September to December 2003
September 2003
September was a strange month - it marked the start of my new career - so I did not get a great deal done. But I did get a chance with Emma to change around the house and bring some order into my life. This culminated in the old, small, cupboardish computer room becoming the nice new drumming room. OK - I must concede this was a decision made in the light of the fact that I actually got a complaint about my electronic drums! So - over to the opposite side of the house the drum kit now goes - and I must admit the change is very good.
I decided to mark the move by having a quick flourish on the drums- photographed by Emma - you can find this flourish if you look at the little room set on my gallery page.....
My old computer room is now a well proportioned drum room and the old drum room (and mayhemish storage room) is now set out with all of our computer gear in it - in fact it looks like a proper office or a call centre from which we run our affairs!
Had a nice day in Borders Bookshop on the Sunday of the 21st - and bought the entire first series of This Life on video for...... £12.99!!! Apart from being something of a mega bargain, this mainly served to remind me of just how much I missed Milly, Miles, Anna, Warren, Ferdy and Egg! Please come back guys (and gals) - we didn't mean it! Come on BBC2 - when are you going to make more television as good as this? ITV? Well you can just forget it - just keep on making lame, pretend, light entertainment programmes like you normally do - I will be paying you as much attention as I normally do - i.e - none.
The highlight of the month was a trip to Crewe to Rusheucon 03 - for the uninitiated, that is the European Rush Convention 2003 - which I went to despite feeling really ill with a migraine - yes that's right; concerts always being the best cure for such a condition. This day took place at the legendary Limelight Club (near ASDA!).
The place was awash with Rush fans - lots of old and new Rush tour t shirts in evidence (I felt naked in my blue Beatles shirt!) and many of them, as I predicted - were crying into their beer about Rush not going out into Europe on Tour. After having something to eat we retired to the concert room (now extended!) where there was going to be an enforced audience participation session. This is a kind of Karaoke for musicians - a sheet was passed around the room inviting volunteers for bass, drums, guitar or vocals against each of a selection of Rush tracks. After a few minutes of anguish, I decided to put my name down for Freewill - others present were clearly very impressed saying I must be a bit mad to take on such a difficult track.
Before my turn came, the house band ran through Dreamline - and very good they were too. The drummer packed a D-Drum kit - something I had barely been near before and there were plenty of good guitars, basses and keyboards (and other technology!) in evidence. Then the Spirit of Radio was done by a young 15 year old guitarist called Peter (including another volunteer on vocals) - and he was just superb - I suspect he has been practicing Spirit of Radio endlessly as it was just note perfect - and the solo - breathtaking.
Eventually my turn came - the last time I performed in front of an audience was at school and I was about 16 - so naturally I was a bit apprehensive. But - you only live once so I just decided to go for it. Bass and vocals on the track were taken by Eric White (from the USA) and the guitarist was from the house band. I was very pleased with our rendition of Freewill - though I was a bit worried when I could not remember the intro - but we kept it together into the first verse and chorus - each time I got into a new part of the song I remembered the salient drum parts from it - just shows how many hours of my life I have spent listening to Rush. The big challenge was the middle eight and guitar solo - a typically difficult Rush run that finishes off with a superb drum fill that I knew I just had to get right or totally ruin the effect - but I got it spot on (well at least it sounded so from where I was sitting - perhaps if you were there you heard different! Don't worry - I can take it). The other bit you have to get right is the nice snare break at the end - but I think I got it right - but I decided to go a bit mad after this as well - what Nicko McBrain called the Bird's Eye type ending - Emma was snapping away on the camera all the while - and the crowd went ballistic at the end - though I suspect this might have been an expression of relief more than anything......
Later on a volunteer was required for Bastille Day - the first Rush track I can remember listening to. I jumped forward to grab my chance - only before I could take my place I was grabbed by the House Drummer - who instructed me not to play them quite so bloody hard! Oops. If you are reading this please accept my apologies! We had a damn good go at Bastille Day - but missed out the last verse - apart from that it was a damn good version - including that mega tom fill near the end!
