The Virgil Gig at the Potato

[PocketPlayer]

The Virgil Gig at the Potato

Well, I saw Virgil Monday at The Baked Potato. Last week was a cancel. T.Lavitz was
on keys canceled for this gig, so it was a threesome. This was the second time I saw
Virgil live and to my amazement, I sort of grew tired of his licks.
I kept thinking why he doesn’t phrase more or why does he throw his whole bag of tricks in at the end of every song. Why all the stick twirling when laying down a groove? I felt Virg was bored playing time for 16 measures straight and had to fill in the space by twirling with both hands between beats. It sounded so sloppy to me. I also know that I was seeing some very original stuff and his solo was more in the Terry Bozzio vein tonight- impressive to say the
least.
I know this is most likely a gig to blow on, but the trio wasn’t in great form this evening. They even repeated two songs on the second set to get them right. The tunes they copy are rare breeds- Tony Williams’ Lifetime stuff, Bill Bruford, Allan Holdsworth stuff...but the groove just wasn’t present for the most part.

This makes me ask the question- Can too much practice on licks, tricks, and fills be a
hindrance to playing good drums in the classic sense- that is playing solid time with great dynamics, feel, and taste?

I want to thank my man from the east coast for sending me the Vinnie CD of various tunes. This is a great forum to share music that stirs the soul!

[beats]

virgil would be fired if he was to join any funk band(or pop band).vinnie made a comment about conveying messages with music which correlates with virgil,read it again from this message board,then go to virgil's site listen to his stuff then read pocket players post.virgil,as ironic as it sounds,is about as dimensional as a simple piece of paper.all go-no flow.he is sloppy,and he does sound bored.there is room for everyone to contribute to this art,and it looks like virgil has the gimmicks down pat. those of you that are dissappointed in what virgil DOES'NT do should do themselves a favour;go see prince.i just saw him last week(oh my god!one of the best shows i've ever seen!),and no lies,his drummer John Blackwell,can (and did) ALL the flash and fills that virgil can do,but he has the deepest 2+4 groove(amongst other groove types in the show)i have ever heard.virgil should check out j.b. and go on sabbatical and learn how to support music.yes tricks and licks are absolutly arbitrary to playing excellent supportive drums.virgil has oodles of talent, but John Blackwell will have a lifetime career,because,like vinnie,he is TRULY versatile.

[jonthibault]

Ouch! Poor Virg! I don't know, I've seen his video, and the guy plays some pretty sick stuff at the end of it--some stuff in 21/16, and a song in some really weird time. I think his stuff with Planet X was pretty cool to--there was one tune in five that I like a lot but I forget the name of it.

I think that, assuming he can groove, he should hook up with Victor Whooten and release a funk CD, just to prove a point. Now THAT I would buy.

Did anyone see him on the new G3 tour?

[Nikk]

I always found it really weird that he plays traditional grip. Interesting choice for the majority of music he plays. But I guess if he's making it happen...