johngregson
05-11-2005, 08:44 AM
Wow.
Well, they say you never forget your first time.
I was blown away by that concert.
Virgil really was blowing on all (4/4) cylinders last night! The audience were mainly Journey fans (the perennial cry of "Ne-AL, Ne-Al" never seemed to end all night), but there were parts (the Gypsy jam, mainly) where ALL eyes were on the drums, and the mystical floating toms of doom.
In fact, the chap next to me spent most of the concert looking at Mr. Donati, consistently muttering - "that's IMPOSSIBLE....that's IMPOSSIBLE", each shaking his head...Great stuff.
Now, I realise that it's amazing to listen to Virgil on CD, and to see videos. However, I had NO idea how powerful a player he is, until last night. I was right at the front, opposite the bass drum. Now, I was just in front of the PA, so I couldn't hear the amplified sound of the bass. However, my head and chest were resonating the entire concert, from Virgil's acoustic bass drum.
Even during the doubles.
I can't even fathom the amount of power in that guy's playing. You NEVER get that from a video!
Also, the depth of Virgil's pocket was incredible - even when he sneakily implied some metric-modulation/displacement ideas, you never felt lost. God, he's good.
Plus, he really integrates the sky-toms into his playing well - it's become a great addition to his grooves, rather than just being a visual showpiece.
The only problem with the gig, for me, ironically, was Neal Schon - which was a shame, as I really like his stuff with Journey. His playing just didn't do it pour moi. It seemed that every solo involved him picking as fast as he humanly could. There was one song where he played more melodically (the guitar was too quite where I was standing), but unfortunately seemed to be playing in a different key to the rest of the band!
(At this point, I remember that I'm not world-famous, touring with Journey, so I'll humbly shut-up.)
On the plus-side for Neal, he picks a great band!
After waiting outside, in the freezing English cold, I finally got to meet Virgil! What a decent guy. I mean, the temptation to nip into the tour bus, which would be nice and warm, instead of chatting to some hyperactive Scottish lunatic guitarist in the hostile British weather, must have been great.
But instead, he stayed out and chatted. What a nice chap.
As you can tell from the length of this post, I'm typically quite verbose (in a charmingly eccentric way, natch). In fact, my end of the conversation was alarmingly similar to a scene in Family Guy, when the Griffin's meet KISS. Louis, who's an old school friend of Gene Simmons, is happily chatting away to them, when she introduces her husband Peter, a huge KISS fan (in last night's scenario, played by me). Peter's end of the conversation was simply:
"You....Are.....GODS!".
KISS reply, just as simply:
"Yeh, right."
I must admit, on re-reading this (an hour later), that it must be the first (hopefully of many) analogy between KISS and Virgil!
I did manage to get a photo with the man himself (Virgil, not Gene):
www.johngregson.co.uk/johnwith.htm (http://www.johngregson.co.uk/johnwith.htm)
Anyway, I just want to say cheers to Virgil for being so friendly. If you read this, I hope the rest of the tour goes swimmingly.
Rock and roll!
John.
Well, they say you never forget your first time.
I was blown away by that concert.
Virgil really was blowing on all (4/4) cylinders last night! The audience were mainly Journey fans (the perennial cry of "Ne-AL, Ne-Al" never seemed to end all night), but there were parts (the Gypsy jam, mainly) where ALL eyes were on the drums, and the mystical floating toms of doom.
In fact, the chap next to me spent most of the concert looking at Mr. Donati, consistently muttering - "that's IMPOSSIBLE....that's IMPOSSIBLE", each shaking his head...Great stuff.
Now, I realise that it's amazing to listen to Virgil on CD, and to see videos. However, I had NO idea how powerful a player he is, until last night. I was right at the front, opposite the bass drum. Now, I was just in front of the PA, so I couldn't hear the amplified sound of the bass. However, my head and chest were resonating the entire concert, from Virgil's acoustic bass drum.
Even during the doubles.
I can't even fathom the amount of power in that guy's playing. You NEVER get that from a video!
Also, the depth of Virgil's pocket was incredible - even when he sneakily implied some metric-modulation/displacement ideas, you never felt lost. God, he's good.
Plus, he really integrates the sky-toms into his playing well - it's become a great addition to his grooves, rather than just being a visual showpiece.
The only problem with the gig, for me, ironically, was Neal Schon - which was a shame, as I really like his stuff with Journey. His playing just didn't do it pour moi. It seemed that every solo involved him picking as fast as he humanly could. There was one song where he played more melodically (the guitar was too quite where I was standing), but unfortunately seemed to be playing in a different key to the rest of the band!
(At this point, I remember that I'm not world-famous, touring with Journey, so I'll humbly shut-up.)
On the plus-side for Neal, he picks a great band!
After waiting outside, in the freezing English cold, I finally got to meet Virgil! What a decent guy. I mean, the temptation to nip into the tour bus, which would be nice and warm, instead of chatting to some hyperactive Scottish lunatic guitarist in the hostile British weather, must have been great.
But instead, he stayed out and chatted. What a nice chap.
As you can tell from the length of this post, I'm typically quite verbose (in a charmingly eccentric way, natch). In fact, my end of the conversation was alarmingly similar to a scene in Family Guy, when the Griffin's meet KISS. Louis, who's an old school friend of Gene Simmons, is happily chatting away to them, when she introduces her husband Peter, a huge KISS fan (in last night's scenario, played by me). Peter's end of the conversation was simply:
"You....Are.....GODS!".
KISS reply, just as simply:
"Yeh, right."
I must admit, on re-reading this (an hour later), that it must be the first (hopefully of many) analogy between KISS and Virgil!
I did manage to get a photo with the man himself (Virgil, not Gene):
www.johngregson.co.uk/johnwith.htm (http://www.johngregson.co.uk/johnwith.htm)
Anyway, I just want to say cheers to Virgil for being so friendly. If you read this, I hope the rest of the tour goes swimmingly.
Rock and roll!
John.