However, I was too ill to check out the star attraction, YYZ, as I was feeling a bit ill at this point. However, YYZ will come round again - the chance to actually play to people may never come again....... go to the gallery section of the site to check this out....
October 2003
The website passed the magic 1000 figure this month - so thanks to everyone who has helped to make this possible by popping by in the last 8 months! I think a lot of this extra activity has been generated by the use of the DRUMSET.COM website and by posting news about my recent appearance live on stage trying desperately to be Neil Peart on the TNMS Rush discussion board. Judging from some of the mail I have got about this event everyone seems to have had a nice time - even the drummer who thought I was a bit heavy handed with his Ddrum kit - and I got hold of some more pix from Martin Kessel which help to add a bit more atmosphere to the pix Emma and I took. So obviously I feel like a real internet nerd.
Due to appeals from myself, a few drummers have sent me their pictures to use in my own visitors gallery (called the guest quarters in the gallery section of the site). My web visitors have now included guests from Holland, New Orleans and as far a field and exotic as Thatcham! Their delightful mugshots now brighten up the gallery. If you have sent me a picture for this purpose then you have my thanks!
On the 12th I took Emma to see Pirates of the Caribbean - well actually I took her to see Finding Nemo but I just had to abandon that and rush in to see Pirates as I wanted to see it when it first came out but things got in the way a little bit - plus the fact there were about 8 million kids waiting to see Nemo. I must admit that this is a very good film - exciting, funny - and with a guest cast to die for - i.e Jack Davenport out of This Life (he played the treacherous Miles in This Life and gets to play another treacherous type in this one) and Gareth out of the Office. This is before we mention the totally superb performance from Johnny Depp (talk about OTT and perhaps even a little bit camp) and Orlando Bloom (AKA - Legolas in Lord of the Rings) proved that he can do more than just run around and kill Orcs - he was good too. I would recommend it but there cannot be many screens still showing it - well I suppose you could wait until it comes out on DVD or Video! The big advantage to the way I saw it was the bag of sweets and the pizza also consumed.
Well - not a lot of drumming or even musically related stuff going on this month so I am going to have to drone on about another trip to the cinema made on the 18th. This time we went mob-handed (me, Emma, M&G) to see Mystic River at the big UCI within the Trafford Centre. In fact it had been a very busy day as Emma and I had gone to Bolton to catch up with our x-mas shopping (Bolton has a top branch of Waterstones - BUT NO STARBUCKS!). Afterwards we got lost and ended up looking in a music shop near Shell Crompton Way Filling Station (it is sad that I can remember the time Shell used to give for that job - but I won't share it here!). The main reason to mention this is the fact that they had a superb Mapex 6-piece kit for sale at £400 - what a bargain - so you see I did manage to find something drumming related! Anyway - back to the film - we went for a Curry in the Orient bit of the Trafford Centre (where all the eating places are - it was a smashing curry) Mystic River is a the latest film directed by Clint Eastwood and he has managed to attract a good bunch of stars to the film - namely Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon. Basically it is the story of three friends who have grown up in the same Boston neighbourhood, one of whom was abducted when he was a kid. This event still follows them around - especially when another tragedy hits the same neighbourhood - where Kevin Bacon now works as a detective and Sean Penn runs the local convenience store. Yes - I did like it - but it was not a very happy film - be warned that you should go and see Finding Nemo instead if you want to be cheered up! But this is cinema for grown ups - quality stuff.
Was also well pleased to find that a new drumming magazine - simply called Drummer - has been released - this is a nice addition to Rhythm - prior to this the only other mag UK based drummers could read was Modern Drummer - a US mag - which was only handy if the price of Pork Pie Drums (super duper drums that are only available in the USA) in a percussion shop in New Jersey are of interest to you. Yes - I did cynically include this bit so I would have some drum stuff to type about.
Also - my framed classic drum stick collection passed the elusive six barrier this month - Ringo Starr and Travis Barker had a stick each on my wall (if they are reading this I am sure they are very honoured!). Gallery has been updated to reflect this......
