Alan Holdsworth band playing Atavachron Tune (sommexe)

[toophunny]

Jimmy Johnson rocks it on bass! Saw him this past Monday on tour with James Taylor in Knoxville -- the guy is a genius.

[alexansbe]

It's like video game music.

[SvenTviking]

Its a oath taken by all directors of live band films. Aim the bloody camera at the keyboards during a guitar solo, or completely ignore one vital band member. That and shots of the band filmed from the back of the hall.

[carcassgrindcorpsesc]

i wonder why sommexe focused the film in the keyboarder when the show was from the guitarrist, we barely see allan, gary of jimmy, i think the editing is a bit out of place

[shuttledik]

THIS should have been the soundtrack to Escape from New York.. or any of the Rocky flicks... hehehehe. 80's GOLD!

[muller1007]

Kei is out of key quite a lot and seems even out of time at some points. Next to the busted Synthaxe that is such a shame for this amazing piece. Besides that the trio Holdsworth, Husband and Johnson has been and still is pure magic.

[rogerthehat]

i love all the playing he did on land of cockayne

[paviomuniz]

Gary Husband, that is the drummer for Alan, listen how he keeps the time, but varying almost everywhere!

[Subtilior74]

There's one good thing that comes out of the instrument malfunction: You can focus on the amazing bass lines of Johnson!!

[MOSKII58]

Eddie Van halen's fav guitarist..he once tried to help him by hooking him up w/ his lawyer & record company suits at the time Allan was selling cds at the door and really starving having never received any monies.royalties from the record company he was w/at the time..

Eddie jammed w/ him and they became friends..

[dwilmer7]

I cant believe they made synthaxe in early 80's, yet it tracks better than alot of stuff today.

[bigwhitesugar]

you all are haters, i find something very charming about this whole video.

[titusbeertsen]

Haha at 3:43 you can see Allan's frustration with that bloody instrument :)

[sytraxiplague]

@titusbeertsen No frustration, just emotion! Haha. He said in an interview that he was in love when he got that thing. I bet they're fun to play :) Too bad they're like 5000 dollars or something now haha.

[charvel2121]

this one s really awsomeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!

[22fret]

Apart from the fact, that Agaki has an awful tone, he seems to miss the right keys from time to time...

[unrealbook]

but what going on with his syntaxe at 2:57 to 3:25 ?

[4difference]

key's a fag

[signorechanta]

And you are an idiot.

[jjgfx]

looks like Key wasn't in key with his keys

[jjgfx]

4:51 sounds like the the beginning of Motorbreath by Metallica

[lidesnowi]

Allan is doing just fine its the Synthaxes console presets that is fucking up!

The console had a lot of the memory stuff in there and they failed from time to time.

A real nightmare when preforming live!

[gadulka]

too bad the camera was on key akagi during Allan's solo..

[jephstiph]

Is this from the soundtrack to the Original Buck Rodgers movie ??

;p

[hermanhurensohn]

The whole Band performed very well.

Who gives a damn about a little mishap during the first couple of bars......? I dont.

Allan outstanding as usual he has the manner to live tru everything that might occurs during a gig and still does a brilliant job. the keyboarder has his magic moments as well, i like what he was doing even when he obviously missed out some notes and slipped...... i like the performance. the whole band is great

[anobiumpertinax]

Obviously this is not one of the best performance... Allan is The Genius for me, but this band was not at the top that night! Anyway... who fucking cares, Allan rules!

[plumisland1964]

wurly- i saw him in syracuse in 85 or 86 and the first two songs he used were synthaxe and he looked like he was going to throw it. two songs only and the rest of the show was flawless with just straight up guitar. he opened for chic corea that night and even chic commented on how complicated some of the new gear could be. i think the keyboard player in this video covered for allen unexpectedly. if you really look, that synthaxe only blurted out a few notes thru that whole piece...

[JazzzRockFuzion]

Dude, it's totally Key Akagi crapping out in that opening section.....focus on his hands in those opening clips.....you'll see where he recovers, 'sliding' his fingers at points to the correct voicings. You can also tell from the distinction between their patches.

[plumisland1964]

this is a real fucking shame guys- allen should have sued the synthaxe company for crawling all over him to endorse there product. he had problems all thru this tour. i saw this one and talked to him after the show, boy was he fed up with that fucking pile of shit. he said they were giving him all kinds of stuff and he really didnt even want it.. $12,000 those pieces of shit cost, i played one in san fransico and i hated it too. i got a roland 505 controler with new hex.. its flawless..

[Cronaldo02]

take on me is still their best

[eskimoposh]

where do i begin with the level of crappinness this clip has to offer????

its a good thing i didn't swallow my acid yet, I would have surely gone into a coma watching this.

[guitarlines]

amazing !!!

[Reathai]

Terrible.  Used to be one of my AH favs. Just terrible.

[justy256]

I know what you mean- I think the Synthaxe and keyboard are ever so slightly out of tune with each other. Gary doesn't look happy either!

[kptjnbob]

great album... but not a god peformance......

[kptjnbob]

one of my faverit a.h. songs ...demolished.....

[MarkLown]

Yeah - Kei's voicongs are shit when Allan's synthaxe fails to come in. Who knows whos a semitone out on the chords. Shame if Kei akagi couldn't be bothered to learn even that tune.

[bonuzround]

my favorite song by Allan Holds

But i have to agree with coffinbox

[chatelet55]

hats off to alan for playing that guitar with a straight face

[wurlybird9]

"Allan" (not alan). New fan or bad speller? Anyway, Allan loved the Synthaxe, he only stopped using it because they stopped making them and it could be very difficult to repair. He still uses it in the studio, you just don't see it live

[coffinboxshapped]

allan gone bad from 14 to 26 sec...

beautiful song

[bercrypt]

killed my ears

[concaMakka]

yeah, seems like he had some problems with the sinthaxe..? such a shame!!

