Yes!!! Well, now that I have a vintage kit (not just snares) to gig with. I will be gigging my Kent 4 piece whenever I can and assuming it's appropriate for the gig. If I'm called to do a rock gig (not oldie rock), then I'll likely use my Pulse or Gretsch Catalina kit, but if it's blues or jazz... Kent all the way.
I also practice and record them regularly. They're drums dang it - Bang 'em!!
I always enjoy reading this type of thread, but rarely post up on one... but this time I'm gonna!
I am extremely blessed and fortunate in that I work higher end venues, thus there is very little to absolutely NO RISK for any damage to my drums. So, I play ALL VINTAGE drums ALL the time! I use my '66 Rogers BR Headliner kit 99.9% of the time, but will on occassion bring out '65 Rogers BR Celebrity's, and have even brought out the '48 WFL/Ludwig BR Classic's too. The kick from playing vintage drums LIVE supplies an extra bit of a vibe to an already great situation! The response and/or interest in the drums from sound crew and patrons alike is also a bit of a kick! To sum up:
YES!!!! Play your vintage drums!!! They WANT to be played/gigged!!!! :-)
Tommyp
Yeah, I gig w/ my '72 Ludwigs 13, 16, 22 all the time, recording too.
My gigs have all been in Manhattan and the clubs have house kits and very small stages and staging/breakdown of your kit must be done in a flash. I always use my Luddy Supra or Rogers Powertone snares but not a full kit yet.
I am hoping for a venue where I can showcase my '66 Super Classic Luddies or 70-71 Rogers Powertones.
Some day I hope.
I play mostly local gigs. When I play clubs and other venues in and around Nashville, I almost always do my own load in, set up and load out. If anyone is going to damage anything it's going to be me. So far I haven't had any problems using my vintage kit.
I've heard major artist touring is a different ballgame. Some venues have union stagehands and no one esle is allowed to move your gear or place it on the stage. I've heard it's these guys that can really be hard on your drums. Matt
Hmmmm.... interesting! My experience playing/backing/touring with the bigger name performers and/or larger concerts/venues has been that there is "backline equipment" supplied for your use... so you don't even BRING your own kit! The drums were already there and set up, and all I had to do was slide in my own snare drum, throne, pedal and cymbals, and make some adjustments.
When I toured with Gene Pitney, there was a rider/contract that went out ahead of our arrival where I got to request what I wanted in the way of a kit with regard to brand!, and amount of pieces including hardware. It was too cool! And again, the drums were already set up when we got to the venue. I did list a few different choices as to brand because they might not always have what I wanted in each different location.
The main reason I mention this is that I haven't ever had to bring my own kit to the larger venues... especially on a tour. So no one else has ever had to set them up except me! It all comes down to costs I guess.
Tommyp
Tommy,
You're not gonna believe this, but I worked for Gene too! I worked at his Beach Club in Somers and helped him book sound people for as few shows. I also kept him in microphomes for awhile whne I worked for EV. He's the reason I came to Nashville! Some of my buds from home went to school with him in Rockville. Gene kept track of me and always contactd me when he came to town here. His loss was a pretty big shock. What a voice and talent.
Matt
Hey Matt!
Wow... now THAT IS a coincidence! Jeeze, and I hate this tired cliche', but in this case I have to use it: What a small world!!!
Agreed, it was quite a shock when I heard of Gene's passing... ( it will be two years this April ) ... I was invited by the immediate family to the private services PRIOR to the public service, but the word got out and... it was jam packed at the funeral home. I've never seen anything like it. I mean fans and people from all over made the trip to be there, and this was HOURS BEFORE the public service. I was chatting with Todd inside and even he was blown away by it. Yes, Gene was quite popular, and even moreso "across the pond" as they say. Anyway,
That was a great offer from Gene to do that tour, and I didn't hesitate to take the gig. It was a blast, but also a bit of a pressure cooker as Gene keyed HEAVILY off the drums. The other thing was that Gene's backing band was a 15 piece big band complete with strings! Now that was fun to kick! I'll never foget the experience... or the packed concert venues either! Gene certainly had a loyal legion of fans. As a matter of fact, the only venue that wasn't full, was in Detroit. All the rest though... wow. You know, you either LOVED Gene's voice, or you didn't... there was no middle ground. We certainly played for all the people that LOVED it! A true gentleman... and the pay wasn't so bad either! :-) Again though, regarding the drums:
It was so much easier for the kit to be supplied than for me to have to drag mine all over the country... then there were the airlines, etc. It was a neat experience to have the drums already there and set up when you walked in for sound check.
Thanks for replying Matt! Too cool!
Tommyp
Tommy,
I got to see Gene and the entire Band and Orchestra complete with backup singers at the Oakdale in Wallingford Conn, quite a number of years ago. Perhaps '87 or '88. I was blown away by his show and the band brought i mostly from the UK. A distand reltive of mine owned that theatre but I never walked up and said hi, we're related so can you get me in to this show or that. It was a cool venue with the huge lazy susan stage.
Matt
Hey Matt!
A distant relative of yours owned the theatre? Wow, I certainly would have played that card Matt... and not just for Gene either! :-) And in the words of long-time Johnny Carson sidekick Ed McMahon,
Yes, you are correct sir! When Gene did Wallingford, and later on Foxwoods Casino, he was using his long-time musical director Maurice Merry's son Simon on drums. That worked out real well for Gene because he did so many concerts in the UK. He played more THERE than here. As a matter of fact, the tour that I did with him was the LAST ONE in the states until the Wallingford show. That was a period of at least 15 years! Once again, Gene had a nice legion of fans stateside, but he was absolutely HUGE in the UK and Australia.
Would have been nice to meet you Matt!
Tommyp
