I wonder what Abe gets in return for those expectations. I would hope he gets a Substantial amount of dough in addition to just some equipment in return for having millions of people see your product's name on national TV for a relatively long period of time.

Abe's been doing the duct tape initials thing on the bass drum head for quite a while with no DW logo at all. It started with "PM" (for Paul McCartney, and if you hold it to a mirror upside-down kinda, there's a D and a W there ;-)

I think he changed it this tour to be a "PMc"

If Ringo was the drummer I'd have expected a vintage kit, I don't think he drums anymore. Dave Grohl one upped Bruce with embarrassing guitar solo's, maybe he shoulda been behind the kit.

Still trying to figure out why the OP keeps on asking why he wasn't playing a vintage Ludwig kit..... He is not Ringo Star....he is on the DW roster and plays DW products....simple. Abe actually got a lot of camera time while Paul was on the piano. Just about every shot had either Paul alone, Abe alone or Abe and Paul, he got more camera time during that performace than all of the other drummer the entire night combined.

Bruce sucked....

It's funny that no one here has actually mentioned Abe's rather interesting kit choice. Seeing how it was a black (more or less) kit with black hardware it was a little hard to make out. He placed his kick on his left and appeared to be playing it with a remote pedal. One large rack tom at center, some large tom to the left of his hi-hat that I couldn't make out, and what appeared to be a 20" kick drum for a floor tom on his right. Now that is not a large set by any stretch of the imagination, but as always, Abe plays big drums and he plays them very well. As for sound quality, live TV on a tight set change schedule is always a roll the dice endeavor. That has little or nothing to do with the drums or their tuning.

why is everyone making a big deal about this ???? i think abe is an awesome drummer and has the best gig around. as far as performance on everyone else..Paul Mccartney is really old now and doing great for his age!! enjoy it for what it was.

DW doesn't pay their artists, and only a handful get comped gear. Abe is certainly in that exclusive club. If I had toi guess at the others, I would say Peart, Bozzio, and probably Jason Bonham and Moffett.

Bermuda

Paul will be 70 this year, and that's not really old. If he's still doing this at 100, then you can call him really old! But his voice was a bit rough at times, especially on the ballad. Apart from that, he rocks as hard as any of the youngsters out there.

Bermuda

It's always about that. Some artists remain faithful to their original versions, some modify the songs slightly over time, partly because they get bored, they forget, or they think of better parts.

But it's always the artist's decision as to how something will be played. Maybe one of the band members will try a new part and get a thumbs-up, but nobody is left completely on their own. And artsists don't hire drummers who'll try to make the songs their own... they want drummers who'll play what the artist wants. Nobody hires Vinnie to be "Vinnie", they hire him because they know he can do everything they want.

Bermuda

I guess Paul still owns the rights to "The End" not Michael Jackson? He can do whatever he wants with it.

I'm wondering if Ringo has any say what happens to his drum scores? I guess long ago, well-paid lawyers worked out all of the details.