R.I.P. Denis D'Amour
Monday August 29, 2005
On Friday at 11:45 pm, Denis D'Amour, stage name : Piggy, died of cancer. Piggy was one of the most innovative and influential guitar players heavy metal has ever known, and his passing is terribly sad to me. Voivod is a band that I've loved for many years and for many reasons, Piggy's playing certainly not the least. I never met the man, but I saw him in concert three times, in 1993, 1997, and 2004, and he always put on a great show. He would occasionally play his guitar with a toy raygun - the beeps and whoops somehow made it through the pickups and out his amp. It was a neat trick, and he would make funny faces while he did it, which always made me laugh. I transcribed a Voivod song for a friend once, and let me tell you, it was not easy. I'm sure I did it wrong, too, but the point is that his style was so different from everyone else's that nearly all of his riffs seemed inscrutably difficult for me to figure out and play. While a lot of players learned a thing or two from Piggy, no one ever sounded just like him or Voivod, because the only way to do that would be to actually cover Voivod songs. Piggy and his band were both truly unique, and the world is a lesser place for his absence.
Posted by Matt at August 29, 2005 06:26 PM
