Maybe it was because the Bruins were in the playoffs.
Maybe it was because we’ve had a couple of very, very difficult and painful months here.
Maybe we all needed to blow off a little steam.
Whatever it was, it was nothing short of disgraceful.
I’ve been to my share of Stones shows. Both the old Boston Garden, and TD Garden as it is now known. Fenway Paaaaahk for the Bigger Bang kickoff tour. And of course Foxboro. I have never seen or experienced a crowd like I did on June 12th 2013, the first show of the Stones “5o and Counting” Tour that hit Beantown. Frankly, I was beyond excited to be there. Which quickly turned into embarrassed to be there.
Drunk.
Disorderly.
Angry.
Did I mention drunk?
And from what I’ve been told, this behavior was widespread throughout the Garden that night. There was no security to speak of attempting to manage these Massholes either. Crazy…TD Garden needs a lesson in making sure these drop-dead drunks don’t even get into the venue, let alone continuing to serve these freakin’ losers.
Whew…. Ok enough venting.
On with the show….
I had incredible seats. Loge 13, Row 10.
A perfect view of the left side of the stage.
They started off rocky in the first three numbers, finding their groove.
“It’s Only Rock and Roll” was a bit rough…but by the time they hit “Gimme Shelter” all hell broke loose, yup they found it.
Lisa killed it as usual on “Gimme Shelter.” Here she is doing her thang.
Their special guest was Gary Clark Jr. The song was “Goin Down.”
Ronnie was on fire. As was Gary Clark.
“Honky Tonk Women” brought the crowd to it’s feet singing with a great animated pieces projected on stage.
Keith did his acoustic thing for “You Got The Silver” while Mick rested a bit, and had a wardrobe change.
Then back to his Micawber for “Before They Make Me Run.”
The highlight for me was seeing Mick Taylor on stage with the boys.
If I could hear the Stones play only one song, it would be “Midnight Rambler.” I did and they didn’t disappoint.
Unfortunately I got hit in the face and missed the next two songs, ironically it was “Miss You” and “Start Me Up.”
I spent them crawling around on the beer soaked floor looking for my eyeglasses that were knocked of my face by the drunk next to me.
Awesome right!?
Aaaah not really.
Mick was in fine form throughout the night. As was the rest of the band. Charlie holding the backbeat as Keith and Ronnie ripped off riffs and solos.
All in all a great show despite the crowd. Which as you know can kill a show as well as make one.
Encore was great. Choir and all for You Can’t Always….
But given my night I would have renamed this show, “No Security- Part Two.”
Day Two…..I spare the chatter and just show the pics. I’m kicking myself now for not shooting enough.
This is stupid cool. The original artwork for the cover of the greatest Stones album ever recorded, “Exile on Main Street.” From the collection of Jeff Gold of Recordmecca.
Original artwork by Charlie Watts.
I can’t say enough about the displays. So well done. Even the font they used for all the signage was created by hand. It’s the “Exile On Main Street” typeface. Which of course was done in Mick’s hand, so it doesn’t exist.
That was until the designers at the RNR HOF decided they wanted it. They just re-created the entire alphabet. Pretty cool I must say. Pretty cool.
So about a year or so ago I had the pleasure of being able to buy a few drum heads from Joey Kramer’s collection. After I purchased them, I became obsessed with buying drum heads.
It occurred to me what a lost art form this in fact was.
When you think about it, it’s really one of the first forms of music marketing. A logo or design that sits on the bass drum acts like a billboard for the band. Something to recognize and identify with the band. Something that can also be used in printed materials, press releases, posters and merchandising.
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone, music fanatic or not that couldn’t identify The Beatles logo that sat on Ringo’s drum head.
The evolution of the art of the bass drum head dates back to the early days of the 20′s and 30′s jazz, and blues bands as well as college and high school marching bands. Clubs and organizations also emblazoned their names and designs on their marching drums to parade throughout the cities and towns they lived in.
Before the classic Beatles logo we all know, here’s a photo of Ringo with another kit. Check out the bass drum.
This was Ringo’s Premier kit used when he first joined The Beatles and at the end of his tenure with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.
Above are perhaps some of the greatest drummers in the world of rock with their classic kits. Ginger, Keith and Bonzo.
