Gobsmacked by this guys extraordinary talent - Sultans of swing like you've never heard it before!

Voxman

Came across this purely by accident - 7.365m hits on youtube!! - & no wonder! 

Please don't be put off by the length of this vid guys & gals - I promise you every second is worth watching/listening to - especially the 'taking it down' feel at c 5:40 (clearly based loosely on MK's live Alchemy performance).

The variation, phrasing, feel, effortless dexterity and sheer laid back nonchalance whilst playing in the middle of Oxford Street is just beyond belief.  I'm just speechless - I honestly don't have the words to convey how awesome I think this young guy is. 

Voxman

Discovered he's a renowned player who undertook a whole series of street performances around the world, but I've never heard of him before - been listening to other street performances he's done - just mind-blowing talent. 

http://www.miguelmontalban.com/about

Here's his version of 'Shine on you crazy diamond'

proggy

I see this fella all the time, he normally busks at the junction of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street, just up the road from where I live. And sometimes at Oxford Circus, he is really good, plays a lot of Floyd.

OilCityPickups

That's stunning ... I always feel really lucky to be living in a city where fantastic stuff goes on like this. Makes up for Transport For London, aggressive beggars and the odd twat trying to blow us up. :-)

sweepy

Sounds like a Flamenco player who suddenly discovered electric guitar, lasted @30 secs and that's even thinking of Dot Cotton

jonnygreentrees

Bit of an odd playing position

dindude

Oh yes, I remember following the sound as I came out of Oxford Street tube station a year or so ago, proper good player.

OilCityPickups

sweepy said:

Sounds like a Flamenco player who suddenly discovered electric guitar, lasted @30 secs and that's even thinking of Dot Cotton

I suppose one man's 'brilliant playing' is another man's 'over playing' ... personally, I have to admire anyone who has the balls to go out on the streets and entertain like that ... clearly holding a crowd and making some peoples day, in what can be a very dehumanizing city.

thecolourbox

What a man, I don't enjoy that type of music in the slightest but he was great.

In Birmingham we only her accordionists, a man who falls asleep whilst playing Elizabethan dances and minuets on a penny whistle, and recently a couple of teenagers who sing every damn song in thirds and think it's "harmony" whilst both strumming exactly the same "accent on the 2nd and 4th beat" chords

markr76

thecolourbox said:

What a man, I don't enjoy that type of music in the slightest but he was great.

In Birmingham we only her accordionists, a man who falls asleep whilst playing Elizabethan dances and minuets on a penny whistle, and recently a couple of teenagers who sing every damn song in thirds and think it's "harmony" whilst both strumming exactly the same "accent on the 2nd and 4th beat" chords

I always think of the guys selling those silly mouth whistle things on new street. Really annoying. Supposed to sound like tropical birds or something! 
Not really street music. But a noise all the same!!

DrBob

thecolourbox said:

What a man, I don't enjoy that type of music in the slightest but he was great.

In Birmingham we only her accordionists, a man who falls asleep whilst playing Elizabethan dances and minuets on a penny whistle, and recently a couple of teenagers who sing every damn song in thirds and think it's "harmony" whilst both strumming exactly the same "accent on the 2nd and 4th beat" chords

Up here in Glasgow we’ve got, or at least had this mental old toothless gypsy woman who used to stand there with a pink child’s guitar, strumming away furiously making absolutely no attempt to make any chord shapes, or even tune the guitar. Laughing like a drain the whole time.
Very cinematic, slightly unsettling...

My favourite was the topless bongo player outside M&S. Real high energy performance running round like a maniac, always stripped to the waist no matter what the weather.
Havent seen him in ages. I worry that he’s been institutionalised 

darthed1981

The boy can play.

Must have been all the dedication and devotion.

dazzajl

darthed1981 said:

The boy can play.

Must have been all the dedication and devotion.

Shot at night time then you think? 

thomasross20

Err...... but he's not playing a Gibson R8 or R9 ........  

sweepy

thomasross20 said:

Err...... but he's not playing a Gibson R8 or R9 ........  

Yet !

darthed1981

dazzajl said:

darthed1981 said:

The boy can play.

Must have been all the dedication and devotion.

Shot at night time then you think? 

Yes, he turned it into the day

EricTheWeary

Watched a bit of the first clip and I was thinking get on with it, play the bloody tune and stop twiddling about - exactly how I feel about Mark Knopfler, so job done!


There's a lot of skill there and he's attempted a different take on it, so well done. I don't find it particularly enjoyable to listen to but if I saw him playing I'd stop and look.    

kt66

but can he play House of the Rising Sun? 

UnclePsychosis

kt66 said:

but can he play House of the Rising Sun? 

-I wish he fucking would!

Great guitar playing but Dire Straits are literally the single worst band I can think of. Utterly hateful. 

kt66

At least it wasn't a U2 or Oasis song. I think guys like this are clever, but always play too many notes 

merlin

kt66 said:

At least it wasn't a U2 or Oasis song. I think guys like this are clever, but always play too many notes 

One is too many and ten thousand isn't enough.