Man tapes dustpan to face, plays Smoke on the Water using nothing but sweep argpeggios
Bradley Hall’s stunning, sweep-heavy take on the Deep Purple classic would make Yngwie proud
Best of 2019: For reason number 1,362,546 why YouTube continues to be an incredible place to witness awesome, absurd and just plain “huh?” feats of electric guitar playing wonderment, Guitar World presents this recently-posted clip from Bradley Hall, in which the rather impressive player performs that old six-string standby, Smoke on the Water, using nothing but sweep arpeggios.
The performance pretty much speaks for itself, with Hall, Ibanez seven-string in hand, transforming the song's intro, verse and chorus riffs into glorious, over-the-top sweeps patterns – an idea that, we must admit, we’re shocked Yngwie didn’t come up with first.
And because he’s ever the showman, Hall also performs all these extraordinary sweeps with dustpans and brushes taped to his body and face.
It’s all a bit, um, odd, but then again, this is also a man who once painted his face red with black and white stripes and played Eruption backwards.
For more Bradley Hall, head over to his official YouTube channel.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
“I love driving people crazy. They come and say, ‘How did you do that? I’ve been working for months trying to get that.’ And I say, ‘It’s just a pedal!’” A guide to untapped guitar playing of David Gilmour’s solo albums
“I told Ibanez, ‘You make wonderful instruments, but you have nothing original.’ They said, ‘That’s why we’re here’”: How George Benson helped take Ibanez to the next level in the late-’70s