Arizona Bay Special Guest Star - Jim Tomaselli

Jim is the drummer for the Rush Tribute Band, Animation. These guys are based in Chicago and boast a repertoire that runs to about seven hours (roughly the same length as the average Neil Peart magazine interview) - obviously they don't play it all in one go (not even Rush fans are that patient) - but I can't think of any other Rush tribute bands who play The Fountain of Lamenth. Jim turned up in the lineup in November 2003 (he had been actually been practicing with them since the spring - these are Rush tracks they are playing after all!).

Jim's kit is about the strangest I have ever seen - the shell-free toms on the kit you can see here are made from Baltic Plywood . This kit was custom built and combines, according to Jim, the attributes of easy transportation, durability and superb sound.

This is what Jim calls his "behind the cockpit view" of the kit - pretty mean stuff - the slight overlap he gets on the toms allows him to set  up in about half the space as it would a similarly equipped conventional kit.....

Another view showing off the electronics that any self respecting Rush tribute drummer should have access to - this is a Roland Octopad and a few mixing bits......

Live on stage - the newly extended kit..... build that kit!

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