Yes - another trip to the pictures - this time to see Kill Bill - the latest Q Tarantino offering - a sort of cross between Pulp Fiction and Crouching Tiger. All of the usual Tarantino trademarks are there for all to see - the fantastic soundtrack, the superb characters and sharp dialogue - and it has to be the most violent film I have ever seen. Still it is superbly filmed and written - and comes complete with a nice little animated section in the middle (think Japanese anime) that has to be the most bloodthirsty bit of animation ever - it looks like Battle of the Planets but plays like Pulp Fiction. Yes - I did like it - and you should all go out there and go and see it as well. The only thing is - the film is presented in two chapters and you will be just itching to see the second one as soon as the credits roll - will keep you posted!
November 2003
Not a great deal going on in November - drums, cinema or anything. Well - I did have lots and lots of studying to do (in Liverpool JMU) so I can use that as an excuse for not contributing anything of use to the site. I did manage to pick up my framed Steve Gadd drumsticks - these required some improvisation as they would not show up against a black background - but Frog Shop came through brilliantly. I took some photos of my collection (during which I managed to drop my camera down the stairs buts lets not mention that!) and these are now in the gallery.....
Also discovered the delights of e-bay this month - I just thought I would see what all the fuss (mainly from Emma's mum - who is an e-bay veteran) was about. Unsuccessfully I bid on a few things (namely a Premier Drum Kit - why?, an Olympus OM4ti camera and a few old Dungeons and Dragons modules) but then managed to successfully bid on a nice Best of Billy Cobham CD - for a never to be repeated price of £6.00 (including postage and packing). Anyway, when I got it I was delighted to open it and discover that it was actually a signed copy and the seller had somehow not noticed - well he was a retailer so I suppose I can excuse him as he must have hundreds of CD's that he has never looked inside the inlay card of - but anyway - a nice surprise. The CD itself is full of quite terrifying drumming and ridiculous Jazz-Fusion arrangements - you can see why so many drummers hold him in such high regard! The CD is really a drummers dream - lots of solos - during which every single item of his famous drum kit gets a right hammering - it really makes you feel a bit of an ordinary drummer listening to him (especially the solo on the beginning of Stratus). His current massive drum kit recently made it onto my essential drum kits page (go to essential via the lobby below).
In a rather sad way, I go on e-bay every day and drool over the drumkits on offer - it has to be said that some of them are just too good to sell - DW kits (albeit for £3600), custom Ayotte kits (they used to make gong mounted bass drums for Neil Peart) and just about every make of kit you can think of is there - there is some rubbish but you are going to see kits on E-bay that will never ever turn up anywhere else - so you should have a look at least. Sadly - the electricity and phone bill have been in since - so not this month!
Went to Wigan for a further Christmas shop near the end of the month. Apart from the massive GM Police presence in anticipation of the visit of Nottingham Forest, I did discover a superb music shop just off the main street. The 2nd floor of this is put over to a full floor of acoustic drums (they did have a Yamaha DTXpress but it was still packed). My attention was grabbed by the Ludwig Gold Sparkle Kit and the various Pearl kits on display. However, highlight of the day was a Premier Artist Birch kit - set up and ready to play. The salesman was polite enough (and he was most helpful - good lad!) to allow me to have a go. It was the first time I had played an acoustic kit since the early 1990's so I was a little apprehensive. But I feel I came through - including the use of double bass pedals - that I am not exactly au-fait with. It was just me, a little bit of drums from Leicester, bronze from Istanbul and Switzerland (there were a nice load of Paiste and Ziljdian cymbals - including an awesome 22" Swish), and some Japanese steel - the snare was a mid 1980's steel shelled Yamaha. It was just bliss - I would say there is a better than average chance that when my Roland is paid for in summer 2004 then she will be getting a baby sister bought from Howarth's Music of Wigan....
