HATEBREED Bassist Issues NAMM Recap

HATEBREED bassist Chris Beattie has posted a recap on the HardTimes.ca web site of his experience at this year's winter NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show, which was held January 17-20 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Check it out below.

"I recently returned from a trip to Anaheim, CA where I attended the 2008 NAMM show. For those of you who don't know, it's a trade show for musical instruments. I have never attended this event and decided to go check it out for myself to see what it was all about.

"After getting up at 4 a.m. Thursday morning and catching two flights, I finally checked into my hotel room at about 4 p.m. in California. I went on over to the Convention Center and talked to my friends at Ampeg and Jackson. Since the show was over at 6 p.m., that's all I really got to do on Thursday. I went to this banging Mexican restaurant, headed back to the hotel and just slept for 12 hours.

"Got up fairly early on Friday morning.I ate some breakfast and hung out at the hotel until the show started at 10 a.m. That place was pretty crowded first thing in the morning. Everyone getting right down to business!

"The first place I went to was the Tech 21 (SANS AMP) booth to catch up with my friend over there. They make the best products in the world. Roadworthy and worth their weight in gold.

"I continued to make the rounds that morning. I talked with my Jackson Guitars reps and put into motion a new signature bass design which will hopefully be ready this year. I got to check out my basses displayed on the Jackson Guitars wall as well as a bunch of other great new products. After that, I headed on down to the EMG pickup booth and hung out over there for a bit. Made my way from there over to Dunlop then on over to DR strings.

"It was great to be able to hang and talk to the companies and reps that help me out all year round. You rarely get to see them all in one place and just chill.

"After I left DR strings, I headed back on over to the Ampeg booth to go sign with other bass players — Rob from METALLICA, THE DONNAS bass player and the SICK PUPPIES bass player. The signing went well and I talked with Rob for a bit afterwards. He's a good-ass dude.

"All of my obligations were met for the day so I went back to that Mexican restaurant and grabbed a coffee (FYI — not a good shitting combination) and headed back to the hotel to wait for my friends Goody and Chief to arrive in California from Arizona. These guys got there at about 9:30 p.m. and that's when the party started!

"Met them downstairs in the hotel and we got a drink at the bar. We had to wait 15 minutes for a drink so after that we decided to just go to Goody's van and drink all the beer he picked up on the way to the hotel.

"I headed home the next morning. My flight was changed twice in 10 minutes and I almost missed my flight because this shuttle guy was dicking around not doing his job. I just gave him the fare and checked in just making the flight. After another nine-hour trip, two connections and bunch of crappy airport food, I was back in my own bed. I woke up Sunday morning feeling refreshed and ready to watch the Giants beat the Green Bay Packers at my friend's house. We watched the game, partied and barbequed in single-digit temperatures. The game ended up being pretty close but the New York Giants managed to pull off a win and are headed to the Super Bowl. The night ended with my friend (a Green Bay fan) taking a sledgehammer to one of the TV sets! Awesome!"