[rubiogomes]

the is an awesome synth, and this player too

[rasputin63]

The green synthaxe looks like somebody's lawn leafblower.

[magirecords2004]

LOL!!!

[rasputin63]

The keyboardist's technique, frankly, is not so good. He's missing notes left-and-right. No way could some of those chords be the correct voicings!

[wurlybird9]

who rated this down, he is clearly a little more out of tune than "jazz" would allow. nothing creative just screwups. of course it's a tough tune

[winwoodking]

Those Synthaxe sound good but are notoriously unreliable and temperamental. it's a shame that it threw a wobbler in the middle of my favourite song. That Keys player is v good though. Only hired for the tour probably. great vid

[Moog167]

That DX7 sounds soooo good....

[Holygasoline]

I love Gary Husbands playing but i bet Allan looks back on this and thinks ' God, i look a prat with that silly synthaxe ....'

[xbm]

Allan Holdsworth still tours and makes music, so I doubt he thinks he looks silly even when he continues to make music.

Also, amen to that! Gary Husband is an amazing drummer! He also did an amazing tribute album to Holdsworth on just a piano.

[doubts]

Gary Husband is a great drummer. The music as a whole is going to take a few listens for me to get it! Return to forever/mahavishnu seems easier on my ear [i am only a drummer]

[ultimategurumusic]

amazing tune !!

[2dust2]

i have yet to hear something of BEAUTY from AH.This is just smart and nothing else. It's like the story of the emperors new clothes-:"heck yeah this is great-i sure get it"

[AlanIsHarmony]

So, may I ask what made you decide that AH's music was something worth listening to, if you find nothing of beauty in it?

[2dust2]

cos people talk of him as a great guitar player and i suppose he is-but then again-so what !he's as musical as a type writer .

[AlanIsHarmony]

Music has always been like that though, whether it's Paganini or Coltrane or Holdsworth. What we enjoy are extensions of how we train our musical ears (not to say mine is better than yours, it's just different and viva la difference). I went to a 'clinic' with Allan some years back and someone suggested, probably correctly, that he could make more money playing simpler stuff in rock bands and he said that he wouldn't, because it's a lie. And one thing he is not is rich.

Best wishes by the way.

[TreyRoque]

@AlanIsHarmony Agree! As an artist - not a performer or 'artiste' - you can only be what you are... or you end up being Robbie Williams in Take That part II.

[ntesslafan]

This song sounds better live than on the Atavachron cd. Allan is a class act. Anytime I have seen him being interviewed on a clip here or read an interview in print, he displays a level of humility rare among musicians of his rank. If you enjoy improvisational guitar, he is a treasure. Thanks to sommexe for the post.

[Leafarsotnasalrog]

How can this live version be better than the cd one if someone has fucked it up at the beginning? Don´t know if it was allan or the keyboard player, but someone has shitted over the chord changes...lol...sounds great anyway.

[ntesslafan]

You are correct, there is a mistake made at the beginning. I do think you are being harsh to judge the entire song by one missed chord at the beginning. I do prefer the pace of looking glass as it is done on this recording. The original is a lot of fun to listen to as well. I love the job that Tony Williams did on drums! Here Allan is exclusively using the synthaxe, whereas he also used guitar on the original version. I must be one of the few folks in the world who enjoys the synthaxe sound.

[Leafarsotnasalrog]

There´s another thing about it. When the theme reached the time were Allan was suposed to do a solo, he evidently had problems handling the synthaxe parafernalia, which prevented him from soloing...On the other hand, if he had a guitar on his hands he´d have nailed it! lol

[ntesslafan]

True. If he had had his guitar on one of the fixed racks, perhaps he could have pulled it off better. I know i have seen Pat Metheny use a rack like that when performing live.

[speedenia]

i strongly believe the key to become a good fusion guitarist is listening to a giant like this guy...figure out the chords and then see if you can improvise over it. i am totally going to buy all his stuff! 10 out of 10 Mr H!

[AlanIsHarmony]

The key to becoming a great guitar player is in you. Allan doesn't hold the secrets of the person you are, only you do.

That's the way you use music.

Never mimic. Express yourself. Be inspired by the concepts and the movement of the music, but be yourself.

[speedenia]

i really didn't want to reply but i guess you've got the mature/deep thing going.

the point i'm trying to make speaking from experience is that if you spent the last 6 years of guitar life listening to Slayer, megadeth and Testament...then there is no way you are suddenly going to become an accomplished player...you need to start somewhere EG listening to a master of what yoy are trying to do...what says you?

[AlanIsHarmony]

Sure. But another good direction for someone coming from that direction is someone like Shawn Lane, no it's not necessarily such a jolt. Lane used a lot of the types of scales that AH does, but in a different context - particularly with Powers Of Ten. More fusion-y when he was with Jonas Hellborg, tho.

[thauser7777]

I ran into Alan on the street one day. He was very gracious and spoke with me awhile about Metal Fatigue, one of my favs. Blessings to Alan!

[jeromethebassist]

Wow - very cool! I was fortunate enough to get to talk with Alan and Jimmy Johnson at length before a show of theirs in Miami. Two of the coolest nicest guys I've ever met, and monster musicians!!!

[microcosmic2]

Je ne connaissais pas key Akagi mais quel dieu des clavier !

[victorsatch]

who are they!?

quem são!?

[KenGrew]

Allan Holdsworth on synthaxe, Gary Husband on drums, Jimmy Johnson on bass 7 I believe Ken Akagi on keyboards

[victorsatch]

TNX!!!