Bumblefoot with his 'hamsa' pendant

Ok, fans, question time. What do: Guns ‘n’ Roses shred-meister guitarist, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (aka Ronald Jay Blumenthal), “Hard Rock Hotel”, “Las Vegas” and Israel’s “Hatikva” (The Hope) national anthem… all have in common?

I know, you’re probably thinking, “Hmm, ‘One of these things is not like the other,’ would fit in here,” right?

Um, no, turns out. Caught backstage by blogger Darren Garnick at the swanky Vegas gig in early June, Thal, acoustic guitar in hand, fretted out a sweetly melodic lil’ instrumental version of Hatikva.

“…Bumblefoot had played an electric guitar solo of ‘Hatikvah’ (The Hope) when Guns N’ Roses stopped in Israel during their 2012 European tour. It was basically a Jewish Jimi Hendrix moment,” Darren said on his blog.

“So when Bumblefoot leaned up against the couch and started riffing on his acoustic guitar, I nonchalantly blurted out ‘Up for some Hatikvah?'”

Totally good call, dude.

“Yeah, everyone else in the room probably thought ‘Hatikvah’ was a new kind of bean dip and didn’t recognize the tune. But the three of us did — and this 52-second private concert instantly ranked in my Top 5 moments of Jewish pride.”

Darren? Habibi, decades, nay, centuries of Jewish rock gods are smiling down on you at this moment, thanks to your well-timed “blurt.”

Can we get a “Mazal Tov” shoutout to Darren, here, folks?

And now, on to the musical part of our evening’s entertainment: