Laceface Goes To Bucketheadland

It’s not that I can’t talk. I prefer not to and I can’t get my words out. It’s nicer to listen, especially when something is worthy of the spare space in my already crickets filled hearing canals. This is the one subject of which I am happy to talk at length. The subject is Buckethead. I only wish I was more eloquent to put my true feelings into words.

It’s difficult to pinpoint an exact date of this monumental musical epiphany so I’ll concentrate on the past five months. Five months ago I bought two tickets (to what I thought were the last shows of the tour) to see Buckethead in the USA. I had no means to get there and only half heartedly thought it was a possibility to see him, but I bought them anyway and I was filled with a sense of satisfaction and excitement knowing at least that I’d be there in spirit and that I’d supported Buckethead in a small way.

Having those tickets almost seemed like it was a possibility. Out of curiosity, I visited my local travel agent the next day to see what sort of prices I could get a return flight from Sydney to Las Vegas. She was very helpful and excited about this strange creature interested in going half way around the world to see her musical muse and unwitting mentor. The travel agent was a great sales woman. By the end of our visit I’d booked a return flight and accommodation with 48 hours to make a deposit or cancel. It looked like this was happening. The mad scramble for funds and travel documents began. Over the next weeks, I sold three vintage bicycles (I’m a bit of an enthusiast), an obsolete amplifier, some small vintage items, a large portion of my fine silk fabric stash (fabric hoarding can pay off) and coincidentally, I booked two large private solo gigs (timing could not have been better) which gave me spending money for the trip and helped towards the flights. I also had help from a loving benefactor who wanted to see me fulfil a dream. A crazy dance sister’s early birthday present meant I could upgrade my car to travel between shows faster and safer. ❤

By the third of June, everything was in place and I was raring to get on that plane. I also knew it would be over all too soon so was happy for the week to drag on.

After what seemed like a week of traveling from Sydney to San Francisco to Las Vegas, but was probably more like 26 hours, I picked up my rental car from Las Vegas airport and began my journey and first visit to Bucketheadland in Flagstaff, Arizona.

In the weeks leading up to my trip, I thought carefully about a personal gift for Buckethead, in the hope I could give it to him during his Toy Time exchange with his audience. I finally decided on a cute monstrosity that I could make for him. In the hours it took to make, I laughed at the silliness of it, cursed at the difficulties and pain in the hand sewing and poured as much love as I could into it. The result was The Guicken. I had hoped to make two, one in the shape of his current Les Paul Custom as well, but time limited me to just the one. It’s a hybrid of his iconic Jackson KFC V guitar with a chicken headstock. So silly. So cute. I hope Buckethead found the sleepy ZZZs under its wing and had a giggle.

Not only did Buckethead accept The Guicken but he placed it in front of his road case for the rest of the show in Flagstaff. I was very touched. As he took The Guicken from me, I mouthed “I made it for you” and blew him as many kisses as I could.

I am jumping ahead of myself a bit. Some of my helpful supporters told me to get there early to secure my front row spot. I did. Perhaps I was a bit eager, but after coming all that way I was not going to miss out on that spot. I got to The Orpheum Theater at 1pm. Doors opened at 7pm.

I wanted to say hello to PSticks, but I was too shy and he was very busy. It would have been nice but I didn’t want to hold him up or get in the way.

After a very long wait – relieved a couple of hours beforehand by the excitement of seeing PSticks arrive for load in, the doors finally opened and although held up with proving my identity (I had to get my passport out while people behind me scrambled through security before me), I still managed to get a spot in front row, just to the right of centre, which was really what I had hoped for. Lucky me.

The thrill of seeing for the first time Buckethead’s amps and his Rooster friend patiently awaiting his arrival is a feeling I will never forget. I had made it. Buckethead would be here soon.

After a long day of hanging around, coupled with the international traveling exhaustion and of course the lace poisoning from disintegrated bits of lace floating around my system, I was pushing my body to its limits. It’s a lot of effort to hold myself upright. I got through in small time increments. Just another few minutes. Just another few minutes. Once Buckethead’s big feet walked those floorboards I knew my adrenaline would kick in. PSticks made his gear check rounds. Relief was around the corner!

After a good 6 hours of hanging around, that last hour and a half wait before Buckethead made his understated stage entrance was excruciatingly painful, I wasn’t sure I could make it, but finally… Buckethead was here! That first sight of him walking out guided by PSticks is something I’ll never forget. An overwhelming feeling of extreme shyness and excitement fell over me – that’s a very confusing combination of emotions! Senses overload! I almost needed a nap to recover. 😴

It was impossible to prepare for what lay ahead. I wanted to video and get as many photos as I could but my eyes were drawn to Buckethead and I wanted to remember his presence as I saw him in front of me, not by watching my phone screen. He is a stunner. Such shoulders. Such legs. My young self wishes we could have met before he became famous. That musical mind, the sense of humour…legs… 😍 My older self will have to be content with being a fan. 💔 Oh well, that’s pretty nice too. I couldn’t help but smile or at least I felt I was smiling. It was probably more hideous expressions of adoration and dribbling and tears. Sometimes my face of lace has its advantages when it comes to erupting uncontrollable face waters. This was really happening. In hindsight, I should have cloned myself. One to watch and soak him up. One to video for posterity. In the moment, I mostly soaked him up. I do regret not taking more video as my memories are already skewing but I did get some footage and here are a few bits I’d love to share with you.