All have their own distinctive drum kits and unique bass drum designs.
The drummers of the 80′s metal bands were clearly influenced by their drum heroes and decided like their music, would pushed the boundaries of drum design.
My “Use Your Illusion” Tour drum head signed by Matt Sorum is the ultimate in 80′s skull and death design.
Here’s Matt with my latest purchase. A signed drum head from the last GNR tour.
Then again, sometimes a drum head doesn’t need a fancy design or logo. Sometimes just a nice sentiment does the trick.
Charles Robert “Charlie” Watts (born 2 June, 1941) is an English drummer best known as a member (from January 1963 through the present) of The Rolling Stones. He is a jazz bandleader, record producer, commercial artist and horse breeder. Mick Jagger sometimes refers to Watts as “The Wembley Whammer” when introducing him during concerts.
Charlie Watts was born to a lorry driver for a precursor of British Rail and his wife at University College Hospital, London, and raised (along with his sister Linda) in Islington and then Wembley. He attended Tylers Croft Secondary Modern School from 1952 to 1956; as a schoolboy, he displayed a talent for art, cricket and football.
Watts’s parents gave him his first drum kit in 1955; he was interested in jazz, and would practice drumming along with jazz records he collected. After completing secondary school, he enrolled at Harrow Art School (now the University of Westminster), which he attended until 1960. After leaving school, Watts worked as a graphic designer for an advertising company, and also played drums occasionally with local bands in coffee shops and clubs. In 1961 he met Alexis Korner, who invited him to join his band, Blues Incorporated. At that time Watts was on his way to a sojourn working as a graphic designer in Denmark, but he accepted Korner’s offer when he returned to London in February 1962.
Watts played regularly with Blues Incorporated as well as working at the advertising firm of Charles, Hobson, and Grey. It was in mid-1962 that Watts first met Brian Jones, Ian “Stu” Stewart, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who also frequented the London rhythm and blues clubs; but it wasn’t until January 1963 that Watts finally agreed to join the Rolling Stones.
Watts has been involved in many activities outside his high-profile life as a member of the Rolling Stones. In 1964, he published a cartoon tribute to Charlie Parker entitled Ode to a High Flying Bird.
Although he has made his name in rock, his personal tastes focus on jazz; in the late 70s, he joined Ian “Stu” Stewart in the back-to-the-roots boogie-woogie band Rocket 88, which featured many of the UK’s top jazz, rock and R&B musicians. In the 1980s, he toured worldwide with a big band that included such names as Evan Parker, Courtney Pine, and Jack Bruce, who was also a member of Rocket 88. In 1991, he organized a jazz quintet as another tribute to Charlie Parker. 1993 saw the release of Warm And Tender, by the Charlie Watts Quintet, which included vocalist Bernard Fowler. This same group then released Long Ago And Far Away in 1996. Both records included a collection of Great American Songbook standards. After a successful collaboration with Jim Keltner on The Rolling Stones’ Bridges to Babylon, Charlie and Jim released a techno/instrumental album called simply Charlie Watts/Jim Keltner Project. Featuring the names of his favourite jazz drummers, Charlie stated that even though the tracks bore such names as the “Elvin Suite” in honor of the late Elvin Jones, Max Roach and Roy Haynes, they were not copying their style of drumming, but rather, capturing a feeling by those artists. Watts At Scott’s was recorded with his group, The Charlie Watts Tentet, at the famous jazz club in London, Ronnie Scott’s. In April 2009 he started to do concerts with “The ABC&D of Boogie Woogie” together with pianists Axel Zwingenberger and Ben Waters plus his childhood friend Dave Green on bass.
Besides his musical creativity, he contributed graphic art to early records such as the Between the Buttons record sleeve and was responsible for the famous 1975 tour announcement press conference in New York City. The band surprised the throng of waiting reporters by driving and playing “Brown Sugar” on the back of a flatbed truck in the middle of Manhattan traffic; a gimmick AC/DC copied later the same year, Status Quo repeated the trick for the 1984 video to “The Wanderer” and U2 would later emulate it in the 2004 video for “All Because of You”. Watts remembered this was a common way for New Orleans jazz bands to promote upcoming dates. Moreover, with Jagger, he designed the elaborate stages for tours, first contributing to the lotus-shaped design of that 1975 Tour of the Americas, as well as the 1989–1990 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour.