On the 23rd Emma and I went to see Love Actually. Yes - it is a Chick Movie - and is not at all ashamed of it. It has to be said that it really is not such a bad film at all - but if you do not like sloppy films I would advise you to eat a few oranges before you go in (you see - they taste the same on the way up as they do on the way down). With plenty of chances for Richard Curtis - for it is he who wrote it - to fill the script up with comedy. I was most pleased that Tim out of the Office gets the girl for a change (though he is a bit underused), Colin Firth was pretty good and the comedy was typically English. I was driving home from work the next day and Radio Four did a whole segment on the political significance of the scene wherein the Prime Minister (played by a pretty cool Hugh Grant) humiliates the US President in the full gaze of the world's media by telling him their "special relationship" is over - very topical! However - the truth is a bit far from this and the day when we have a prime minister with some backbone remains a few terms of office away...... unless Gordon Brown comes in and kicks some serious ass. Anyway - I did like it - as long as you are prepared to take the whole thing with a giant pinch of salt and just sit back and enjoy it. But at least there is a drumming moment - Liam Neeson's son has to choose an instrument to impress the love of his life - so he chooses the drums - and a nice emerald green Yamaha kit as well - so the kid had taste.
Could not close the month without mentioning Ian Ashman, a work colleague, who has gone out of his way to promote the Graham Davies Drumming Site - mainly by using a notice board and a photocopier. Armed with his video phone - which is about the size of the old tricorders in Star Trek (which he has clearly used to get the image above), some business cards and his knowledge of all things Monty Python, he truly has brought sunshine into our lives - and even some visitors to my website. Thanks very much, Ian.
December 2003
Well, Friends Reunited came up with the goods again - discovered Kev Butler in the wilds of cyberspace using this. Kev was a good friend from back in my years in the RAF - he used to listen to Metallica quite a bit. Was prompted to add some old classic photos from the archive (or the big cardboard box in the loft) - including an old pic of me and Kev round about the time of Wayne's World. Go to misc pix in the gallery and you will see what I mean......... this month I added some old photos across the whole gallery - just look for the updated signs around the gallery.
On the 5th, I went to see Jamie Cullum, up and coming jazz megastar at Liverpool Academy (inside Liverpool University - who were showing the Human League in the next hall - only in the European City of Culture 2008 would you get New Romantic legends and new jazz stars performing yards from each other). Well - it was not just me - Emma, G, her sister Orla and a Japanese guest of Emma's mum - so it was just me and a bunch of girls. There were two support acts - both with female vocalists. The first was just her and a young male guitarist with a semi-acoustic guitar. The second was more band based - with another female on vocals and powder blue stratocaster. Orla later identified that she was perhaps the twin of Janis from friends (you know the one with the laugh?) - although she seemed to share a wardrobe with Gloria Estafan! Her drummer played a superb Yamaha kit, the keyboardist played an electric piano and for a support band they were excellent.
Anyway, moving on to the headline act; Jamie Cullum really makes one sick; he is talented, a great performer and the women love him (it was obvious that some of the young girly university types in the hall were having very unpure thoughts about him). He played a variety of jazz standards - but added stuff like Radiohead and Jimi Hendrix, backed by a superb backing band (trumpet, sax, bass and drums). Jamie sings (obviously) and plays the piano. But he really plays the piano - I'm not just talking about the keys - he belted the sides with his hand in the manner of a percussion instrument (the microphones picked it up superb), reached inside and muted the strings and later played it with his feet whilst standing on the piano stool. The drummer played a tiny Pearl Jazz kit - he was great and a real master with the brushes - we were close enough to the stage to see the rivets in the ride cymbal shaking! All in all - a fine gig - and we caught him in a tiny venue - just before he vanishes into massive concert halls for the rest of his life. So at least I can say that I was there near the beginning. Well done, mate.
