Hunter Heritage Tour

Here is the review I posted for Ticketmaster for the Opeth, Mastodon, Ghost show at the Fox Theater in Oakland, CA.
I gave the show  5 out of 5 stars.

This was a show that I bought tickets for as soon as I could get them, total chance. I went to the Fox Theater website one day and there was Opeth staring right at me. I was almost in disbelief. So I jumped on it and I did it...BAM...I am going to that...I am buying two tickets and someone is going with me.
Well....time marches on and I barely made it and no one went with me, but going solo has it pluses too :) This was an awesome show, best i have been too in a while. Regrettably I missed Ghost, but I saw Mastodon and Opeth both at their best. I went to see to Opeth but Mastodon totally blowed me away with pure energy, spirit, and massive power...they were awesome. I will be at their next show asap.
For me to see Opeth finally was like a kid in a candy store, or a birthday present...when Mikael and the band walked out on stage, that was just a really special moment for me. They played so awesome. First two off Heritage and then get this...right into Windowpane...it was so good to hear.


I have to talk about something Opeth did that was SWEET. So they are shredding along playing The Devil's Orchard and all the lights and strobes are going off in blues and greens, you know it is almost like a rapture, the crowd is taken away. Then all of a sudden, all the lights go black except for Mikael being lit up in red, and him flashing horns with his right hand...it was epic. Then wham, right back in to the song. It was totally awesome. 
I have to say that the staff at the Fox Theater is the best in the business...always helpful, into music, kind, and you know, cool.

Start with Drums

Ever wonder what to do with a blog. What to write about? Those questions seem to be an obvious sign that the blog is about to die or close to it...like walking the plank.

Well before I take a dive off the proverbial deep-end I am going to just blog about music, art, writing and poetry.

I am going to start with drums because I love them.

Here is a photo of my Pearl drum set. This is at ColorBlind Studios in Concord,CA

I have had this set for a long time and it still sounds awesome. I use Remo coated Ambassadors on the toms and the snare with clears on the bottom. 15" & 17" Zildjian K Dark Crashes, 1 one Sabian 6" splash right by the Hi-hat, one 10" A Splash on the kick drum, a 22" Zildjian Medium Ride, a 22" Zildjian Oriental Trash with a 6" Zildjian EFX #1 Splash above it. Hi-hat are 13" Bellotti's. Super tight and cut really well. Not for metal though. All the hardware on this setup in Pearl except for a few Gibraltar pieces to various percussion instruments. Which are, a 7" LP Cowbell, LP brass chimes, and a rack mount tambourine.
I have played with a lot of sticks over the years and I settled on Vater for a long time. The Manhattan 7A are excellent sticks for fast and intricate work. But now I back with Vic Firth. Love 'em. I know it is easy to

I know it is easy to get sucked into playing this or that brand, and I obviously have my preferences too, but what really matters is playing and continuing to learn and develop so music can be lived and shared.

Honestly I would rather be playing tin cans with pencils than not playing at all.

On the left here is a top down photo of my set. Here you can see the 12" Vater Chop Builder I use, which is mounted on a cymbal stand. This is a totally required piece of kit. It excellent for daily rudiment practice, and good to warm-up before a show. Warm and relaxed hands are good!

Here is me in action