Buckethead performing Jordan at The Orpheum Theatre, Flagstaff, Az

Buckethead performing Fountains Of The Forgotten at The Orpheum Theatre, Flagstaff, Az

Seeing and hearing Fountains of the Forgotten live was thrilling beyond words. Oh, and there’s a Guicken on stage! Yes, that’s my voice pretending I’m a whammy pedal. I only made it to Eb6 according to International Scientific Pitch. 😂

Buckethead performing Interworld and the New Innocence at The Orpheum Theatre, Flagstaff, Az

Being that close to Buckethead was very surreal. After watching him for so long via live fan recorded concerts on youtube, it was almost as though he existed only in some far off reality. Seeing his human frailties made my heart swell. He gives all he has. I don’t know of anyone else who has reached that level of musical magnificence and cult fame (for a while I didn’t realise he actually was famous) who charges so little for a ticket, tours all the mid size venues of large and small towns across America, never misses a show and gives so much to his audience. His work ethic is extraordinary. That sort of touring is exhausting and I’m not sure people realise the dedication one must have to stay healthy, rested and put on a great show night after night after night.

Buckethead’s Encore at The Orpheum Theatre, Flagstaff, Az

What a tasty bunch of morsels Buckethead offered us for his encore. Even better than a head cheese sandwich. Alas, I missed videoing – again, unprepared – his performance of La Gavotte which is from the Bach Solo Cello suites in D and on his album Electric Sea but there were other delights in the form of an unaccompanied Spokes For The Wheel Of Torment. So good. If I could stuff that stuff into every pore I would!

The Best Photos I Could Manage – Buckethead at The Orpheum Theatre, Flagstaff AZ, 12 June 2018

The lighting at Buckethead’s shows makes it almost impossible to take any clear photos with just a phone camera without missing a whole lot of the show by fussing around trying to adjust light levels and set focus. Mine are just as bad as the rest out there but at least I have something. Probably better to zoom out than in. Tee hee.

I tried the best I could to meet him but to no avail. The thought of dressing up like Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Sally, covering myself in blood-like strawberry jam/jelly and standing screaming by the roadside of Route 66 waiting for the big black Buckethead Ford to come driving by from New Mexico in the hope Buckethead would rescue me did cross my mind 😂😆, but sense prevailed and I didn’t go ahead with it in the event I came across my own real Leatherface. Eeep! 😱

It was gracious of Buckethead to take my compilation CD of my music that I thought he might like. It was in a little red bag but I could see him feeling it and he seemed to know what it was. He put it behind his amps. Perhaps he’ll have a listen, perhaps it was lost. Perhaps it’s just another ghost of broken CDs of the unknown hopeful. I’ll probably never know but it was something I had to do. It was important to try to show him what his inspiration had given to me; how much he’d unknowingly given me; his work ethic, his creativity, his dedication, brilliant musicianship and generous spirit are all things I admire greatly and give me the aspiration to follow his lead. I feel so incredibly lucky to have finally found an unwitting mentor and muse in him when I really had so little guidance as a young hopeful musician. Crazy cello lady (another to whom I am forever indebted) could only take me so far career wise, and I was doomed with the curse of terminal introversion and over sensitivity. You can’t imagine the feeling of frustration of floating along, fumbling, wondering how I could make it work. Decades later, it truly is better late than never and that Buckethead helped me discover a conduit for my music? Well, it makes me so grateful that I can’t help but tear up with joy when I think about it. He has helped me find my own path and for that alone, I am eternally grateful. I’m sure everyone wants a piece of Buckethead so I’ll just join the queue and perhaps one day I’ll be able to give him something back for all he’s given me.

My lodgings (such a cute American way to say accommodation) in Flagstaff were at the Howard Johnson on East Route 66. It was exciting to stay on such a famous road and I enjoyed the small town Americanisms including the all night freight trains (it was a comforting noise) and the beautiful scenery around. All the pick up trucks and American flags were so different to my little coastal nook in Sydney. Unfortunately I found the main desk attendant to be quite unhelpful. He didn’t seem to understand my accent (which was amusing) but perhaps it had more to do with my awkward mumbling and lisp. Beyond that though, he might have not had much exposure to international guests who really had no clue about their surrounds and just how much guidance on the area I was hoping to get. The room was ok but a little bit scary as a sole female traveler being on the ground floor with a connecting room door and unlockable sliding bathroom window. I wedged a knife in the slider so that it couldn’t be opened from outside! After the Buckethead show it was almost impossible to sleep. My head hit the pillow around 2.30am and I woke bright eyed at 5.45am. It looked like a trip to the Grand Canyon on my way to Las Vegas was going to happen after all. The Grand Canyon was awesome. Awesome! Along the way I frolicked in Coconino National Forest, high on the sounds from Buckethead’s show the night before. So many cute critters!

Gophers, prairie dogs, squirrels, pretty birds, chipmunks….alas no deer or elk. There’s always next time.

Cute critter alert!

Some pics from the Grand Canyon

Next instalment coming eventually…but this took forever and I’m getting older and there’s music to record…but until then…

Lots of love,

Laceface 🌼💛

PS. Not that my little post will contribute much, but if you’ve found me before you’ve found Buckethead and/or if you’d like to support Buckethead by buying his music or going to one of his mind blowing shows, visit http://www.bucketheadpikes.com