On the 7th I made up for my failure to catch them during Rush Eucon (back in September) and got myself back to the Crewe Limelight Club to check out YYZ - the most well known of the UK Rush tribute bands. YYZ are a four piece (many Rush tribute bands seem to struggle with the 3 man lineup and nearly always have to add a member here and there to emulate the sound - New Jersey Rush Tribute, Limbo, utilise a standalone female singer to fill the gap and emulate the voice). It really was a very good set of material - and was notable for what was excluded; no Xanadu, very little early stuff and no Trees! What?! They did however play most of Signals - all of side one (Subdivisions, Analog Kid, Chemistry and Digital Man) and the final track of side two; Countdown. There are a few tracks there that I don't think Rush have even played live! Obviously, YYZ have built a fair crop of stuff they mess about with to build killer sets - I understand that they do play Xanadu but chose to try out some new stuff on this occasion.
The highlights of this set were;
The drummer played an orange stain Pearl Masters kit (four mounted toms, two high concert toms, one floor tom, and a bass - albeit with a double pedal - double bass drum kits are becoming a bit rare since the introduction of the double pedal - the snare was a Pearl free floater) with a variety of cymbals (Ziljdian, Sabian and Meinl were all in evidence), cowbells and percussion. In fact, I had seen this kit back in September - but could not resist getting a look at it this time - and taking a photo or two (I asked permission!). He chose to mike up the kit by positioning microphones around the kit - thus using the same mics for toms and cymbals. This turned out to be most effective - thus he did not get that horrible flat sound that live acoustic drums sometimes get - but he could have done with another mic near his right of the kit - that side seemed to suffer a little - bit I'm nitpicking here!
In fact there was a lot of genuine Rush hardware all over the stage - the bass player had a Hohner mini bass (kind of like a bass with virtually no body and no headstock - Micheal Anthony of Van Halen also made use of one - but his was shaped like a Jack Daniels bottle - I think they are known as Steinbergers) - as used by Geddy on the Grace Under Pressure Concert Video, and he also packed a Rickenbacker 4001 - as used by Geddy in the early days of Rush right through to the 1980's. There was plenty of technology knocking about and the keyboard player had most of this - a Yamaha keyboard controller for running about the stage with - and he used some sort of harmonizer pedal to get that weird, etheral Geddy Lee voice just right.
I was very pleased with YYZ - they did not make a sound exactly like our Canadian heroes, but provided their own interpretation of the sound - which I suppose is the best that any of us, even if we spent a year locked in a rehearsal studio surrounded by the best equipment and musicians we could lay our hands on, could really hope for. I liked them a lot and would definitely recommend them to any frustrated Rush fanatic who has gone without Rush live for far too long (and for most of us in the UK that is going to be 11 long years!). Well done lads. Take a trip to the gallery to see this...
Got a nice pair of Hot Pink Stix from the US of A (from a company in Arizona I think!!!) - via e-bay! Well - you know me - I have a little bit of a weakness for the strange and different. These really are nice sticks and they only weighed in at about £8 (well that's what a decent exchange rate does for you) - I would consider getting some pairs for regular use but I am not sure how long they would look great before my mega heavy playing knackers them and they end up looking a bit shabby - they would be worth getting for the looks alone - and the nice service I got from my American suppliers makes them a good buy as well. Anyway - these pink sticks will be condemed to a life behind glass as I will be framing these soon - along with the single Nicko McBrain stick of 1983 vintage (his first tour with Iron Maiden) - also bought from e-bay!
Another musical instrument came into the house when Emma procured a piano for use in the back room (I don't want to know how they got it in!). So now we truly are a musical house - it's a few marks down from Mike Oldfield's home studio, but we are getting there slowly. Our spring and summer jam sessions are going to be miles more fun - guitars, drums and now a piano. I keep trying to remember tracks that use an upright piano..... Boogie with Stu by Led Zeppelin (never mind the blank faces - it's on Physical Graffiti!) some of the tracks off Neil Young's album Harvest clearly use one, Love Cats by the Cure and Imagine by John Lennon was, if Sotherby's are to believed, written using an upright piano (which was later bought by George Michael). The older amongst you may recall that any track mimed to on early 1970's Top of the Pops (usually with Jimmy Saville presenting) that required a piano used that big upright piano with a big close-up of a girl's eye on it - famous uses involve Elton John miming Goodbye Yellow Brick Road on the said piano.
