Bands with two drummers

Frost

Silver Member
I am quite interested to know of any artists getting around using two drummers.

I'm not simply talking a drummer and a percussionist, I'm talking two full drum kits and making it work.

Best example so far (heavier) I've been able to find is a band called Kylesa, a Georgian sludge type band. They use two drums to great affect, and not simply to create a wall of noise, they use it for tone and effect.

Are there many bands getting around with two drummers?
 
The Grateful Dead had two drummers for a while, IIRC...
 
Grateful Dead were already mentioned...they had one drummer from about '70-'72, the rest of the time they had two. After Jerry Garcia's death in 1995 they continued to gig as Dead

Allman Brothers
 
The Dead
.38 Special
The Allman Bros
The Doobie Bros
 
I saw Kylesa open for Lacuna Coil a few years back.

I couldn't figure out why they had two drummers. They both pretty much played the same things. There was only one song where the two did something different enough to even register as "two different drum parts". For the most part, it seemed redundant.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSSzlLfmpRE

Adam Ant during his reign in the eighties.

I've never been a fan, but that is the only band I've ever heard use two drummers what really made sense why they had two.

I remember being very relieved reading they had two drummers one day, and realizing oh, that's how the drummer plays that part on *insert one of their radio hits*. It used to baffle me how it sounded like there was a two handed tom pattern AND hi-hats going at the same same..
 
Christian band called "the newsboys" check out breakfast, i dont like them but the show was outstanding
 
I saw Kylesa open for Lacuna Coil a few years back.

I couldn't figure out why they had two drummers. They both pretty much played the same things. There was only one song where the two did something different enough to even register as "two different drum parts". For the most part, it seemed redundant.

Why do two guitarists play the same riff... It's all about tone and making the music sound heavy, they massively detune their guitars, they use two vocalists, it's just all about sounding big and heavy, two drums don't sound identical, so having both sound at once is kind of cool.

Some good suggestions so far, I was reminded of The Mars Volta, they often do some really cool things with Percussion, when I saw them they had eight or nine members on stage.
 
Grateful Dead were already mentioned...they had one drummer from about '70-'72, the rest of the time they had two. After Jerry Garcia's death in 1995 they continued to gig as Dead

Allman Brothers

Yeah I always wondered how The Grateful Deal managed to get such an empty flat, weak sound with 2 drummers. Yuck. Sorry to you deadheads out there!
 
A great example of this is Frank Zappa's live record "Roxy & Elsewhere". On this record you have Chester Thompson and Ralph Humphrey. Two amazing drummers. Unfortunately I can't find any links to the specific recordings. I think rather than making the sound more defined or heavier, two drummers can work to compliment each others' styles.
 
Last night I went to KROQ'a Almost Acoustic Christmas and 2 of the bands had 2 drummers.

First was Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P65rmoAnA0Q

Second was Phoenix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isdwi4PyR-c

Both drummers in Edward Sharpe pretty much played in sync. The second drummer for Phoenix was kin of hidden in the back left and he also played some other stuff.

The night was pretty much a total loss as far as music is concerned with the exception of The Black Keys.
 
I first saw Foreigner in 1978 and Lou Gramm played the kit 'at certain times, not on all songs' along with the regular drummer at the concert. I can't remember how many songs he played on but it was cool.
 
Back
Top