The inaugural Sydney Drum & Percussion Show kicked off today at Rosehill Gardens Grand Pavilion and the NSW drum community welcomed it with open arms. On stage there were heavy hitters, electronic drum aficionados, exotic percussion ensembles and genuine drum legends. Inside the sweet sound of toms, snares and bass drums permeated the air, with a massive range of drums, cymbals, hardware and accessories available to see, try and buy. Vibrantly coloured kits, cajons, congas and all manner of hand percussion was on view. Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of the show was the amount of kids in the house, wide-eyed and totally inspired by the gear and seeing their drum heroes in action. It was also a delight to witness how kind and generous legends like Virgil Donati, Thomas Lang, Slim Jim Phantom, and Michael Schack were with their time and energy.
Kicking off their national DW TV Show tour this afternoon, Virgil and Thomas were spellbinding in the way they shared complex rhythms and thunderous beats. If you can catch them elsewhere around the country on this tour, do so! The Schack, the crazy Belgian was incredibly contagious in his enthusiasm and energy. He’s back tomorrow so come on down and check his show out.
During the Australian Musician Pro Players panel, Virgil, Thomas, Slim and Yamaha’s Ben Ellingworth were intriguing with their stories on how they made it in the business and what’s required to get to their level of skill. The guys also didn’t mind revealing the times when things didn’t go so well, such as Slim Jim’s tale of falling off drum stools and Thomas being hit in the head with a beer bottle.
Questions to the panel from the floor were treated with the utmost respect and I get the feeling more than a few kids in the audience had a spark ignited today.
It wasn’t all about the headliners, drum circles were attended enthusiastically and the Sydney Conservatorium Percussion Ensemble was mighty impressive.
If you missed today, don’t even think about missing the Sunday lineup of entertainment, which includes a repeat performance by Michael Schack, Stan Bicknell revealing secrets of his bass drum technique, the incredible Synergy Percussion and Taikoz percussion ensembles, the thrilling Lozz Benson trio (Called That Redhead), and more drum circle opportunities … plus all of that beautiful drum gear to see try and buy. Come on down 10am-5pm tomorrow May 28. TICKETS AT DOOR
