Quote:
Originally Posted by Over-Head
Pain in the ass for sure, but I've always played a large stage kit.
For the same reason I stopped playing lead.
I'm scared to death on stage, but love it.
I just love playing live.
I can hide behind my big kit.
When I played lead, I always had the stage spot right in my face so I couldn't see anything.
And after a year I switched to drums because I couldn't over come the stage fright or mostly just being out front.
I was great right untill I sawe a crowd, then locked up.
To this day I still have a paper bag behind my kit to toss my cookies in a split second before the first song, then i'm good to go
And I've been on stage for almost 30 years now.
I know about smaller kits, I use a 5 pc for re-hersal/practice, add the rest to it for the show.
The smaller kit forces your chops and makes you stay more focused on the groove.
By the time I drag out both kit's and stage em' up, even with memory locks and a rack it's still about a 45min deal.
I love my symbals. If it's somthing bronz and make a sound, gimme!
9 of them, in my arsonal now. pertty much the whole Sabian B8 line.
The New K Zildjins will come with the Pearls
I run 2 Peavey kits with 2 of the tom's tuned higher than the other matching ones giving me a "fake" 4 tom set up, plus another smaller one I ordered online.
Even with my rack and memory locks, it's still 30-45 min set up
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I've never experienced stage fright. I think it comes from knowing that I know what I'm doing, and that I've rehearsed enough to just focus on the experience as opposed to making sure I don't make mistakes.
I love to mix it up; we had one song where the front man took over the kit, and I went out front to play percussion. I love having that crowd right up in my face; there's nothing like it.
And I've discovered that if your going to be out front, you need to
A) Know what you look like when your performing so you can minimize the goofy shit( I wear shades up front always because my eyes can make what will be a sometimes intense delivery look like Rod Morgenstein on cough syrup. If you've seen any of Rod's instructional videos, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about ).
And,
B) Play with
absolute authority. That ****ing stage belongs to YOU. It's your world, and everybody else that ain't on it is just
along for the ride.
And as to the kits, I can tell you that when your on tour and schlepping your own shit; a lot of places barely had room for my four piece.
And a 45 minute setup can be about 35 minutes too long in some cases.