NAMM 2013: Day 1 coverage

courtesy NAMM

My roundup originally appeared at soundcheck.ocregister.com

NAMM - the biggest music merchandise extravaganza on the West Coast, held annually at Anaheim Convention Center - drew close to 95,000 registrants from around the world. 

The first day is always a good opportunity to do an in-depth survey of the merchant booths before all the signings and performances kick into high gear and everything gets crazy during the weekend.

But my first stop was upstairs at the Gibson guitar room. I felt a strong sense of deja vu as the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson (pictured, left) indulged a four-song acoustic set, half of which (“California Girls,” “God Only Knows”) was identical to his appearance in the same location here last year.

Jeffrey Foskett, Wilson’s right-hand man, played acoustic guitar and did the heavy lifting on harmonies as he did during last summer’s Beach Boys reunion concerts. Alongside keyboardist/backing vocalist Darian Sahanaja and another musician on acoustic guitar, they rounded out the 15-minute set with “Surfer Girl” and “Surfin’ USA.” Wilson, who always looks as if dragged to these things, actually cracked a smile on the latter.
 

by George A. Paul

Heading into the far back corner of the convention center floor is where you can find all the latest lasers and LED lighting flashing about, in an enclosed room dubbed the Venue. It was like being in a Coachella dance tent.

And over at the MOTU Mobile Audio Interface booth, a few dozen people were enraptured by clips from Peter Jackson’s first installment of The Hobbit, emphasizing James Sizemore’s score.