Omar Rodriguez-Lopez

Overview

There are some people in this world who are freaks of nature, e.g. people who can do any job, read any book, or pick up any instrument and play it. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is one of these people and he is here in Brisbane this week with his group to tour their 38-track monster Telestrion – a double disc CD collection of Omar's numerous releases.

Akin to Prince, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is a - wait for it - composer, artist, writer, director, songwriter, actor and producer, and can play over ten instruments. If his name sounds familiar, that's because he is the guitarist (as well as producer and composer) for the Mars Volta. Omar has also collaborated with John Frusciante (of Red Hot Chili Peppers fame) and although he may be in a prog-rock band, he also digs reggae and has been known to be quite experimental in his solo work.

It's of no surprise that someone of this immense talent and skill would feel claustrophobic in a band setting and would be dying to break free, which is why Omar has decided to spawn his own avant-garde style of music and do it on his own. His musical style is so complex that there is no way of describing the perplexing composition this incredible musician uses, so you pretty much need to see him to comprehend it all. Even then, I'm not sure if any of it would make sense to us common folk.

I'd go just to see Mr Rodriguez play the guitar left handed, all the other stuff's a bonus!