Paul Dempsey does Iron Maiden

Something for Kate are one of Australia's most consistently engaging rock bands. And as is you needed another reason to love the band even more, frontman Paul Dempsey is doing a video blog of sorts backstage on this tour where he plays an acoustic cover, shot in dodgy, gritty low-fi cinema quality.

He calls the series "Shotgun Karaoke" and the current episode #6 has to be seen to be believed.

The latest one is an acoustic version of "Aces High" by Iron Maiden. A brilliant and technically accomplished song in its own right, this is a version in which most of the technically fiddly bits are replicated within a guitar style that's not unlike that of someone like a Bert Jansch or Leo Kottke.

While Paul's vocals are a little muffled in parts, his guitar technique is simply explosive. This is goosebump stuff. Seriously.

Enjoy.

R.I.P. Clive Burr

Image Source: parying-mantis.com

Today brings us the news that former Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr has shuffled off the mortal coil. Not being a big Iron Maiden fan, and only being into a few key tracks, I still took a minute to reflect on his work. He played in Samson before leaving to join Iron Maiden, in which he played on their first three LPs (Iron Maiden, Killers, The Number of the Beast) and then left, for reasons my research has not been able to provide me with.

His passing was due to Multiple Sclerosis, or MS for short. By all accounts, the final stages of MS are horrific and I am glad to say that despite this Clive, by all accounts, kept his spirits up and his humour and battled hard until the end. While knowledge of MS is common, it is still misunderstood, so a small positive of this is that Clive's untimely passing will raise some attention towards the plight of MS sufferers.

He was a great drummer, there's no question of that. Check out his work on a Maiden classic, from 1982: Run To The Hills.

Vale Clive.