ULI JON ROTH's 'Amazing' Playing Overshadows Technical Glitches At U.S. Tour Opener

The following message was posted at the official web site of legendary guitarist Uli Jon Roth:

"[Thursday night, Aug. 26] Uli Jon Roth played the first show of his U.S. tour in front of a sold-out House of Blues in West-Hollywood, Los Angeles. Fans had travelled from all over the country to witness Uli's first American concert in over 19 years. The audience was not to be disappointed.

"Uli was greeted on stage by rapturous applause and received a standing ovation as soon as he started to play. Being the first show of the tour, the concert was dogged by some technical mishaps with the equipment and gremlins, but Uli remained completely unfazed by this and refused to let it affect his playing at all. If anything, the technical glitches with the equipment spurred him on to play even better and more intensely.

"The crowd was not only amazed by Uli's magnificent and superb playing, but also by the releaxed and humorous way he handled the glitches, which included complete loss of electricity on all of his amps at the beginning and a broken Whammy bar during the finale of 'Fly to the Rainbow'. The multi-media cinemascope projection behind Uli looked fantastic and really augmented the music and a lot of people were amazed by the whole concept, which is very novel. Visual highlights included a very moving version of 'Enola Gay - Hiroshima Today?' and 'The Sails of Charon', which featured Liz Vandall on vocals. Further highlights included Vivaldi's 'Winter' and Uli's 'Metamorphosis Concerto', which featured SKY ORCHESTRA on the screen playing alongside and behind Uli.

"The concert was attended by Uli's friend Warren De Martini of the band RATT. Opening band were HEAVEN AND EARTH. The evening was closed by the MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP. Michael was in good spirits and clearly enjoyed himself during his set.

"Uli would like to personally thank all the people who made this tour possible."