Virginia Plain on Top of the Pops in 1972. 10 year old me realizes that music is going to be essential in my life. I never had the aptitude to play but you don't need any aptitude to listen and enjoy.
Dan is so unbelievably humble about this side of his work. Like genuinely the guy is on a whole other level in knowledge on this stuff and he's just a humble tone loving guitar player. What a bloke
Dan, you must start drinking Grolsch! Use those red gaskets from the bottle for your strap lock. What an honour though! Phil is such a respected player and is a giant of a player
Sorry we had a John Traynor in our year! We saw Roxy at same gigs as you probably!! Deliberately avoided going to 50th anniversary cos voice just sdoesnt sound the same to my ears. Hardrock was just up the road from us so saw zep. Cribs on Bad Co. Free. Family.... Usualyy for about a quid early on!!
Lucas seems like such a cool dude, and I'm deeply endeared by the dozens of dymo labels reminding Phil and Lucas to turn things on and off! Such a great video Dan!
How incredibly expansive is the world of music? So many different kinds of genius represented at a show-I know someone will inevitably say it was better when the artist just plugged into the amp and turned it up-but I am completely blown away at the intricate levels of knowledge and expertise the people who support the artist must have.
Phil’s lead guitar playing and tone on Avalon especially “More Than This’ is one of my all time faves. Would love to know what he was playing through then as well!
Same here! those guitar lines (intro and then soloing) on this song bring me goose bump. So unique, minimalist, beautiful. They are to me the DNA of this song.
Wow! This must've been a magic full circle moment for you Dan. Being such a Neil Finn fan, it was Phil Manzanera who was blown away by seeing Split Enz on Aussie TV in the mid-1970s and then that led him to producing them and a relationship with TIm Finn continues to this day and so on. And what a gentleman he is. Brilliant stuff!
I'll be honest, I only know about Phil through his collaboration with David Gilmour and always considered him to be just part of Gilmour's touring band. Got to see them together during Gilmour's Rattle That Lock tour and was extremely upset he wasn't part of the Pompeii concert that came out later. Great, fun guitarist. Glad to go back and discover what he's more known for.
I remember as clear as day, being up in the gods at the Albert Hall, in 2006 at a David Gilmour gig and Gilmour introduced Manzanera as El Magnifico. When someone of Gilmour's stature introduces you to the crowd in one of the greatest live music venues in the world like that, you've got to be bloody good to earn that honour. Not only is he a terrific guitar player in his own right, but.... had there been no Phil Manzanera, there'd probably have been no Crowded House, given what he taught Neil Finn. I was lucky enough to see Roxy in 2007 at the Motor Show at Excel (bloody brilliant set) and at the NEC in 2010, the last gig that my late wife and I went to. Roxy holds a very very special place in my heart. EDIT: Wonder what came first... the El Magnifico guitar strap or the Gilmour accolade?
Absolutely thrilled for you, Dan. Thank you so much for sharing. And shout out to Jake and Joe, who have both been great help to me. Everything and everyone at TheGigRig are all brilliant. And, once again, Lucas seems a real sweetheart. No surprises there.
Not a huge Roxy Music fan, but the open riff of Amazona is one of my favourites. Great player. One thing I love about these videos is hearing the guitarist in and out of the context of a song. It's often to easy to get disheartened hearing your own playing at home by comparing to guitar players in the wrong context, be it a recording, the theatre of a live performance or a highly polished RU-vid video.
Hey just wanted to shoutout Rhys after being reminded of his work in the advert before the Roxy video. I've got his non-powered treble booster that I use first for my jazzmaster guitar effects chain where I installed a buffer for the guitar output jack. LOVE IT. Thanks & also for this video!
Loved the ending Dan splicing the the two clips, also a brilliant illustration of what happens to a sound like that once placed in the full band mix. Goes from brash and gnarly to singing and beautiful
Amongst all the bad news we have right now, it's uplifting to see Mr Manzanera is still a guitar wizard. As others have commented here, Roxy Music on Top of the Pops and the OGWT in the 1970s were unforgettable.
I just clicked play and I'm already anxious to see what chorus pedal he goes with!! Okay - just finsihed and I'm shocked to hear him say that distortion and echo is pretty much all he uses!!! I 'll have to go back and listen to those great old songs again.
Just so mind blown. Roxy Music was a huge influence growing up, but I did not really understand about Phil until he was with Gilmour - but I don't miss anything he does now. He's actually responsible for making so many things happen with Gilmour - like the Endless River album. He's a visionary and he is so respected by his peers and heroes alike. Another huge success for the sweet folks of GigRig and our sweet mate, Dan!!! At least once I week I like to point out to someone somewhere: I have my power sorted out with Dan's stuff and it's the best improvement I have ever made to my rig. Ace.
Has to be such an honor to build something for an artist of this caliber and get recognition for it, that what you did works! This guy could probably have gone to anybody to build a board but he chose Dan, and he's happy. Dan looks like he could burst he's so happy with the end results of his work! Great job Dan! It works! 😁
That was awesome Dan!! Thank you for sharing that! I am not a Roxy Music fan but it is always cool seeing behind the scenes with bands...thanks again,great job on the pedalboard build!
What a surprise seeing this. I was there for 50th anniversary tour in Glasgow, was a such a kick seeing and hearing Phil play those classic Roxy songs and especially having follow Phil Manzanera’s journey working with dan on the gigrig and right setup. Thank you for making this tour happen Dan with your gigrigs. A gig I will not forget from Roxy Music
I am always fascinated by in-depth tech videos like these! It truly puts into perspective just how much knowledge and effort goes into making a show happen!
I love the reminder labels. I once saw an article on big touring rack systems and on Alex Lifeson of Rush’s foot controller one button was labelled “No Idiot Stop!”
I wonder what it must have been like for folks like Phil to start with what would now be vintage gear and now have the level of technology that is available to him like G3 and the other bits and bobs they used to make this happen. It’s quite an extraordinary change/development over a career like his.
INCREDIBLE VIDEO, THANK YOU! It was one of the best shows I've ever seen, and having my other favorite artist of all-time St. Vincent open was great. It was the best lineup ever.
Awesome vlog Dan! So my band got to play the 2nd stage before the Roxy show of what must have been their 30th Anniversary tour!😃 It was at the Concord Pavilion in Northern California, then we all got to go watch their show👍, definitely one of my favorite gigs to play ever, and of course Roxy and Phil sounded great! (I’m pretty sure I remember him playing the red Firebird there too!😃🎸🔊) …Brings me back🤩
Fair dues Dan, in all fairness you are a legend, a bi-national treasure for sure. An OBE shoe-in for services to rock in Chazza’s first New Year’s list, no doubt 🎉
Great video, I really love chances to see behind the scenes like this so we can see how everything develops. Thank you for taking the time to make this happen for us.
Thank you for this highly informative video. The amount of tech used and the skills and knowledge implemented for these modern arena/stadium shows is phenomenal! I’ve just been to see The Cure play on their recent european tour and I presume similar advance pro-tech set-ups were employed. The change overs between songs of often four guitar players from guitar to guitar and vastly different amp and pedal configurations was seamless and quick. Thanks also for the signal path diagram, absolutly loved that (I’m such a nerd 🤣).
Man, that's super cool! It's interesting how much bleed they're trying to avoid, with the iso cabs, and the perspex shields around the drums and horns, even in arenas. Would've been cool to chat with FOH about that, but I suppose that's not why you were there... :P
Please Dan, use a rubber seal from a beer bottle, you need a bottle with the “flipping cap”, use that rubber ring to protect your guitars from strap fail…