Highlights from the final day…

A glorious London International Music Show came to an end yesterday, and a quick glance through day one’s, day two’s and day three’s highlights (not to mention day four’s must-see content below), proves what a stella year 2009 turned out to be.

We’re leading the final day with a shoe-tapping performance from Albert Lee and some ‘ingenius’ new product in the shape of the Mark Bass MoMark. And, of course, one or two oddities from the show floor… see you next year!

Day four highlights

VIDEO: Albert Lee live!
We crashed another aftershow party! This time it’s the Strings And Things/MusicMan ‘Knucklehead Bash’ and Albert Lee’s incredible country-blues chops

VIDEO: Mark Bass modular bass amps
introducing the ‘ingenious’ MoMark system and the brand-new Little Mark III amplifier…

The weirdest stand of the show award goes to…
Moose Guitars! The brand-new luthiers that ALMOST made it

The Pacemaker: a metronome in disguise
A metronome in the shape of a mini kick drum to ‘recreate the feeling of jamming with a real drummer’… one that doesn’t answer back!

Shure PG27 USB: LIMS’ best freebie?
Our favourite piece of show swag is this Shure USB stick, closely followed by a box of lollies…

Guitar Idol 2009 winner announced
Jack Thammerat from Thailand kicks ass, takes home a high-end PRS guitar, Marshall JVM amplifier and double stack cabinets

From the basement…

SpongeBob SquareBand

The most blingin’ headphones award goes to…

While the mother of all metronome videos was caught at NAMM 09 with the birth of ‘Metronomica’, Sonic Ventures brings its own take on beat-keeping to LIMS 09.

The Pacemaker is a metronome in the shape of a mini kick drum. It uses ‘realistic bass and snare sounds’, runs on a 9V battery and you can customise the skin with your own artwork.

According to the guys on the Sonic Ventures stand, The Pacemaker’s inspiration came from last year’s show. They wanted to recreate the feeling of jamming with a real drummer. A portable one! Nice…

Check out Sonic Ventures’ official site for more.

What did we tell you! It’s the weekend, and the rockstars have arrived. While Roland’s Juno-Di synth and Peavey’s Revalver III update continue to fly the flag in the new gear corner, Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan and The Commitments

Oh, and please do pull up a chair (or a stool) and join us in our favourite new hobby: finger drumming. Now, where did we leave that NanoPad…

Day three highlights

VIDEO: Roland Juno-Di
We liked this performance-friendly synth so much we swung by Roland’s stand, video camera in hand, to learn more…

VIDEO: Steve Vai interviewed!
Steve granted us a private audience to talk Alien Guitar Secrets, Naked Tracks and his upcoming live DVD, Where The Wild Things Are

VIDEO: David ‘Fingers’ Haynes rocks a Korg NanoPad
A finger drumming legend shows LIMS how it’s done. Triggering Toontrack’s Superior Drummer 2.0 along the way

VIDEO: Guthrie Govan live
If you want to watch a ludicrously-talented guitarist showing off in front of dozens of awe-gurning fans, this is the video for you

VIDEO: The Commitments live at Peavey’s LIMS party
We snuck in to catch this legendary band performing Mustang Sally… long live aftershows!

VIDEO: Peavey ReValver Mk III + RTAS support
Peavey’s Tom Allen gives us a whistlestop tour of ReVavler Mk III… this time in Pro Tools!

From the basement…

Walls of sound

Travelling to LIMS 09… Robot guitar style!

If Peavey made stools… oh, hang on

‘Behind’ the scenes

David Haynes is a drummer with a difference: he only plays using his fingers. The clue is in the name…

‘Fingers’ has made quite a name for himself performing at the likes of NAMM and Musikmesse over the years, with some of his video demonstrations picking up a cool half-million hits on YouTube.

It’s fitting, then, that David made his way to the London International Music Show 2009 to do what he does best: dazzle and amaze with a drum-machine. Here he is on the Toontrack stand armed with a Korg NanoPad triggering Superior Drummer 2.0 Amazing…

It’s day two of LIMS 09, the rock stars are out in force and the show floor highlights are coming in thick and fast…

Fans of Apple can rejoice because we’ve got the skinny on controlling Ableton Live on your iPhone. Those who like to hit things with sticks can sit back and relax as we expose Zildjian’s grand plan to sneak in a brand new update to its Z Series without anyone noticing. And for everyone else: here’s a lesson in beatboxing and looping… yes, it’s as hard (and cool) as it sounds. Tomorrow? The live music hall opens its doors: rock ‘n’ roll!

VIDEO: Novation Automap for iPhone
This software may be one of the most affordable new products at the show (it’ll cost just a few pounds) – but is it the most intriguing?

