Opening for Nile this Sunday with Sunlord

Jeff Almeyda

Senior Consultant
I can definitely say for sure that the drummer I will be opening up for this week is faster than me.

I hope to meet George before the show. I know that, with backstage access as a performer, I will definitely be checking his set out from backstage. I'm not into death metal but George is simply something to behold.
 
Good stuff. They toured with Cannibal Corpse back in 2000 (I think) and I had the pleasure to open up for them. I am not sure if the drummer at the time was Derek Roddy or Tony Laureano, but it was after Pete Hammoura. It was a great show, you will definitely enjoy yourself.
 
That's awesome news Jeff. George is a great guy who even takes time out to talk drums to plebs like me (at length I might add) and he is indeed something to behold.
Be sure to report back here how the gig went!
 
that will be fun dude! nice job!

be sure to say hello to George, hes a super nice guy.

and see if you can get a seat behind him while he's playing. you'll be blown away at what the human body is capable of, its seriously superhuman stuff.
 
That's awesome, congrats Jeff!! I have a feeling you won't move from side stage watching him. Enjoy the gig my friend!
 
The gig went great, thanks for asking. I couldn't hear the bass guitar but he says he heard me so that worked out. I played on a 4 pc DW house kit that was in nice shape. I had to transpose my larger fills down to just the two toms but that's really no biggie. The crowd, although surprisingly sparse, was very into it.

Truth is, I couldn't stay past the first Nile song because I had to deal with the gear in the car with no (legal) place to park it. Running back and forth to a parking garage a few blocks away is a major pain.

His kit was beautiful. I don't see any holes in the front bass drum heads which surprised me. I wasn't able to get behind the drums so I couldn't tell you how the kicks were muffled. Full kit just like you see on his videos except these drums were surprisingly light in color.

George is an Olympian (no Greek pun intended) on the drums. His power and speed are just incredible. After the first few seconds of the first fast blast, I burst out laughing because it was so beyond anything I've eve done in terms of tempo. Mike Mangini told me once that, in his opinion, George was the baddest double kick guy out there. I can't say I disagree.

The gig was not sold out by any means. I was surprised because we opened for Soulfly a few months earlier at BB King's and it was packed.

Maybe it's reflecting the fact that death metal appeals to less people overall than the more "old school" style. Maybe not but I can say that there were about three times as many people at one compared to the other.

So, yes it went great but no I did not show him up. Once he started playing, all memories of any other drummer were wiped from the audience's collective memory banks by his insane badassery.
 
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