Wrong Gig

Which one of you forum members is it?

Lol...the drummer!

Those guys should write their own music, they're good. The drummer is crazy, in a good way!

That's awesome! Too funny.

That's definitely impressive, and yes, it's hilarious.

Nice find, that was too funny. Reminds me of that Tom Cruise movie about fancy, acrobatic bartenders. I don't know how to play drums, but incorporating those moves must've taken a LOT of practice, so yeah, pretty impressive!

While I appreciate the ability, what the drummer is doing is upstaging the guitar player who's playing the lead and doing the vocals. He needs to understand the goal is a solid performance of the song and understand exactly what his role is in order to achieve that goal. I've worked with guys like this who, during somebody else's solo, is doing anything and everything to draw attention to himself and away from what is being featured.

We only see the one song, of course so, to us, it is, understandably, novel and clever. But, IF he is doing this through the entire performance, I'm looking for a new drummer. Imagine how effective it would be if he behaved like a normal drummer though the entire performance, and then had a drum solo and he does his stuff with the spotlight on him. It would bring the house down. Save it for the drum solo, Mac.

If, you enjoy James Taylor and you don't mind wasting about 4.5 minutes of your time, I can give you an example of what I'm talking about. Watch this video. If you can feed the audio through your Axioms, it will be more impressive.

About 3:15 into the vid, a backup performer is featured. To this point in the concert, he's competently and professionally fulfilled his backing role and has been relatively unnoticed. Whether or not the music, or what the backup performer does, is your cup of tea, stay with the vid until the song ends (approximately 4:30 in to the video) to see both the audience and James Taylor's reaction.

Had this performer been doing, during the entire concert, what he did just this once, it would have been initially impressive, then a bit redundant, then boring, then offensive. One of the golden rules of performance - ALWAYS LEAVE THEM WANTING MORE.

Apologies for the rant, but stuff like this gets to me.

Considering their over the top Gold jackets and the lead's over exuberant introduction that didn't quiet match the audience's size or enthusiasm levels, my guess is that this is a band that is looking to be noticed for something... anything...

Love James Taylor by the way though. He is an excellent example of when a true entertainer needs no frills to make an audience love them.

4.5 min of time well wasted, it even sounded very good through my monitor's crappy speakers.

I just love the audience reaction. James Taylor's too. He's got that wry little "ain't he somethin'?" smile. He is obviously delighted by the way the crowd enjoyed Arnold. Why not! The whole thing makes HIM look good, and rightfully so.

A bit off subject, but since Jack mentioned James Taylor, I caught one of his very intimate concert performances on HDNet last night...only him, his guitar, and a piano. Being that it was a live performance, the piano player and his guitar playing blending together beautifully, and they were so much in sync. I've never considered myself a fan of his, but I was moved by this performance.

I agree. James Taylor seems to draw the audience right in, like you're sitting in a much smaller venue, or something. Gotta like the story telling songs, too.

I have to be honest, I had never even heard of James Taylor until Leno's final episode of the Tonight Show... Errr... I guess pre-final episode... Anyway, I really liked that performance and watched it online a few times afterwards.

Tater, Axiom speakers were made for music by the likes of James Taylor. Try one of his cd's if you get a chance.

Ajax: I can't agree more. If the drummer has to exhibit all that "flash", at least show a modicum of class enough to back off the 'display' while someone else is soloing. I thought it was mildly amusing until the guitar solo. Us musicians are sensitive about that stuff!


James Taylor is one of my favorites and your link is a perfect example of a polar opposite scenario. Consummate professionals at the top of their game.

My brother has seen James 6,7 8 times most recently last week in Santa Barbara. According to Jim, James and his band are the tightest, best example of a live preformance you can find....

In some ways I think the genisis of me ending up in NC might have started in my early days with "Going to Carolina In My Mind... a stretch .. but .. always on my mind.

Three generations of our family are big fans. including the grandkids for singalongs in the car!

I caught the tale end of the HDNet concert last night also.

The band is "Rick K and the Allnighters", and Rick K appears to be the drummer, so I guess he can play any way he wants

Actually they seem to have two drummers, so I'm not sure which one is Rick. See the Wipeout video :

http://biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=20813

EDIT - looks like the "mad drummer" is Steve Moore, and Rick K is the "other drummer" :

http://www.maddrummerinc.com/

A couple guys in my dad's band use to do the same type of deal... one behind the other (switching) playing guitar, fiddle and string bass together ... one the frets and one the "hand" ... the best music in the world no ... but good entertainment, music and showmanship .. yes!

But hey, they played Knotts Berry Farm, the John Wayne Theater, for years and made records .. so not total wedding band stuff! Their lead singer eventually ended up on the CBN singing for Jesus ..Vern Jackson

Well, funny for a couple of minutes. Jack, I see your point. Now, off to listen to James Taylor.

Fred, taken in context of the one song, it IS funny. Having been a musician/performer I couldn't help looking at the bigger picture. I didn't mean to spoil the fun (and it IS fun) or hype JT, but I'm delighted to find so many enjoy his work. All I wanted to do was demonstrate that, when in performance, it is important to do stuff at the right time and equally important to not overdo it.

I would think the other band members are well aware (and approve) of the drummer's moves. They must've practiced this before, I doubt the drummer would pull something like this out for the first time during a live performance. Just my 2 cents anyhow.

The band leader (Rick K) is also a drummer, but he and the band hired Steve (the mad drummer) *anyways* because they liked his style. From everything I can see his theatrics are welcomed and considered to be an important contributor to the band's popularity.

http://www.image-indiana.com/Art-and-Artists/Rick-K-and-the-AllNighters-at/611779_xEmYN

Hey, if it works for the general public, and they're popular, more power to 'em. Having been in the biz for a while, most the folks I know would consider this...schlock. (for lack of a better term :)) More entertainment than musicianship, of course.

There is no accounting for what will prove popular with the general public. A few quick hits that popped into my mind.

Fuzzy Dice
Harvest Gold Kitchen Appliances
Legwarmers
Anything Turquoise
and to bring it back to music, The Village People

Y - M - C - A

Tiny Tim, anyone?

Tip Toe, through the tul...... AAAAHHHH! I Can't TAKE IT anymore! CRUSH the damn Tulips! DESTROY THE DAMN TULIPS!

::Insert Howard Dean Scream here::

Wow! 3 pages over a wedding band. (w/ JT's name dragged in and out).

Never a big Toto fan (great musicians), but they've got a Paris concert on the Sat 101 network. Lee Sklar is playing bass for them (JT's bassist.) Even on TV, he sounds so round, smooth and like deep, dark chocolate. Each note just melts into the next.
Still amazing!