Night of the Living Shred Tour Sweeps Jammin' Java

by Rick Landers.

The Night of the Living Shred Tour arrived at Jammin’ Java, Vienna, Virginia, on May 10, 2009, featuring Joe “Shred Lord” Stump, Matthew Mills and Mike Orlando, all neo-classical guitar shred masters who fueled up and launched a triple threat show of high velocity guitar pyrotechnics. Stump’s been recognized as one of the world’s top neo-classical guitarists since his 1993 debut album, Guitar Dominance!, arrived in record shop bins. Guitar One ranked him as one of the top 10 fastest guitarists of all time. His latest CD, Virtuostic Vendetta, was released in April 2009 and fuses enough speed and melody to satisfy all of his fans.

First up on stage was our own columnist, Matthew Mills, who was ranked as one of the top 50 fastest guitarists of all time by Guitar World magazine in July 2008. Matt offered up a mix of his own instrumentals with some Paganini and Malmsteen numbers to get the crowd warmed up for a night of accelerated guitar. Mills burned up the fret board of his blue Schecter with the Jammin’ Java crowd hugging the stage to watch his fingers wrestle the fret board with blinding speed and finesse.

Orlando was up next and amazed shred fans with his speed and over the top showmanship. There’s no doubt the guy was having a blast cramming notes together in a way that was mind boggling with pentatonic grounding oozing with melodic strength. Orlando’s exciting to hear and fun to watch.

Headliner Joe Stump casually took the stage, talking to his fans like they were old friends before loading up with a barrage of blistering guitar, proving all the “fastest guitar” accolades he’s received over the years are well-earned. Stump and I talked a bit before he made it on stage and he said that he’s new CD, Virtuostic Vendetta, isn’t just a speed show, but has a strong mix of styles that cover a lot of ground, with enough speed to satisfy shred heads, but enough melody to keep things musically interesting. Stump ended his set with a couple of tributes to his guitar hero, Ritchie Blackmore, by playing heavy handed Blackmore versions of the age-old “Greensleeves” and the Yardbird's “Still I’m Sad.”

The Night of the Living Shred Tour didn’t disappoint those who love to see explosive guitar technique with fret melting speed latched onto heart attack melodies. Anybody who happened by the show expecting a triptych of balladeers would have been grinding their soft palate at the performances of Stump, Mills and Orlando that were targeting heavy metal thunderheads.

Related Links
Joe Stump
Matt Mills
Mike Orlando
Jammin' Java

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