While we’ve been at NAMM, we’ve been hearing about the dreaded Saturday crush from the vendors and NAMM ventrans we’ve talked to. Up until today, it’s been fairly easy to navigate the aisles between the booths. You might get the odd small crowd gathering around a performance, but nothing that would put you out.
Today, the artists showed up for their endorsement deals obligations and the crowds followed. It wasn’t too hard to spot artists – they were usually camped out at booths signing autographs with convention staff desperately trying to maintain an orderly queue and keeping the aisle traffic moving.
Here are some that I spotted and captured on camera today:
Geoff Downes from Yes, Asia and the Buggles hanging out near the Korg booth.
Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer signing autographs at the Korg Booth
Dave Pensado – a Grammy winning mix engineer (Mary J. Blige, Black Eyed Peas, P!nk, Beyonce) at the McDSP booth.
Matt Soren – drummer for Guns ‘n Roses and Velvet Revolver at the Gretch booth.
Kiko Loureiro of Angra at the Laney Amps booth
Berit Hagen (aka The Commander in Chief) & yours truly at the Laney Amplifier booth
Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater at the Remo booth
Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall at the Remo booth
