‘Guitar’ Tour Hits L.A. Today

A horde of guitar-wielding youths will be lining up on Sunset Boulevard outside the Guitar Center in Hollywood today, but not because of a sale on strings. They’re hoping to hit the rock ‘n’ roll equivalent of the lottery: a chance to join multimillion-selling band Limp Bizkit.

The group has been holding auditions around the country for a guitarist to replace Wes Borland, who quit in October. Today’s session is the last on the 23-city “Put Your Guitar Where Your Mouth Is” tour of Guitar Center stores, where hundreds and sometimes thousands of would-be Bizkits have shown up with audition tapes and guitars in hand, hoping they have the magic sound, look and personality that will land them the lead-guitar chair.

Musicians will “pre-audition” starting at about 10 a.m. for a screening committee headed by Danny Wimmer, vice president of artists and repertoire for Bizkit singer Fred Durst’s Flawless Records label. The lucky few who make the cut, typically fewer than 10 per city, could find themselves jamming tonight for anywhere from 60 seconds to 10 minutes with Bizkit bassist Sam Rivers and drummer John Otto, while Durst and DJ Lethal observe the riffing.

There’s no guarantee anyone will make it to the jam. When auditions were held outside Boston last month, none of the aspirants made it past the pre-audition. “I heard 10 guys that would have been great for Pearl Jam,” Wimmer told the Boston Globe, “but we’re looking for something original, someone to help take Limp Bizkit to the next level.” The same thing happened at the Buffalo, N.Y., tour stop.

And although Limp Bizkit has been accused of living in a man’s, man’s, man’s world with its testosterone-fueled music, Paul Reiter, a publicist for one of the tour sponsors, says a female guitarist who showed up at one East Coast tryout has made it to the band’s short list of candidates to replace Borland.

Compiled by Times staff writers