Marty Friedman at The Mod Club

Photographs by Dale Benvenuto.

It wouldn’t be far from the truth to say there are millions of guitar players around the world. Out of these millions, there are thousands who record an album as a guitar player, then there are fewer who record more than one album, even fewer who record a solo album, and very few who record more than one solo album. Marty Friedman has had it all. He was already a legend in his mid 20’s with the band Cacophony along with the guitar prodigy, Jason Baker. Marty then moved on to join one of the greatest Speed/Thrash Metal bands in the history of the genre, Megadeth. 10 years later, he left the band. I remember watching the VH1 documentary about Megadeth, in which Marty said, he left the band because Megadeth’s music was gun gray and he wanted to experience orange and yellow and blue.

That moment, was a defining moment for me as a guitar player and a musician, and gained me eternal respect for Marty Friedman. Couple of years later, I met Marty in Kuala Lumpur and saw him perform at his guitar clinic workshop. It was a magical experience. I still watch the footage from that show from time to time. 

On Wednesday September the 16th, Toronto’s MOD Club was hosting Marty Friedman and his band as a part of the tour to promote Marty’s latest record, Inferno. As most of his solo works, Inferno is yet another evidence to Marty’s deep appreciation for and interest in Japanese music and culture. He himself has been living in Japan for many years and, fluent in Japanese, is a celebrity TV personality in the country. It is this unique mixture of Rock, Metal, and Japanese vibe and melodies, along with Marty’s specific style of guitar playing that made the show a unique experience all together. It was like nothing you’ve had experienced before. It was loud, it was fast, it was funny, and it was fun, filled with songs from a life-long catalog of solo music, along with snippets of Megadeth as well as some of Marty’s favorite bands, artists, and influences, including Ikimonogakari. 

Marty Friedman is a living Rock legend, and you’ll be doing yourself and your future generations a huge favor by listening to his music and seeing him live whenever you can. I know I will continue to do just that.