WFD 10th Anniversary Documentary

I just heard that the WFD 10th Anniversary Documentary was out. Being over here, I have liittle chance of seeing it unless it gets youtubed or something. If someone gets their hands on it please let me know. Tim? Tom? Do you have it?

Without getting into the pros and cons /that have already been done here and elsewhere to death/ I only wanted to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with those guys and will always appreciate their opening a very nice door. I think it's unfortunate that my 2008 trad grip run capped the last major championship staged by them.

Was it show biz? Yep.

Campy? Yep that too. I especially loved those great promo videos. This one with Mike Machine remains my favorite, over the top classic, although the skill level was pretty remarkable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thc32oyGzq4&feature=related

But it was also totally harmless, never brought chaos to humanity, and yes it improved my playing.

I haven't seen Boo McAfee for over 2 years, but wish him only the best. His event was a phenomenon and a lightning rod in the drumming community and when he deemphasized it, it was still on top and easily one of the biggest regular events NAMM ever staged.

And although he is spending most of his time these days on the video game/which is probably making him a lot more money than the comps ever did/ I still wish the world championships would return. There are so many guys all over youtube doing these unofficial runs. Some look completely bogus with double triggering machines, while some look entirely legit record breakers, especially in the double bass realm. And then there's Tom Grossett who has been wanting to take Mangini's last remaining record, and he's been ready now for a year or more.

As for me, I'm out but would just like to watch. It's an addictive thing after a time.

I remember Jim Chapin positioned in his wheelchair 10 feet from the stage for hours at a time, Jim Kirkpatrick trying out the pad 10 or 12 times while a WFD guy had his finger on the camera button hoping he would start an official run. Then there was Travis Barker venturing towards the stage seeing Mangini do a run then step back and do a photo op instead and Travis Smith watching a Tim Yeung qualifying run edge towards the stage then edge back several times before thinking the better of it. There was also Thomas Lange getting as close as you can get to making a run before saying no, but actually buying one of Boo's Drumometers, alongside Marco Minneman stepping up and doing a 1007. Then there's the story of one of the most famous drummers in the world doing one run after another perplexed that he wasn't cracking 1000s then swearing people to secrecy when it never happened. It was always funny to me that for all the famous guys who said no one important was interested, there sure were a lot of those guys around.

Anyway congrats Boo on 10 memorable years.

Great promo video. Super cheeze at it's best. That's a ton of Gorgonzola right there. I'm more of a fireside port & stilton guy. Great opportunity though, & such competitions never hurt anyone.

I wish there would be more of these championships eventually. Maybe not under the same name but something else. It would be nice way of developing practice methods further. Getting us all tighter in the end. I'd propably give it a try if there would be a championship nearby. And whatever you think about it, at least we have had more fruity discussions about WFD than we have had because of 'the best drummer of the last 25 years'.

JPW said:

I wish there would be more of these championships eventually. Maybe not under the same name but something else. It would be nice way of developing practice methods further. Getting us all tighter in the end. I'd propably give it a try if there would be a championship nearby. And whatever you think about it, at least we have had more fruity discussions about WFD than we have had because of 'the best drummer of the last 25 years'.

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Well if you're going to have any contest like that it will always be called WFD and run by Boo McAfee's people because he owns the copyright to the contest, the apparatus and even the words world's fastest drummer when they are published in that sequence/-totally true.

I'm pretty sure you can still stage local comps with permission and purchase of the liscensing kit which includes a proper Drumometer. But in many ways the local comp was used by the local guy to see if he even had a shot at the world's championship top 10 for that year. So sometimes you would be hanging at some local show in Ohio or someplace, and some insane chops guy would come out of nowhere and just rip it. That's what made it fun to watch. Again it wasn't religion-just a lot of fun to watch.

Promo #2- Mike Mangini's 1203 video is another camp classic. And what makes it work is how this very famous drummer and Berklee professor really gets into it. Regardless of what anyone might believe nobody cared about those world records more than Mangini.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7TzWrKso4I

And yeah, we really did have some great wars on the forums. I learned how to write cleanly while engaged in that practice, and I think in many ways those particular discussions are what really made drum forums go viral 6-7 years ago.

Do you mean 10th Anniv. or 100th Anniv?

Zickosdrummer said:

Do you mean 10th Anniv. or 100th Anniv?

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Definitely 10th. If this stuff had started in 1910 the Internet and drum forums would have appeared no more than 20 years later tops.

Then comps would have been suspended for a 2 year period after the Jo Jones/ Buddy Rich incident of 1947.

Then in the early 1960s a young Fred Sanford, with a new marching concept called Drum Corps fresh in his mind, topples Morello's 1 year reign, who had toppled Barrett Deems the year before, prompting Tony Williams to enter and win in 1967 on a dare from Miles Davis. This angered Rich enough to enter with one hand tied behind his back, aka the one handed roll.

When Rich's one handed stunt falls short to Williams by 2 strokes in 1969, he asks What about that?...pointing to a bass drum. He then recreates his final solo from Channel One Suite and the bass drum catches fire. Jim Chapin then screams Oh my God listen to that blast, prompting a very young Dave Lombardo to pull out some paper from his shirt pocket and write something down. Louie Bellson then runs forward and proclaims Gotta be 2 guys which then establishes the first double bass run, which further enrages Buddy when he realizes he has forgotten to turn on the drumometer.

Meanwhile Ginger Baker stands beside the stage telling everyone he could win easily if only he weren't wearing gloves.

After Bonham almost wins both the hands and feet comps while seriously drunk in 1970, an entire decade of copycat comp drunks lower the scores. The decade is mostly dominated by Billy Cobham, until Rich returns to set the trad grip record of 1364, a mark that stands to this day. To cap off the event Rich then becomes the first drummer to play 1000 spms using something he had made fun of on a television show the night before. Thus enters the matched grip.

Buddy then shoots everybody the finger and announces his retirement from WFD.

The 80s begin with controversy after DCI proponents, complaining about not winning since Sanford, attempt to alter the rules by including a general effects score with drum grunting sneering, and overall prettiness counting 5 extra strokes. After their demand is refused, they establish their own comps while claiming the regular competitors aren't as fast as they are. They disguise their claims using a new term called hybrid rudiments. In 1979 DCI declares WFD null and void and proclaims the entire Blue Devils drum line speed drumming world champions. Louie Bellson then comes back from retirement and wins a chilling final while an older wiser Lombardo takes the bass category. Bellson watches Lombardo and smiles. Been there done that, he says.

WFD shuts down for most of the 1990s due to Tommy Lee reality show scandal and subsequent videotape. Tre Cool proclaims himself champion in abstentia. Weckl scoffs.

January 2000, Johnny Rabb and Tim Waterson appear on the front porch of Boo McAfee's north Nashville farm.

The rest is history.