NAMM 2005

[peter c]

Thanks for the great info and
pictures, everyone! I wish I
could have been there!!

Did anyone see if the Boa Pedals
were displayed?

I envy you all!

[img]cool.gif[/img]

[likedachuch]

andy, i'm so sorry i missed ya! what a bummer. i was hoping to meet ya at the zildjian booth at noon. we'll definitely have to make an effort to meet up and hang.

randy, it was great meeting ya finally outside of this cyberworld. i wish i could've met other HODers but since i only could attend one day i won't get to meet the other guys. (bummed)

the NAMM was the highlight of the new year for me. i mean it was (without sounding too corny) like dying and going to music heaven! it kinda reminded of a drummer festival. people hanging and checking out new gear as well as talking to artists and manufacturers as if they were your neighbors. really cool. drummers especially IMO.

saw gregg again at the KACES booth, and it was great as always. his uncle 'chuck' was there along with his dad. they are such a tight family. i really appreciated that. what can i say? i'm a family man myself!

it was a great time to meet people "in the industry". i mean just by connecting with one person, you just run into different people. case in point. i hang out at the VF booth, we start chatting with john ferraro (super cool guy). then comes a dude named i think - jamey tate? he joins in on the conversation and i'm thinking he's one of john's friends from yamaha. turns out he's touring with david benoit. as we're continuing, there's thomas lang at the corner of my eye! i do a double take and chuckle to myself. thinking well, this is namm.

at the zildjian booth... after getting autographs from the who's who of drummers signing table, (peter erskine remembered me from HOD!) i see sterling campbell from david bowie's band and adam budofsky (of MD)and talked with them about how much more gregarious the drum section of the show was compared to like the guitar section - adam was saying how it was so dead over there. gave props to josh freese (i was saying stuff like "go placentia high!" and he was like "yeah! go toreadors!") , talked with craigie zildjian (she's like your next door neighbor's mom and was pleasantly surprised to have been asked for a photo op - hey start at the top when it comes to endorsements [img]wink.gif[/img] ), saw people mob vinnie (me being one of them. oh to have shaken his hand! i will never wash it again!! hahah.) and saw great drummers show up for the group picture at the booth. other drummers such as jonathan moffet, steve smith, scott phillips, simon phillips, denny sewell, nathaniel townsley, i mean some drummers i just don't remember their names but know their faces!

met up with marc atkinson (the unreal book). mark, you're a swell guy! (he hung out with us for most of the show) then we ran into frank briggs and turns out he's still teaching and doing his own band thing at la velee's once a month.

spoke with ron dunnet. guys from dw were coming to his booth to check out what he was doing. i thought that was pretty cool. gave him props.

sabian's stuff is just pretty much insane. they IMHO have the most variety when it comes to color and texture if you're into the B-20 alloy type cymbals. LOVED the vault series. neil peart cymbals, esp. the chinas were outstanding! i was actually kinda dissappointed with the ziljian products because it just didn't seem to have much variety but at the same time if you have a good thing why change it, right?

dw - i know they have a huge base when it comes to high end but they literally OWN when it comes to their low end drums. yikes. danny, already mentioned it, but i thought that one pacific kit with the tobacco brown fade in lacquer finish was just outrageous! the price point is ridiculous as well! i believe all the other manufacturers are shaking in their boots, cuz the entry level is where they make most of their money from. they just upped the bar again. ( i got a 5 piece at GC for 500 bucks out the door!)

SABIAN NIGHT - missed ya again, andy!! [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img] billy cobham and his band was so on high-octane!! the energy was killer! (i couldn't stay for long, cuz i went to check out a latin band with john pena, jimmy branly, justo almario and other latinos that i don't know at the hotel adjacent to the anaheim coast hotel. ran into tereon glover in the hallway of the hotel. i remembered him from the last MD feature. gave him props and he was surprised someone recognized him. super humble, nice guy. then there was victor wooten's drummer derico watson. couldn't recognize him at first cuz he lost so much weight! he hung with us a bit. super cool guy and so approchable! (said he was going to india to do a gig?) vic firth and roy burns got life time achievement awards from robert ziljian. as vic firth was walking out i said "congratulations sir." and he said "thank you" and shook my hand! it's great to see all the old time greats just mingle with the crowd. it was pretty darned special. zoro was hangin, steve ferrone was groovin and cursin, and the deleo brothers (to my surprise) were pretty funky. it was to cool to see brandon fields in the horn section!


heeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah, *breathing in now*........that was a brief synopsis of how the day was at NAMM. weck-mech, shedder, danny, marc atkinson, khalib, randy walker, it was a blessing and a pleasure to have spent my first NAMM in 10 years with you guys. hope it's not the last.

[drummin1]

Just got home from the Zildjian tribute to Roy Haynes and Louie Bellson-cool to see those living legends still kickin it. Erskine played with a jazz trion afterwards, very laid back, but still intense. he seems most at home in those small jazz settings. I got a nice recording of it too [img]wink.gif[/img]
Kinda cool thing happened as I was watching..I'm sitting there and become aware of someone standing behind me, so I turn to see who, and it's Omar Hakim. I say to him "Hey! Weather Report!" as I point to him and Erskine-he laughs and says "Yeah! freaky!". Cool to be watching one ex-WR drummer while standing next to another. Gotta luv NAMM for that stuff. Now I'm going back to Colorado-this bad air here is killing me!
goodnite.

[skunkfunk]

Hey Shedder, next time you should ask Chambers for a hug. [img]wink.gif[/img]

[robertopeland]

Hi guys, for those you don't know, I'm the guys with the gray t-shirt in the 2nd pics at the right of Vinnie and in the middle of Vinnie and Wecklmechanic in the back in the other pic... The 1st day I've just showed up and found Randy, Mark Atkinson an Chris Brady together... I've met them for the first time and it was really fantastic... thanks guys for all, you're fantastic...
I came from Italy and it's really nice to know you and hang...
I will surely tell you some story when I came back home...
Peace
Robertopeland
www.thedrumland.com

[PocketPlayer]

Hey Randy
I had to jam--you seemed busy and preoccupied. My buddy had to get Zildjian passes.

Hope Marc A. is OK (traffic accident tonight)--didn't seem too serious if I saw you tonight after the fact and all seemed casual.

[ladanny]

Hi Peter,

I saw the bow flex pedals and mentioned them in my first post. They will be released under Pacific. They also had a bow flex practice pedal which felt really good. Great for travel cuz it's so light.

WecklsMechanic, DaChuch, Randy, and Marc, I had the BEST time this NAMM hanging with you guys. Glad Shedder was able to join in the afternoon, to provide us with all the hug humor! Seriously, this was the BEST NAMM and HOD hang. I think my stomach hurt all day today from laughing SOOO much!

Great, now I'm going to have post-NAMM syndrome... [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]

must...have...HOD...hang...SOON!!!!

Danny

[ladanny]

Marc got into an accident??? Oh Crap! I met up Marc today at Drum Connection in Sherman Oaks. I was talking with him on the phone when he was driving back down to NAMM...

Any details?

[no_bells]

Hey guys, thanks for the reports. [img]cool.gif[/img]

Anything new at Gretsch and Sonor?

Anyone play that DW titanium snare?

[PocketPlayer]

Oh...forgot to mention. At the Sabian booth, Dave was spending a lot of time tuning this new prototype Sabian snare. It was made out of what looked like a Sabian cymbal. I was told it was a one-of-a-kind and there would be no market for it?at least for now. Now that is one product I?d like to have for the Antiques Roadshow! Sorry, battery ran out by that time or I?d take a pic for sure.