VIDEO: Zildjian’s brand new Z3 series
The third incarnation of the Z range retains the power and projection of the Z Customs, but the cymbals are more flexible (for better playability) than their predecessors

VIDEO: DubFX beatboxing and looping
Using a Boss RC-50 Loopstation and a Boss GT-10B bass multi-effects processor. Nice.

Samson Go Mic in the wild
Designed to either clip onto the top of your laptop or sit on your desk, this portable USB mic costs $49/£43 and, quite frankly, we want one

Custom painted guitars by Inky Hollow
Is the trend for custom-painted graphic guitars making a comeback? Guitarist magazine thinks just that…

Spot the star: Pink Floyd, Cradle Of Filth and Sandi Thom
One of the wonderful things about LIMS is the abundance of rockstar royalty roaming the show floor…

Roland Announces JUNO-Di Mobile Synthesizer
This latest addition to the Juno Series is specifically designed for the musician on the go: lightweight, portable and professional

From the basement…

12-year-old blues… just don’t call it vintage

Enter the Z3: the third incarnation of the Z range and brand new for LIMS 2009. Catching up with Russ from Zildjian, we learnt that the Z3 series retains the power and projection of the Z Customs, but the cymbals are more flexible (for better playability) than their predecessors.

We also learnt why no-one had heard about the range – because it’s not being announced until Monday. So watch the video below, but keep it under your hat, eh?

Europe’s biggest drumming festival, Drummer Live can now announce top session Drummer Troy Miller will play the show at London ExCeL Docklands on Sunday 14th June.

Troy has most recently been working with Amy Winehouse and Producer Mark Ronson which has included performances at the Grammies and Brits in 2008 as well as many other major festivals around Europe.

He has also worked with a wide of other artists including Soweto Kinch, Mica Paris, Cliff Richard, Mark Turner, Roachford, Branford Marsarlis, Kyle Eastwood, Marcus Printup, Guy Barker, Julian Joseph, Gary Bartz, Daniel Merriweather, David Jordan, Will Young to name a few.

Troy’s debut album ‘40 Days’ was released in June 2006, he’s also a visiting professor at The Guildhall School Of Music and Drama in London and is writing a write a drum book for Schott Publishing due out later in the year.

Troy’s performance will include Special Guests to be announced on the day and he joins a stella line-up of drummers at this years show with the full schedule now as follows;

Saturday 13th June:
11.50 Nick D’Virgilio (Spock’s Beard/ Tears for Fears),
13.40 Prince’s drummer, Cora Coleman with Josh Dunham on bass
3.35 Steve Smith (Journey/ Vital Information)

Sunday 14th June:
10.15am Troy Miller and special Guests
11 am Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden) & Pete Lockett (Bjork, Robert Plant/Peter Gabriel)
12 noon Derrick McKenzie and Sola Akingbola (Jamiroquai)
New to this years show, will be a chance to have a free drum lesson in association with Tech Music Schools Their 45 minute lessons will be open to visitors of LIMS where you will be able sign up for the classes. Small group lessons will be held on drums, guitar, bass, vocals and keyboards and will be led by some of the best teachers in the industry. The classes are for all levels of players and will cover subjects such as styles, techniques and performance.

Drummer Live is part of the UK’s Biggest Music exhibition, The London International Music show, which includes The London Guitar Show, Unplugged and Sound Recording and Technology Show. It takes place at www.excel-london.co.uk/, now firmly established as one of the UK’s premier (and largest) exhibition venues. Located in the heart of London’s Docklands, ExCeL For international visitors ExCel is situated next to http://www.londoncityairport.com/ and is five minutes taxi journey away.

For further information and tickets for Drummer Live, the London International Music show and for all the latest news and show updates see: http://www.londoninternationalmusicshow.com

Craig Blundell is now one of Roland’s foremost clinicians. His clinic style, performances and level of entertainment have received rave reviews in the media all over the globe and have put him ‘out there’ with some of the best clinicians, educators and session drummers in the world. Craig is currently recording in the studio with Rebel MC/Congo Natty as well as holding down the drum seat with David Cross from King Crimson. He continues to get great reviews in publications worldwide and still manages to keep on stretching the boundaries and creativity of his instrument.

At LIMS Craig will be pushing the Roland V-Drums technology to the max as well as conducting an interactive and mind-boggling demonstration which never fails to pull a massive crowd! Craig is widely regarded as one of the best and most entertaining demonstrators on the planet so this is not to be missed….even if you don’t play drums! The session will feature drums, vocals, vocal effects, loopstations, samplers and various elements of electronic percussion all played live………with help from the audience!

Ever wondered how you can get more out of your band’s MySpace page? If so, make sure you come along to the Future Publishing stand at LIMS (H21).

The experts from BIMM will be giving out free advice on how to improve your band’s MySpace page throughout all four days of the show*. They’ll also be offering hands-on reviewing and critiquing of your existing page.

It’s an opportunity not to be missed – we’ll see you there.

*Stand features are subject to change