Showmanship behind the drums!

Showmanship - definitely! But it depends how you do it.. I don't mind a stick twirl for dramatic effect at a point in a show that calls for something like that eg. a breakdown where the vocalist is trying to get the crowd hyped up).. but twirling through standard playing just looks silly and distracting to me. Facial expressions.. well yeah to a point.. you don't want to get gig photos back where in every pic you have your tongue sticking out or whatever.. but guys like Butch Miles used to be great at great facial expressions to express the 'attitude and accents of what he was playing.. very entertaining! What I dig is body movement that expresses the flow.. when I play - my whole body is into it, my sticks are flying, and sweeping arcs - my arms , wrists and hands are just along for the ride.. some call it dance-drumming; but I've got to tell you when you're flying down that train track it feels great - and the audience gets a charge out of it as well.
So - natural expression is great - but phony grandstanding to me is just silly - in fact one of my bass players told me once that if I twirled the sticks he'd throw his bass at me!
 
You really only have 3 choices.

1. Just play and trust that appropriate visuals will happen naturally.
2. Use sparingly with clear purpose.
3. Go completely overboard to the point that you are acting as much as you are drumming.
 
Why would it bother anyone?

Showman ship as been a part of drumming since the drum set was invented.

Gene Krupa, Papa Jo Jones, Sonny Payne and many other early drum set greats were all big into showmanship.

And obviously, showmanship works, because lots of showman keep getting hired to tour all over the world.

And ironic the OP mentions Neil Peart. He spins his sticks and throws them up in air, and does the hand cross over tricks too.
 
I love some slick tasteful showmanship

as DED mentioned Krupa, Jones, Payne ....they were the forefathers and kings of this

what does irritate me is when it seems a drummer worked harder on his twirls than his actually drumming ....and I see it all too often

also irritating when a drummer seems to twirl out of habit ...maybe while having a conversation, or waiting between tunes..

while taking a class once with Dave Weckl ...there were about 7 of us in this master class and one guy kept twirling his stick ....Dave lost it .
he said...if you twirl that stick one more time I'll throw it across the room. I watched you perform last night , you were dragging all over the place and your fills were rushing.
learn to play drums before you twirl your stick. Please!...thank you !!

I have to admit it was kind of amazing

:)
 
I love some slick tasteful showmanship

as DED mentioned Krupa, Jones, Payne ....they were the forefathers and kings of this

what does irritate me is when it seems a drummer worked harder on his twirls than his actually drumming ....and I see it all too often

also irritating when a drummer seems to twirl out of habit ...maybe while having a conversation, or waiting between tunes..

while taking a class once with Dave Weckl ...there were about 7 of us in this master class and one guy kept twirling his stick ....Dave lost it .
he said...if you twirl that stick one more time I'll throw it across the room. I watched you perform last night , you were dragging all over the place and your fills were rushing.
learn to play drums before you twirl your stick. Please!...thank you !!

I have to admit it was kind of amazing

:)

That is awesome!!!

I've seen Dave in clinic and that sounds like something he would say. Not to mention, twiling a stick in a master class is sort of disrespectful to whomever is giving the class. Was he really trying to impress Dave Weckl with a stick twirl?
 
I love some slick tasteful showmanship

as DED mentioned Krupa, Jones, Payne ....they were the forefathers and kings of this

what does irritate me is when it seems a drummer worked harder on his twirls than his actually drumming ....and I see it all too often

also irritating when a drummer seems to twirl out of habit ...maybe while having a conversation, or waiting between tunes..

while taking a class once with Dave Weckl ...there were about 7 of us in this master class and one guy kept twirling his stick ....Dave lost it .
he said...if you twirl that stick one more time I'll throw it across the room. I watched you perform last night , you were dragging all over the place and your fills were rushing.
learn to play drums before you twirl your stick. Please!...thank you !!

I have to admit it was kind of amazing

:)

He must have been embarrassed..................I've always enjoyed watching "entertaining" drummers.........but it can get out of hand
 
That is awesome!!!

I've seen Dave in clinic and that sounds like something he would say. Not to mention, twiling a stick in a master class is sort of disrespectful to whomever is giving the class. Was he really trying to impress Dave Weckl with a stick twirl?

yeah bro...Dave takes no s*%t trust me

...and I think the guy was just one of those habit twirlers who does it and has no idea he is doing it ....one of the most annoying kind in my opinion
 
As for drummers that make being a drummer look awesome and glamorous, I'd say Arejay Hale of Halestorm is great. He inspires me because he's not afraid to look like he's having fun behind his kit.
 
As for drummers that make being a drummer look awesome and glamorous, I'd say Arejay Hale of Halestorm is great. He inspires me because he's not afraid to look like he's having fun behind his kit.

Good call. Stewart Copeland got me back into drumming after I took in an early Police gig. He was having so much fun behind the kit and making this wonderful noise at the same time, and without resorting to stupid stick twirling.
 
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