Steve Shalaty Immolation/Vader Tour Blog – Day 2,3,4
Day 2 was a fiasco! The details of which enrage me so I will not get into them at this point. Suffice to say the Long Island show did not go down. All 5 bands were ready with trailers open like vikings waiting to board an enemy vessel, however due to politics, incompetence and slightly inclement weather, we were turned away. I can only hope I get to see the Long Island fans and my good friends in Suffocation at a later date.
Day 3 – Providence, Rhode Island: The odd dimensions of the stage allow us to have 2 kits side by side today and it looks awesome with my Mapex along side Alex's Mapex. All I can think of is drum battle! All the drummers are joking and goofing around on each others gear. Ken has his kit set up in a little space by the merch area and everyone takes a turn trying out his set-up with a kick pad instead of the bass drum. Ken is very hospitable and Paul from Vader wails away on this practice set up during the first 2 bands.
Pathology opens up with a great set. Dave is using Alex's kit again and decides to run Alex's bass drums with mics. I see now that Dave's heavy handed style is the norm and if it is rage driven, then he rages everyday. James, the vocalist formerly fronting Origin, shows what it's like to be a true metal soldier and does the whole set despite having a nasty case of upper respiratory something or another.
Lecherous lays down their set of harnessed chaos and despite sounding great out front, Alex comes away with a bitter face. His frustration with his performance only gives a glimpse of his perfectionism and I admire him for that. He has a great work ethic as far as I've seen and I'm sure he'll work it out tomorrow.
Tonight I get to watch Abigail Williams with some better lighting and notice that Ken is playing to a click. His light and accurate style never wavers and there is never any push or pull to his tempo. I especially enjoy the fast sections which he plays completely relaxed.
I plan on delving further into each drummers style and technique as the tour progresses and I get to know them better. Bear with me. It will be a long tour.
It's time for Vader and I am curious to see how Paul plays after warming up on pads all day. He looks more relaxed and his speed is up from day 1. Vader lives up to their legendary reputation on this night and the crowd is thrilled. Paul looks like he is having more fun tonight and shows no sign of tiring. It will be a great honor and challenge to follow this act for the rest of the tour. Chants of "Vader-Vader" send my friends back to the bus with grins on their faces.
I get behind the kit feeling loose and relaxed. Watching my fellow drummers helps me to key in on certain things I want to work on. Tonight I want to concentrate on being loose and smooth like Ken. It works and I have a good set. We are playing 2 songs off the "Here in After" album that have proved a little tricky in the past, but tonight they sounded smooth and liquid. I leave the kit happy for once and look forward to tomorrow.
Day 4 – Manchester, New Hampshire: This is the first sun we've seen so far and man does it feel good. There are 2 local bands opening up the show tonight, so Paul and I set up the kit and head downstairs for some burgers before sound check. Everybody sets up their kit in the parking lot today so it looks like an outdoor drum sale with 4 to 5 kits out there all day. The stage is low and the local crew is experienced and handy, so between them and the touring drummers we are able to rotate kits on and off all night. I miss the first opener but catch the second band "Candy Striper Death Orgy". These guys seem like they go way back locally, as there is a large following on hand circle-pitting and wall-of-deathing through their whole show. Nothing warms my heart like a good circle pit and CSDO crank out some good old fashioned thrash metal ala Nuclear Assault that makes the moshing easy. The drummer, Graig, does a great job and his Vinny Paul snare cuts like a knife.
Dave from Pathology gets to use his kit tonight which he seems very happy about. It's a beautiful forest green Devil's Workshop 7 piece and we get it on stage in no time flat. There's nothing like using your own equipment and I can tell Dave is more at home instantly. He delivers the same abusive pounding but at a slightly quicker clip.
Alex's Mapex goes up next and the big black monster sprawls across the front of the stage like jungle gym. Alex has great taste in cymbals. Among the Sabians he has some odd effects cymbals including a 16" hand hammered cymbal with strange lumps in it that gives him a great ride-ish sound on the left of the kit. I first noticed it in his youtube videos and its easily my favorite piece of his kit. Lecherous wail away for the crowd that doesn't seem to be able to get a grip on the sound that is grinding in their faces. Some people are just not ready for what is admittedly a complex and blinding fast style laid down with no mercy.
Unfortunately I missed Abigail Williams because of dinner. Forgive me. I was starving.
Paul and Vader managed to whip the crowd back into action and the pit was intense. Paul seems to get faster every night. Perhaps he is becoming more comfortable on my set-up. The Polish godfathers deliver with enthusiasm and leave me wondering if the small crowd has anything left for Immolation.
Time to find out. We crank into "The Purge" which goes well but something is off on the left bass drum. I can't tell what, but during "Majesty and Decay" it causes some uneven subdivisions on the double bass runs. Now I'm pissed. I use a hoop mounted hi-hat that sometimes stilts the left kick so I mess with that a bit between songs. I am distracted now and lose a stick. The set is more of a srtuggle than usual but not horrible. Oh well tomorrow is another chance for redemption. Here we come Montreal!
Потом "скачать звуки воды" уселся на веточку и посмотрел на "скачать аудиокнигу в торренте" мальчика своими глазами-самоцветами.
Всего несколько секунд, "краткое содержание робинзон крузо дефо" донесся голос Шамбалы.
У него на лице был "книги королевой скачать" шрам, через всю правую скулу.
Экипаж, "кун фу панда игра скачать" запряженный четырьмя "Туристическая карта Санкт-Петербург + историческая часть города" лошадьми, загромыхал по парижской мостовой.
Великий разрушитель, который идет, "учебник autocad 2012 скачать" угрожая копьем и топором.
Я припомнил "Ежедневник. Как успеть всё!" ночь в часовне среди "Матренин двор: Рассказы" теней, где я "решебник по алгебре 9 класс 2009 макарычев" напоролся на выбор между Змеем и Единорогом, Логрусом и Лабиринтом.
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