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Brian Blade!

Here's what @BrianBlade is playing on tonight #BlackDub on Twitpic

Oh Dear Internet,

that Black Dub show at Lincoln Hall was amazing. I was right up front, 5 feet away from the man himself, just soaking up the heavenly drumming that Brian had flowing. It’s one thing to hear a recording, or watch some YouTube, but to see him in person was a celebration. There are few drummers I can think of that can effortlessly play any style of music from bop to pop (Gadd, Steve Smith, Steve Jordan, Vinnie, anyone else?) but Mr. Blade does it all, and looks cool doing it. He plays from this place of joy, smiling away, while just killing the drums. I need more of that please!?!?!

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Cymbal Heaven

On the road to Meductic NB to visit Kevin Laskey & all the good folks at Sabian HQ. Factory tour, cymbal match and picking out a new Ozone crash – this us going to be fantastic!

More posts and pics to come …

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Back From a Little Break

Mike Mangione & The Union at Lincoln Hall

Didn’t have a lot going on in June and July but we did get a Chicago show in. Thanks to WXRT for previewing a track from “Offering” and highlighting the show, and to our pals in the Chicago Roots Collective for putting the bill together and setting up backline for the bands to share.

Video for two songs is available on my YouTube site: http://youtube.com/LLRLRR.

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The magic of YouTube

It doesn’t matter what you look for, YouTube seems to always come through. Say you’re in the mood for some Steve Gadd. Want to know what he played on Aja? BAM!

Want to learn how to play 50 Ways to Leave your Lover? BAM!

Want to watch Steve Gadd in a movie? Yup. One Trick Pony on YouTube…..BAM.

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Hihat stand FAIL!

Maybe it was the 5 shows in 3 days and all but I broke a hihat stand last week. The pedal came away from the post and and 30 minutes and two handfuls of grease later I finally gave up.  Truth be told, it was a DW 5000 two legged model that I never really liked anyway.  It was always wobbly or it would lean on uneven surfaces and i could never really get it too feel stable and rock solid.

So I called up my man West Wheeler at Taye and ordered one of these:

Taye 6000 HiHat stand

Can’t wait to put it through its paces when it finally gets here!

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Great shows yesterday!

Had a blast at WMSE and Shank Hall last night.

All the folks at WMSE are so pro – they treat you like family and the sound that goes live over the airwaves is just amazing. I have audio of the three song set (Offering, Darling Little Sister, and You Were Beautiful Once) and I’m going to try and post it this weekend or sync it up to some video I shot and put it on ye ol’ YouTube if I can.

Shank was also a blast – we played for alsmot two hours and it was great that folks just kept asking for more. Had a little trouble with the encore since we don’t really do that and my hihat stand went kaput. Thankfully it was when I was packing up for the night.

Ohh, and I tweeted Mick Shrimpton from Spinal Tap just for fun, here was his response:

Hahahaha – I love the word “git”….