There are many instances where Jagger and Richards have lauded Watts as the key member of The Rolling Stones. Richards went so far as to say in a 2005 Guitar Player magazine interview that the Rolling Stones would not be, or could not continue as, the Rolling Stones without Watts. An example of Watts’s importance was demonstrated in 1993, after Bill Wyman had left the band. After auditioning several bassists, Jagger and Richards asked Watts to choose the new bass player; he selected the respected session musician Darryl Jones, who had previously been a sideman for both Miles Davis and Sting.
In 1989, the Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the July 2006 issue of Modern Drummer, Watts was voted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame along with Steve Gadd, Keith Moon, Buddy Rich and other highly esteemed drummers.
Charlie Watts plays Gretsch drums and a variety of brands of cymbals, mostly UFIP. His drums are 1956-7 Gretsch Round Badge: a 22″ (56 cm) bass drum, a 16″ (41 cm) floor tom, a 12″ (30 cm) tom and a 5-by-14-inch (13 cm × 36 cm) snare drum. Cymbals he is known to use include: an 18″ UFIP Natural Series Fast China, a UFIP Rough Series China with rivets, a very old UFIP Flat Ride, an Avedis Zildjian Swish, and a very old set of hi-hats, brand unknown.
A quick story about a hack drummer’s dream. Hanging out at the Zildjian cymbal booth at the NAMM show in Anaheim last week.
NAMM is the premier music industry show.
Covering 800,000 square feet in 4 days was not easy. I tried, but found I was most comfortable just hanging out with some of the best drummers in the world at the Zildjian booth.
Here left to right…. John DeChristopher, Vice President, Artist Relations &
Event Marketing Worldwide at Zildjian, me, and Max Weinberg of the famed Bruce Springsteen E Street Band.
Max Weinberg is a Zildjian artist as is Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones. Danny Seraphine of Chicago, Kenny Aronoff, Steve Smith, Alan White, Sheila E., and Hal Blaine to name a few.
Here’s a list of the drummers that showed up at the Zildjian booth to sign autographs for the thousands that lined up on Friday and Saturday.
The best of the best.
I got to meet Max again when he played with his Big Band in Cambridge this past summer.
Concert used memorabilia in collecting is rare and difficult to find. Authenticating that the item was concert used is even more difficult and documentation is even harder to find.
Which makes the pictured item rare indeed.
Concert used and signed drumsticks belonging to Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones.
For starters, they are Ludwig drumsticks.
Charlie used and played Ludwig back in the 80′s. He now uses Vic Firth.
Secondly they were played at a very unique concert. December 18, 1981 Hampton, VA, the last show of the “Tattoo You” tour, Keith Richards birthday and a specially taped show for television.
Read the letter from Stones President Art Collins on how he obtained the sticks from Charlie after the show.
A few items signed by Charlie that aren’t as difficult to sign as drumsticks.
I had the pleasure of meeting Joey a few times now, the first was at The Boston Music Awards, shown above.
For more than 30 years Joey Kramer has combined emotional feel with technical virtuosity to convey the musical ideas of his band mates in Aerosmith while evolving into one of rock’s greatest drummers. His meticulous timing and solid grooves have contributed as much to the sound of Aerosmith albums such as “Toys In The Attic,” “Rocks,” “Permanent Vacation,” “Pump,” and “Just Push Play” as Steven Tyler’s voice and Joe Perry’s guitar.
A longtime resident of Massachusetts, Joseph Michael Kramer was born in Bronx, NY on June 21,1950. By the age of 14 he was cutting his musical teeth as part of a Ventures-type instrumentals band named The Medallions. However, it wasn’t until Joey started drumming with an 11-piece rhythm and blues outfit during his late teens that he discovered the music that would serve as his main source of inspiration.
In 1970 he reconnected with a friend, Steven Tyler, who had joined forces with Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton and were in need of a drummer. Kramer jumped in and Aerosmith took off. Brad Whitford joined the group in 1971.
