On the day that it happened, I was a drummer - A BIG BASS-DRUMmer. It was the first day of summer Band Camp 1988 and I had just got the harness adjusted on a drum so big I could hardly see over it.
I was a sophomore transfer to the school and new to marching band. The good news was that my previous semester of Orchestral triangle experience qualified me to be a bass drummer instead of a lowly cymbal player - so I was feeling pretty cool. We were in marching practice all morning, so I really didn't get a chance to talk to the other drummers until after lunch. I was assigned to Bass #4 (the easiest to play and the hardest to carry), so I was tired but excited.
It was break time and not quite everyone had piled into cars for run to the Circle K. The other 3 Bass players were girls and they all seemed to know each other pretty well .... and let just say they weren't very friendly to the new guy (or I was a total geek ... you make the call). With no one else to talk to I avoided the cymbal players and bravely approached the Snare Drum gods. This was dangerous since I had skipped at least 2 levels of aristocracy. (I should have made nice nice with the Bass girls, become a Tenor drum sycophant, or looked for my Saxophone friend. I deserved what happened:
Bass4: "Hey guys, hows it goin?"
Snare god#3 (lord of the hatchback wagon): "Hey"
---- awkward pause ----
Bass4: "That drum major is marching us to death"
Snare god#2 (lord of crude hand gestures and drum stick imagery): "whatever"
Bass4: "So do you guys practice a lot?"
Snare god#1 (blessed be hs name): "This is the hardest music we will ever play as drummers - everything else is down hill from here .... just chick-chick-bop and boom bitti boom boom and rat a tat tat splash." Note - This is drum-speak for Rock, Rap, and Michael Bolton music.
Snare god#4 (lowliest of all the gods): "So what kind of music do you listen to? Note - I should have just taken my word from the mountain and just walked away before this question was asked.
Bass4: "I like a little bit of everything - as long as it's played well"
Snare god #1 (blessed be his name): "Do you like Rush?"
------ Oh dear God .... I don't know who Rush is much less, the drummers name .... I'm going to look stupid! What if I say he's good and he sucks ... I better play it safe ..... ----------
Bass4: "The keyboard players pretty good"
All 4 Snare gods: Evil Laughter
Snare god #4 (newly apointed lord of embarrassment): "Hey Kristin (a.k.a. Bass #3 - High Priestess of Bass drums), your new Bass drummer thinks Rush's keyboard player is pretty good"
14 comments:
To clarify for the three people on the planet that don't know why this was funny (I didn't find out for at least another day). ...
Rush's drummer (Neil Peart) is arguably one of the best 3 drummers in the world and was especially popular with drum heads during the late 80's
Ah, my drum geek. So you do have a frame of reference on how I feel when you go "all knowing" on me! :)
Thanks for pointing out that I'm one of 3 people in the world that do not know something. Yup, just me, mo and curly. :)
All I really know about Rush is that a lot of people associate them with DnD. They were starting to fade as I was becoming acquainted with culture, though.
I've been in similar situations when I was younger as well, and fudged the truth more than I would like to admit.
Once, I told someone I liked Oasis when I meant to say Offspring (since they both start with an "O"). By the time I realized my mistake I was fully committed to covering the blunder and acting like I meant to say Oasis.
I am assuming that they have a keyboard player. It could have been more embarrassing if they didn't.
I am assuming that they have a keyboard player. It could have been more embarrassing if they didn't.
Yikes, painful adolescent memory. I think I'm reliving that phase of life by learning a new language, and yes, it can be quite painful. Did you say THAT? Ohhh, sure yes, I meant yes, not no.
That's a good story.
No Golden they do not have a keyboard player. They are a 3 piece - guitar, bass and drums. I am sure in some of there newer music (from the '80's rather than the '70's) they incorporated some keyboard programming...but no, they don't have a keyboard player.
Rush from the '70's was all about dungeons and dragons imagery, Rush from the '80's was about man vs. machine technology imagery.
Dust, good for you, much better to admit to liking Oasis rather than Offspring.
you told me tonight that you didn't blog because you don't get comments. 7 comments is not no comments.
blog already!
A lack of comments does not imply a lack of readers. :)
Amen
Shakedust! As a Rush Fan from 8th grade to 43 years of age, I must add my two cents. The drummer for Rush, Neil Peart was (is!) one of the greatest progressive rock drummers in the world. What's more - he wrote all of their lyrics. To be a drummer god and a Rush fan was to be a step above the drabble that listened to Van Halen and their common ilk. Sad to say that the keyboard players were the lead guitar player (Alex Lifeson)and the bass player (Geddy Lee). They used pointy toe shoes to play the pedal boards during concerts. As for DnD - the first Rush album came out in 1974 (check out "Working Man" after a hard day on the job) and DnD was begun in uh....1974...... uh well.....
Sadly, I'm related to a rush fan and he would find it humorous about "the keyboard player". My "relative" would listen to Rush while playing D&D. I always thought it was pathetic. So Shakedust doesn't like Oasis. I knew something was funny when he said he didn't own "Definitely Maybe".
oh BB you're a RUSH hater! Well, I can understand the angst of being surrounded by ACDC freaks in High School while one searches for lyrical meaning.
still no blog...come on already!
Dare I even ask....when will you blog again?
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