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By Nort Johnson
All Summerfest Photos By Jim Pietryga
Check back often. Photo's will change on a regular basis!
Summerfest (also known as "The Big Gig") began in 1968 and has become an annual music festival held at the 75-acre Henry Maier Festival Park along the lakefront in Milwaukee, WI. The festival lasts for 11 days, and since the mid-1970s, has run from late June through early July, always including the Independence Day holiday. Summerfest attracts close to one million people each year. It promotes itself as "The World's Largest Music Festival," a title certified by the Guinness World Records in 1999. Summerfest is run by the non-profit Milwaukee World Festival Inc. The festival grounds stages are permanent structures, Acts as deverse as Rush, John Mellencamp, Alicia Keys and Tom Petty headline at this years festival. This is a cool gig for any performer to land. For information on getting booked for Summerfest '09, go to Summerfest. Watch for more stories and photos, coming shortly.
Summerfest Sidebar: We needed to know - Why were there racks of chickens cooking behind Geddy Lee on stage at Summerfest? Geddy admits, after years of speculation, that it's really the secret to his bass sound. See how it works at rush.com (click "Henhouse")
Neil Peart
The Zippo Rock Stage uses a Nexo Geo T Sound System with Yamaha Digital Consoles
It's the first stage on the North end of the festival park!
John Mellencamp at the Marcus Ampitheater
The crew prepares the Marcus Ampitheater for a sold out show with Alicia Keys
Russ Ryan, Geddy Lee's Bass Tech Shows off Geddy's Wares!
Watch for a video interview with Russ explianing Geddy's
Rack & Basses commng soon!
- Fender Jazz Bass, Geddy's original Jazz Bass from 1972 that he purchased in a pawn shop and continues to use to this day.
- 2 Jazz Basses from 1996 that he used in part to create the album Test for Echo.
- 2 "Jaco Pastorius" basses, one with frets and the other fretless.
- 2 Avalon U5 Tube Direct Boxes
- 2 SansAmp R.P.M. Bass preamps
- 2 Palmer PDI 05 Speaker simulators
- Trace Elliot Quatra-VR power amps
- Sampson UR-5D wireless amp jack
- The Henhouse
L-to-R Greg Brunclick (Clearwing Productions)
Steve Vallee (Summerfest Production Manager)
and Nort Johnson (L2P Network) in the
production office at the Marcus Ampitheater.
Watch for a video interview with Steve Vallee
and Greg Brunclick comming soon!
Exclusive Only On
The L2P Network!
Rush Monitor Engineer, Brent Carpenter
Watch for a video interview with
Brent comming soon!
John Mellencamp at the Marcus Ampitheater
Neil Peart and Geedy Lee
Alex Lifeson guitars before the show
Alex Lifeson's List
Guitars
- Gibson black Les Paul Custom
- Black prototype Gibson Les Paul with Floyd Rose tremolo
- Maple sunburst prototype Gibson Les Paul with Floyd Rose tremolo
- Gibson 1957 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue
- Sunburst '58 reissue Gibson Les Paul
- Tobacco sunburst '59 reissue Gibson Les Paul
- Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion w/fishman piezo system
- Gibson ES-355
- 2 Garrison GGC-50-CE 6-string acoustic guitars
- 3 Garrison G25-12-E 12-string acoustic guitars
- Garrison OM-20 Octave mandolin
Other Gear
- Hughes & Kettner Switchblade 100 Guitar Amp Head
- Hughes & Kettner Alex Lifeson Signature Edition TriAmp MKII Amp
- Hughes & Kettner Tube Tools Tube Rotosphere MKII
- Fishman Aura Concert Acoustic Guitar Imaging Pedal
- Dunlop Crybaby Rack Wah
- 1 Furman Power Conditioner PL-8
- 1 Furman PL Plus Power Conditioner
- 2 Behringer Ultralink mx-662 6 Channel Spliter/Mixer
- 4 Audio Technica AEW5200 Guitar Wireless
- 1 Audio Technica AEW-DA6600 Antenna Distribution System
- 1 Whirlwind A/B Box
- 1 Custom Audio Japan AC0912 System Power Supply
- 2 Custom Audio Japan GVCA-2 Rev.3 Midi Programmable Volume Control
- 1 TC 1210 Spatial Expander+Stereo Chorus/Flanger
- 1 Behringer XR4400 Multigate Pro
- 2 Digital Music Corp. GCX Guitar Audio Switcher
- 3 Behringer MX602 Professional Splitter/Mixer
- 4 TC Electronics G-Force
- 1 Loft Modular Device
- 3 Palmer PDI 03 Speaker Simulator
- 2 Palmer PDI 03 Speaker Simulator
- 1 Ernie Ball 25K OHM Volume Pedal
- 1 Axess Electronics FX1 Midi Footcontroler
- 3 Ω Brace Acoustic Guitar Holder
- 1 Ultracase Guitar Vault
- 1 Ultracase 8 Space Guitar Stand
Alex Lifeson at work at Summerfest!
2112
Neil Peart
Neil Peart Gear List
Drums
(All drums listed are from Drum Workshop unless noted otherwise)
- 23" bass drum
- 8", 10", 12", 13" 2x15", 16", and 18" toms
- a 13" piccolo and a 14" VLT snare drum
Cymbals
- 13" Paragon Hats
- Signature Paragon Hats 14"
- Paragon Splash 08"
- Paragon Splash 10"
- Paragon Splash 10"
- Paragon Crash 16"
- Paragon Crash 16"
- Paragon Crash 18"
- Signature Paragon Crash 20"
- Paragon Ride 22"
- Paragon Chinese 19"
- Paragon Chinese 20"
- Paragon Diamondback Chinese 20"
Electronics
- Roland V-Drums
- Roland V-Cymbals
- Roland TD-20 Brains
- Roland XV 5080 samplers
- Glyph hard drives
- MalletKAT
- KAT trigger pedals
- Dauz trigger pad
- Remo and Drum Workshop drumheads
Microphones
- Audio-Technica and Shure
- Snare(s) top: Audio-Technica ATM25HE
- Snare bottom: Audio-Technica AE5100
- 8, 10, and 12" rack toms: Shure Beta 98D/S
- 13" rack and floor toms: Audio-Technica AE3000
And his 9' x 9' rotating riser to hold all of his drums on stage.
