Echo Times

Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: A&E

Media Credit: bucketheadland.com Buckethead's look may be intriguing, but his sound is what hooks you.

Media Credit: bucketheadland.com Buckethead doing what he does best.

The typical Valentines Day would find a couple gazing deep into one another's eyes; her eyes would be filled with hopes of the future as a heart shaped box of Sees candy and a dozen red roses' sits prominently next to a candlelit table and a bottle of wine.

His wallet would be emptied out of the pressure to not defy tradition and keep his little lovely one happy on this day of days. He would have combed his hair for the occasion, and she would be wearing some enticing underwear, which depending on her date's behavior he would may or may not get to see. It is a Hallmark tradition that is taken all too seriously in our culture.

That is unless they were at the Great American Music Hall this last Thursday. Had they been there, their hearts would not have just been burning for each other, but rather, their hearts would have been exploding!

For on this Valentines Day the one and the only Buckethead decided to grace San Francisco with a red and pink treat, which at twenty-five dollars a pop was a whole lot better than some candy and a stuffed bear.

For those familiar with Buckethead, no explanation is necessary, while for those who are unfamiliar with him, a simple explanation does not do justice to this masked mad-man. Known for being an eccentric, he is never seen with out his expressionless white mask, and a KFC bucket atop his head, a gimmick of sorts that he has stayed impressively loyal to for near twenty years. And while this odd persona plays a huge roll in his live performances, he is certainly not an artist who relies on gimmick.

Known in many circles of music as a true master and manipulator of the electric guitar, Buckethead uses his inhumanly long fingers to create sounds that just don't seem possible. His style ranges from funk, to long ballads that build and build in intensity, slow melodic tunes, heavy riffs and beats that rival the legends of heavy metal, to the fastest and loudest and most intricate shredding ever made.

To compare the concert to some sort of visual imagery would conjure up the image of engaging in a medieval battle of the most brutal sort, then having to climb a mountain of jagged rock while avoiding bubbling lava pits and bolts of lightning, fighting a giant mutant tarantula, and after all that, winding up in an isolated and enchanted pool of eternal youth with three beautiful, singing vixens who are there to help you forget the horror you just overcame. And right when you're about to get comfortable, he picks you up and hurdles you back down the mountain and into bloody battle.

Buckethead is the type of musician you just don't question; which is why no one questions his decision to tour on his own and have no supporting musicians. Buckethead has been in bands with the likes of Les Claypool, Bernie Worrel and Bootsy Collins of P-Funk, and has worked with countless musicians and singers, and has even scored a handful of movies, but most recently has been a solo artist.

Accompanying him on stage is nothing other than an ipod with his self-recorded songs, minus the lead guitar of course, which he provides live. Upon explanation, that sounds a little weak; but believe me, it is any thing but.

His website bio gives the tale of an awkward farm boy who was teased and forced to live in the chicken coop. Here he made his real friends, the chickens being the only ones who really understood him. They liked him so much that they scratched his face off, and he got to wear a mask, which was fine because he loved Halloween and now felt like the luckiest boy ever. One night a bucket of fried chicken was thrown into his coop. He couldn't figure out how to put the chicken back together, and that made him sad, so he put the bucket on his head in memorial of his dismantled friend. And so the story goes.

Buckethead does not let the crowd down. There are several ways to enjoy a Buckethead show. His maniacal music could have you dancing for two hours liked a tweaked out zombie on ten cups of coffee, you can find a spot with a good view and become mesmerized by watching his fingers whirl around in a blur, or you can just stare and be blown away by the fact that there is actually someone on this earth doing this.

He played for a paralyzing two plus hours. No bathroom break or thirst for a beer is worth leaving for while he is on stage. He weaves in and out of one song after the other so seamlessly you barely have time to take a breath. His beats are so intoxicating and evoke so much reaction that a two hour show feels like it takes a weeks worth of energy out of you. You just want to keep seeing more, and that is good, because he just keeps on giving it to you. When it was time to clap or yell, sometimes I just felt so dumbstruck I could barely muster a cough.

He has some well known and expected routines that have come to define his shows. He will break at one point and demonstrate his nun chuck ability with one and while still playing guitar, he will do the robot dance across the stage and demonstrate some karate kicks. Then to reward those who battled to the front row he hands out an assortment of random action figures and toys from a big Easter-basket. This time around the gift-giving was done in time to some cheesy N'Sync song, it was hilarious.

Buckethead is a truly unique and talented artist. Never has such a well carried out gimmick (no one has ever seen his face or knows who he really is.), been accompanied by such skillful and powerful music. To see his show is an unforgettable experience that will have you yelling, "Thank you Mr. Buckethead!!" The intimate setting of the Great American Music Hall was an ideal venue for this guitar virtuoso, and catching the Valentines show as well as another round on Friday night seemed absolutely necessary to me. When it comes to him, there is no overkill.

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