Aljon's "Going Away" Concert Footage part 1

My good friend Alli was able to capture some shenanigans from my recent "going away" party in September. My wife Kristen and the rest of the bands did a great job of keeping this party a secret from me. It was a HUGE surprise. After a few drinks Manic Bloom even got me to join them on stage for a cover of a song I wrote. Great stuff. Part two is coming soon. Stay tuned!

*WARNING EXPLICIT LANGUAGE!
Thanks for reading,
Aljon

Follow me on Twitter!
Twitter @aljonrocks

Please follow ToneFreq.info for daily guitar gear updates!
ToneFreq.info

ToneFreq's Daily Pedal: Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive

I really regret letting this pedal go. It was instrumental in recording my old band MINK's album "Full Rock Power." I'm a real fan of using a combination of clean and dirt, especially out of two amps. However when I was touring and had restrictions of weight etc... I had to scale down my recording rig. This pedal help me get that nice blend. It worked great with my other guitarist's tone. Check out the semi-clean guitar intro of "My Star" and hear me use it!

MINK LINK

Twitter @aljonrocks
ToneFreq.info

Remembering 9/11

I'm always touched when reading other accounts of 9/11. It's a day most of us will never forget.

I was on my third USO tour with my rock band. We were setting up for our first show in Bahrain (just south of Saudi Arabia. We had just arrived the day before soaking up the local atmosphere and getting to know the troops on base. It was about noon and we were getting things ready for our show that night. All of a sudden everyone stopped to see a breaking news feed from CNN. The base went into scramble mode and a base commander told us that our show had to be postponed until further notice. As we headed back to our hotel we were accompanied by Marines and were under guard and observation in the city.

Needless to say we were all in shock and our tour was cancelled. We spent a week and a half in that hotel and couldn't venture out during that time for security reasons. We spent a lot of time in the hotel bar since it was much too depressing staying locked up in our room. Our singer was very depressed and spent many nights crying in her room. Communication to the states that day was impossible. I tried calling my wife and family several times with no luck. Internet and phone service was quite different back then.

Security going back home was a HUGE ordeal. Getting all of our gear past customs over several countries was an amazing feat. When we finally made it home we were relieved and very overcome with sadness for all those lost in the tragedy.

The Pentagon did invite us back on tour post 9/11 and we were the first American rock band to play for the Allied troops.

Doing those tours for the troops was an amazing experience and was very humbling. There are so many things Americans take for granted. I for one am very grateful to have made it back home to my wife and family.

Here are some pictures of my old band performing at the first "real meal" for the Allied forces post 9/11 in Afghanistan. This super supper was the first time they had anything other than MRE's (meals ready to eat). We were fortunate to supply them with some good American rock music!





Twitter @aljonrocks
ToneFreq.info