supergroove1979]

@iodo2004

and richie kotzen

[badfinger848]

@iodo2004 For a guitarist with a voice to match, look up the Guitar Man--Jerry Reed. Also, Brad Paisley--even though he doesn't normally get credit for his guitar work--doesn't have a bad voice...Paisley's voice still isn't the greatest, but it's better than most of the voices guys like Eric Johnson have.

[DerCorny]

@iodo2004 Right, but there are some exceptions, like Richie Kotzen, who is an awesome singer.

[Jazzymood1980]

@iodo2004 The best "voice" in the shredder world it's Richie Kotzen ! 'nough said !

[vincentizghra]

@Jazzymood1980 AHAHHAHAHAHAA

[steptoesaunt]

fuckin youtube and they're slow loading videos that keep stopping and starting! sort it out you cunts!

[steptoesaunt]

love it love it! lovely playing, sort of Jeff Beckish in places but totally unique, love those opposing high to low changes, if you know what i mean.

[Soldano88]

Michael is a Musical genious!

[joe10864336]

Gran guitarrista!

[gudjonsveins]

who needs vibrato when you got whammy :D

[ericclapton00028]

i hear him the first time. and when he plays with his finger it sounds like a bottleneck

very cool

[Lucas3007]

steve lukather on drums

[robertiseengekkegast]

This is the Boss on whammy

[frky4fshn]

I am honored to have gone to K-6th grade with Mike. He was amazing back in 1980, jammin in our friends basement. ha. Way handsome and talented!

[ConspireToConspire]

firkins aside, that's some very tight and confident drumming right there. it totally says "fuck yeah i know my shit."

[ericdallairez]

LOve it!

[Attilio75]

omg what happened to him ? couldnt even recognize him ! Too many Big Mac and ice creams ??

[ExtremeBogom]

Every video I see of this guy, it's always this song lol.

[mrgrn]

nice work good to see mike and DAN THE MAN AS THE RHYTHM section

[kjm0416]

i wonder how there are only 2 options for "Michael Lee" search on youtube. i capitalized his name for respect

[ClaudioMariola]

Awesome performance, I wish I was in the audience that day, Michael and Mike rule!!

[yandt]

You guys know who the drummer is? That is Mike Vanderhule - Drummer for "Y&T" :)

He's a great drummer and a real cool guy....

[messybluesboy]

Jeff Beck is obviously one of Firkens' biggest influences!

[splendora]

he nearly sounds the same with a yamaha/dimarzio hum/marshall stack or a strat/single coils/fender amp. he really gots th emojo, he's awesome!

[UnderMediKated]

AWESOME!

[knikk77]

Is that a road worn strat? I love the butterscotch blond tele!! butterscotch mmmmm

[knikk77]

I love the tone of the tele/amp/pedal, What amp/pedal is he using here?

[VoxPersona]

big control, in this play he has the best touch !!!

Great inspired for many guitarists !!

Thx for sharing!

[gozhn]

Is Voodoo Chile very spicy?

[spockcarolla]

i hear a king crimson riff around 4:45. by accident i'm sure. man he kicks ass. so cool to hear some hybrid picking on a strat. his tone is just so good too.

[2Funky4me]

I'M A VOODOO CHILE!!!

[ericgenocidex2]

MLF kicks ass!

[Radu4x]

Hendrix, man

[gozhn]

Michael Lee Firkins is fucking awesome.

[shayne202]

crazy!

[BlueLeppard]

Man, when he grabs that guitar slide my brain explodes from the awesomeness.

[Whyrendog]

Wow I actually thought he gave up the bar tricks for real slide but he just mastered this stuff.

[lesterblester74]

this guy looks like mattias eklundh with a few added pounds. he can play though.

[plynchmusic]

the drumming is awesome as well...

[chillichomper]

@plynchmusic Yeah the tone on those drums sounds great.

[guitar1977]

one of my favourite players, have to travel to the USA to see a gig sometime

[TonyBellardi]

PESISSIMO ! yhea.

[Purrkins]

Wash your Jeep!

[ajamandadam]

Fuckin awesome.

[perchdinner]

and it is STILL awesome!

[Shadolf]

get a new bassplayer

[mcnayster]

@Shadolf get a new country. Hitler was a duechebag.

[Beckerooski]

Firkins my brother, you are fucking awesome man! That kicked my ass. Love you, Jason Becker

[Fendershred50]

@Beckerooski Wow, you cannot really be Jason Becker can you?