For two years the group played throughout New England and got their break on August 5, 1972 at Max’s Kansas City Club in New York City. That night the famed record executive Clive Davis was in attendance and was so impressed with Aerosmith that he signed them to Columbia Records on the spot.
In 1973 the band released their self-titled debut album, “Aerosmith,” and took to the road. They toured relentlessly over the next two years, taking time off only to record their follow up album, “Get Your Wings” which went Gold.
“Toys In the Attic” was released in 1975 followed by the 1976 release of “Rocks” and the band turned a significant creative and commercial corner in this era as the hits came fast and furious with the likes of “Last Child,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Back in the Saddle” and “Walk This Way.”
Their endless roadwork paid off in Platinum and exploded into sold out pandemonium culminating before massive crowds of over 80,000 at the legendary Texxas Jam, and to a sea of over 350,000 at the famous CAL Jam in 1978. Aerosmith’s status as one of the most popular live acts of the decade was achieved.
It wasn’t long though before the intoxicating pace of rock stardom took its toll. The fire that had fueled them now began to burn them from within. As the decade drew to close, half-hearted albums — 1977’s “Draw the Line” and 1979’s “Night In the Ruts,” — canceled performances and internal strife dogged the band, weakening them at their core. After a dressing room blowout in July 1979, Perry announced his departure from the group to form The Joe Perry Project. Brad Whitford followed suit shortly thereafter to form Whitford-St. Holmes. The remaining three members soldiered on to eek out 1982’s “Rock In a Hard Place,” but the magic was gone. By the early 1980s, Aerosmith was all but over.
Cooler heads finally prevailed and in 1984, Perry and Whitford rejoined the group and Aerosmith hit the road for the Back in the Saddle Tour.
In 1985 the group signed a new record deal with Geffen Records and released “Done With Mirrors.” That was followed by “Permanent Vacation,” which hit record stores in 1987. This was the first in a string of releases that brought Aerosmith more fame, success and accolades than ever before. Their videos tormented the senses and raised the bar for music video excellence with “Dude Looks Like a Lady,” “Angel” and “Rag Doll.”
The band succeeded “Permanent Vacation” with 1989’s “Pump,” which spawned hits; “Love in an Elevator,” “Janie’s Got a Gun,” “The Other Side” and “What it Takes.”
The groups’ strong showing continued into the 1990s at it released “Get a Grip” in 1993 that featured radio slam dunks “Livin’ on the Edge,” “Cryin,” “Eat the Rich,” “Crazy” and “Amazing.” “Nine Lives” was released in 1997, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and boasted the hit singles, “Pink” and “Falling in Love is Hard on the Knees.” They closed out the decade with their first No. 1 hit single “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” from the 1998 movie “Armageddon” soundtrack.
More recently the band made “Just Push Play” in 2001 and “Honkin’ on Bobo” in 2004.
After the band released “Just Push Play,” Joey went back into the studio with producer Marti Frederiksen to work on a different type of solo project. “Drum Loops and Samples” entailed laying down a comprehensive array of drum tracks for artists of all skill levels to be able to utilize. The two-disc piece has over 340 loops and samples with a range of beats per minute from 71 to 148.
Kramer and Aerosmith have enjoyed tremendous success through their career. The group has sold over 100 million albums and have had concert dates sold out, not only North America, but in Japan, Australia, South America and Israel. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. The group has received two People’s Choice Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, eight American Music Awards, 23 Boston Music Awards, 12 MTV Video Awards, four Grammys, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Song, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” They were selected as one of the Best Rock Bands by Rolling Stone and Hit Parader magazines and were chosen as the first rock band to be honored as MTV Icons.
Kramer extends his rock n’ roll lifestyle off the stage to his appreciation for cars. To get him from place to place, Joey relies on the fastest, strongest and most powerful cars available. He owns some of the most beautiful automobiles in the world and can often be seen cruising in his Lamborghini. He is a partner in a specialty automobile dealership, Corvette Mike New England, in Plymouth, MA. His need for speed transfers back into his playing.
Here’s a couple of killer signed drum heads from both the Rocksimus Maximus tour with KISS. And the Nine Lives tour, both signed by Joey.
Check out Joey’s website to read more about his new book and his new coffee, Rockin’ & Roastin’.
Encore was great. Choir and all for You Can’t Always….
