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S.S. Professor Drum Kit Tour
Close encounter with Neil's drums - Page
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Lorne looked different than I expected (I'd seen
him throughout the Vapor Trails and 30th Anniversary Tours). Maybe it was
the hat. Maybe it was the sunglasses.
He was professional and succinct. He talked about
everything you wanted to know about Neil's kit (but were afraid to ask),
including the DW drums, the hardware (including the electronics), how he tunes
the drums, Neil's in-ear monitoring system, and a few other things. Then he
took questions from the audience.
 As
you can imagine, there were some oddball questions, but there were many
thoughtful ones.
The most surprising thing that he brought up was
that many of the same drum heads were still on the kit that were on it during
the 30th Anniversary Tour. Lorne attributed this to Neil's studying with Freddie
Gruber, that he doesn't "play through the drum" anymore. If you've watched
Neil's DVD, you know what Lorne is talking about. Neil's motion is more
circular, less linear.
Lorne also told us that the R30 DVD is coming out
in October (although it's been reported as November elsewhere), Neil's new book
Roadworks is scheduled to come out in January 2006, and Anatomy
of a Drum Solo DVD is also scheduled to come out in January 2006.
 After
Lorne spoke, they had a raffle, run by Bill Morgan. Bill had said earlier they'd
raised $4000 so far, not including the Hollywood stop. For the raffle, they were
giving away Feedback CDs, a Pro-Mark CD with various artists, Pro-Mark shirts,
Sabian cymbal cleaner, a Pro-Mark certificate for personalized drumsticks, a
complete set of heads for Neil's kit that were never put on, a DW 9000 bass drum
pedal, and a Neil Peart-signed cymbal. They also gave away cool Neil postcards.
At the end, they had the drawing for 30 or so people to buy S.S. Professor
drumsticks (only 900 of these were made).
I ended up winning a grab bag prize, including a
Feedback CD, and also was able to purchase the S.S. Professor sticks.
 The
really funny thing is one guy put down $400 for raffle tickets and won about
seven times, including the DW pedal and the signed cymbal. You could tell the
crowd was a little miffed every time he won something, but the guy did shell out
$400!
After the event was over, they let a few of us
get on the stage and take a picture next to the drum set. I had a stranger take
mine, and then I returned the favor. Unfortunately, mine came out blurry.
It was when I was on the stage next to those
drums I realized that, no, Neil hadn't shown up, despite all the
prognostications. The mystery motorcycle man was still there, but he was hanging
out with all the other Rush crew folks. The film crew was putting away their
cameras. The sun was setting.
I went inside, got my friend Brian, and we went
out into the LA night to get some chow.
Page Updated
07/11/2013 10:35:56 PM |