[Beckerooski]

@Fendershred50

Yup!

[Fendershred50]

@Beckerooski Wow, great to see that you're still around, happy and communicating with the rest of us!

Only good things to say about you and all your music Jason, you're one of the greatest musicians ever to walk the face of the earth.

Love from all my family and friends back here in Michigan, keep making those great albums!

[HiImJerry8]

Does anyone know the name of the first song¿

[PleiadianTom]

@HiImJerry8 Saturday Night

[Nikobatera77]

Toca muito véiooo exelente!!!

[dannyhood66]

I can't believe he actually used a slide on Hendrix,'' His album used to say Michael lee firkins does not use a slide on any song,'' on the first album anyway...That's cheating, for him to use a slide..hA!..Glad to see he's still got his length."Hair"..!Ah

Its about time guitarist quit cutting the length..

[dannyhood66]

I remember this opening riff,''on his instructional DVD, I even ripped it off..!aH

Its like a silly putty, dizzy, a cheap flux ."Something?..''hA!

[dannyhood66]

I remember this opening riff,''on his instructional DVD, I even ripped it off..!aH

Its like a silly putty, dizzy, a cheap flux ."Something?..''hA!

[headshop]

What an absolute MONSTER! (look mah---no slide!)

[ExtremeBogom]

That Hendrix stuff was iincredible!

[yeboahman]

I really live that version on voodoo child

[razvanciub8a]

I think Jeff Beck is actually much more musical then Michael...

[Wrzl]

Which tuning he uses on Voodoo Chile?

[dream6667]

this is just awesome! he groovs the shit out of his strat and tele.

did anyone see witch fender amp he´s playing ?

[MUDSHARK111]

Michael is a hell of a player one of those original talents thats slips through the gaps unfortunately he is to self indulgent of what he likes .if this guy made himself more appealing to joe public he would do better .but he made his choice and I respect him for it .

[knikk77]

@MUDSHARK111 How is he going to make himself more appealing? Looking cool with sunglasses and making faces? He is a music lover not a image lover.

[MUDSHARK111]

@knikk77 Dont be obtuse. you may be that superficial .i am not .

[soulbrotha4u]

love it

[anarubric]

amazing use of the whammy bar

[ExtremeBogom]

lol he plays this one too much.

[HiImJerry8]

What's the name of the first song?

[Mariano85LP]

One of my favourites musicians!. And imho one of the most underrated! Too bad people worship overrated guys like slash and all that crap and don't even know about of guys like this one...this is music made by true musicians!. Greetings.

[willbilly2fistmcgee]

Hell of a groove !

[Nilephan666]

Proud to say my uncle used to work with this man at Russo's years ago, when Michael still lived in Nebraska, playing guitar with him. And now my uncle teaches me.

[guitar0ne11]

This guy is my hero why did I not find out about him until now...

[kaman303]

hello from oslo! i love this guy! such a big influence on me. him and reb beach! used to watch his instruction videos at my friends house all the time!!!!

[RockeMF]

Wow, awesome

I went nuts when I figured he began playing Voodoo Child

[kurkow1988]

by the way- nice playing between songs ;)

[kurkow1988]

for sure it was Saturday night

[MossyOakk]

What is the name of the first song he plays?

[element1988]

i think its called Saturday night

[derdude]

this guy has the most tasteful use of the whammy bar out of all guitarists

[alejandro8888]

@derdude almost.. jeff beck beats him

[razvanciub8a]

@derdude ever heard of jeff beck???

[bigtophalloween]

@derdude Really? Even more so than Jeff Beck? MLF has definitely got it going on, but Beckola is THE whammy master IMHO. Great vid regardless.

[AxisofJustice21]

@derdude Look up Jeff Beck and Scott Henderson first before you make that comment... :P

[feelee15]

@derdude what about jeff beck??? or allan holdsworth?

[BurtDeWees]

@derdude ~ I think you would also like the way Jeff Beck uses the bar. MLF is the only other guy I can think of that uses the bar in a similar way to JB. \m/-_-\m/

[AxisofJustice21]

@BurtDeWees Scott Henderson is another one.

[Zubirrex]

I had this guy's CD 20 years ago, forgot all about him until yesterday. Great player.