Anyway - must mention my work-mates, as they became my ex-work-mates in late December. Obviously, I am sad to see them all go their separate ways - such is the way of work in the 2000's. So you can click on the cool smiley dancing away above to see my tribute to them.
In what is becoming an annual event, the latest Lord of the Rings film; The Return of the King required our attention on the 19th. Once again I must say that Peter Jackson really knows what he is doing and this final episode (so nothing to look forward to next x-mas then) has to be one of the most spectacular films ever seen and is utterly overwhelming during the action scenes (that counts as one!). Also, the interplay between Gollum, Sam and Frodo is great fun to watch - and that is before we even reach Shelob's Lair (which is a very good time to grab some popcorn if you have a problem with spiders). Yes I liked it very much, it was a superb end to a trilogy that many people said would be impossible to film - but what fantasy epics have we have to look forward to now? In a nice footnote, the trailer for Cold Mountain was on.....
The 20th also held some special meaning as e-bay truly did deliver and made me an acoustic drummer again! I had earlier bid on a 5 piece Mapex V Series drumkit. This went for a very reasonable £375 and included a full set of Sabian Pro Cymbals 14" Crash, 16" Crash, 20" Ride and hats. This purchase involved a nice drive down to Kettering (my big brother lived there not long back) to collect it - and, much to my surprise, it fit in my Micra. This means there is room for expansion.... Anyway, my new baby is finished in Black, 12" & 13" toms 16" floor tom (floor toms are becoming a bit rare nowadays - a lot of manufacturers are replacing them with 14" low mounted toms) 22" bass and wooden snare. Despite the V series being the base model of the range, it is well built, sturdy and sounds superb - giving a sound not unlike birch despite being made of basswood. Now I feel a bit less awkward in drummer company - I always felt a little bit shunned introducing myself as an electronic drummer. In addition to the Roland, I can now say that I also own and play a Mapex with Sabian cymbals - in fact I wonder if either company is looking for endorsees? Before I got the kit I had a Mapex throne and bass pedal - so surely it's only a matter of time before that sponsorship deal lands on my doormat.....
Chritsmas Day came; myself and Emma's first together. I bought Emma a rather attractive guitar for her to learn on - a red Westfield, as bought from Frailers of Runcorn - so Mark will be able to teach her some chords and we will be away - we will have enough just in this house for a White Stripes Tribute Band! She came back with a nice new camera - a Minolta Dynax 4 AF with a 28-100 zoom lens. In fact, it is only when you get something nice and new to play with that your old out of date equipment seems doubly bad. The old 5000 was a faithful servant but she weighs about four times more than the new one. The first photographs from the Dynax 4 should be turning up on the site soon!
Emma scored a massive coup by getting a copy of Bitches Brew by Miles Davis framed for me by Frog of Runcorn. This I was not expecting and it has to be the best prezzie ever. Continuing one or two themes started in these very pages, I bought Emma (after a long hard fight on e-bay it has to be said) the entire second series of This Life (now a real collectors item and it showed as I embarked on a very stressful auction to land the prize). E-bay proved to be a good source for prezzies - Emma's Olympus camera and one or two other items spread throughout my avalanche of x-mas joy! It was a great x-mas day and not even a nice head-cold could take the shine off it (mind you the double bill of Eastenders did that for me).
Other Picks of the Prezzie Haul;
I also picked up the latest framed sticks from Frog - the tiny Phil Collins sticks as manufactured by Promark. How does he do such ace fills with such tiny drum sticks? Anyway, to save myself a quite horrible plunging death down the stairs, I have had to start a new stack of drumsticks as the existing one was getting a bit tall (see the classic sticks section of the gallery and you will see what I am on about!). Also a big month for home improvements - but this time funded by mad selling of comics on e-bay!!!! Well - it's a shame to see them all go like this - but hopefully they will get more appreciative owners than I!
The New Year arrived whilst I was watching Jools Holland at my Mam and Dad's house. So Happy New Year - hope 2004 will be cool for you!
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