slowbellie news & events...
Guitar Wars - held Nov. 28 2008 at the Sound Factory, Prince George.
1st Place: Jeremy
Pahl
2nd Place: Marty Bodo
3rd Place: Tony Regenwetter
THE REAL GUITAR HEROES
Written by SCOTT STANFIELD, Citizen staffGuitarists duelling for stage supremacy. The scene was reminiscent of the Bloodsport movie where Jean-Claude Van Damme and other combatants duke it out in an underground arena in Hong Kong. Well, not quite.
On November 28, 2008, 13 guitarists duked it out in a Guitar Wars competition in a warehouse setting at the Sound Factory on Third Avenue. About 140 spectators witnessed the fun.
(L-R) 1st Place Jeremy Pahl, Slowbellie's Geno Dlouhy and 2nd Place Marty Bodo.
There were no limitations as to the background of the "combatants," be they blues players, metal maniacs or classically trained musicians. Besides the audience, the guitarists performed before a panel of four judges. Each player was judged on overall skill level, emotion, quality of composition, clarity and the "X-factor," in reference to how well a player holds the audience in his solo. A perfect score was 50. Each guitarist was allotted 2 and a half minutes to do their thing, be it an acoustic or electric piece. Most chose the latter.
In the end, Jeremy Pahl – whose bluesy performance contained hints of Stevie Ray Vaughan – won the $500 grand prize in a sudden-death overtime victory over Marty Bodo, as decided by the audience after the two guitarists were dead even following the first showdown that featured four finalists. Martin Bodo and third-place finisher Tony Regenwetter earned the only perfect scores of the night.
"The level of guitar playing was phenomenal," said event organizer Geno Dlouhy, owner of slowbelliemedia.com, a brand-new music and pop culture website based in Prince George. "This contest was very cool and a throwback to the old days where kids were showing their chops in the back alleys."
Indeed, the true spirit of music was alive and well in Prince George that night.
New
Location!
Guitar Wars: 1st Place Winner
Jeremy Pahl
$500 richer for just being damn good.
> reviews
> interviews