[MaTtRoSiTy]

Great use of bar - actually sounds musical rather than a circus freak effect, very cool

[superskwrl]

@MaTtRoSiTy Really? I thought it did sound like a circus freak effect, looked like that was what he was going for...

[Hugh9]

What great guitar work

[CASEYSLEGZ]

ALL-RITE!!

[oskar1233]

The Master...

[Magnitude2]

Please urgent! I need to know who's the drummer? if anyone know send me a message. Thanks

[JerichBlakk]

within two licks you can hear MLF trademark's... licks...0:58

[megloman1975]

Smoking guitar, bass player is wearing a Metallica Ride the Lightning shirt. Right on!

[UnderMediKated]

SMOKIN

GUITAR!

[tsipfi]

that was very impressed!

great technik

[libertydenied]

by far the best voodoo chile version i've heard in ages!

[SeinfeId]

voodoo child*

voodoo chile is a 14 minute jazz piece...

[libertydenied]

sorry, my bad. you're right, "the chile" was the other one on the album.

[woodros]

@SeinfeId jazz piece?!! its just an extended bluesy rendition of voodoo child

[GeneVRocks]

Nice vibrato working!

[ejfan1]

sounds good, has that warren haynes vibe to him with some beck, love it.

[wouwser]

nice playing but i like my guitar a little cleaner(mind the hum in the beginning;))

[lanesblitz]

MLF is fabolous!!!! His first album is one of the greatest guitar albums EVER !!!!!

[Petrasilchen]

wow michael is wonderfull ... and i love that drummer ... the bassist iss very solid and groovie too.... damn what a cool band

[angyupiter]

Blessed guys!! They were choosed by Music and they are able to let it vibe in our hearts!

[juppheidi]

Who ist that incredible Drummer?

[rousejeremy]

It looks like Dante from Clerks

[TheBassioso]

Wow, this is really satisfying! Lee with that magic slide and that drummer sitting there, looking like he´s drinking a cup of coffee and thinking of sunny days, but he plays so groovy!

Yeah!

[cptnoremac]

The way he pwns that Telecaster, I wonder if he's considered collaborating with the Hellecasters.

[softtailmdb]

If ya dig this, You may enjoy Sonny Landraith.

[crimera]

great ....

[cameron9111175]

omg.... this is beautiful... I don't even like coutnrified music much... but this was... pure amazement... and I've heard shawn lane and yngwie and via and gilbert, I lovem all to death, but DAMN BOI!!!!

[StevieRay93]

8:04 !!!

Voodoo child with slide..! Soooo cooool! :D

[artartart]

NOW THAT WAS AWESOME!!

[Detoxx23]

his voice sounds abit like Zakk Wylde's,,,,,incredible video,,,thx MLF \m/

[lanesblitz]

MLF is a superb musician ! Here he needed a little more gain in my opinion, but hey, he's phenomenal!!! I love his playing!

[zappaelcrappa]

Big difference w/o the Marshalls :(

[nickwellings]

You can tell straight away who's playing. Not many guitarists have that!

[AGHASTOFFICIAL]

the lick from 7:37-:41 is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!

MLF hits it hard!

also he doesn't really have a haircut does he, so shut up.

[violingineer]

Just found about Firkins, what a technique/talent! BUT, man, get a haircut, I had to keep looking at the year on this video, wondering if it wasnt in a timewarp! Awesome playing though!! GREAT.

[woodshedder]

What's wrong with Firk's haircut?

[killyoupl]

I would love to have hair like he does!

[benjie616]

Michael lee Firkins is one of my fav guitarists xD

[torturer6067]

MLF is one crazy guitar player

[phonic73]

Butterscotch with anodized gold pickguard, never seen that combination before, wouldnt have thought it would look right...........but OMG , im soooooooo wrong,......its looks awesome and very unique.

[Moisesgtr]

Amazing!!!!

[skyskin]

open tuniNG Voodoo Chile!!!!

YEahhH!!!

[MacDrevi0us]

Hes got a crazy style..

[TimeLordGuitar]

at least the bassist is wearing a metallica shirt and not a kings of leon shirt...props for that.

[JesuitFarmer]

sounds like he's splaying slide, cool stuff

[nomis777]

glad to see hes still at it

one of the best..

[Shadolf]

get a new bass player please ....

[muddywood]

sounds very Jeff Beck-ish

[deuxmontagnes]

Those new VM amps sound great!!

[killyoupl]

He looks like a mighty death metal guitarist, not a blues one.