The Modern Drummer Festival has become one of the largest, most notarized drumming events the world has ever known. Since 1987 the staff of Modern Drummer have made it their life ambition to bring drumming to the forefront by providing their subscribers the best in reading, education/festival events, and they have yet to disappoint. The two-day festival presents a roster of today's top drumming talents, representing a variety of popular musical styles. This year's show boasts to be the best yet as people from all over the world flocked to Purchase, NY to participate and bear witness to this historic occasion.

MD Festival Lobby

The first day was a blast as we finally found our way to the main entrance. Once inside we sifted our way through an assemblage of nothing but drummers, with the occasional guitar/keyboard player here and there. For the most part they were all eager percussionists wearing any and every type of t-shirts pertaining to the art itself. There were also several vendors in the lobby with tons of merchandise on sale. If you ever need a good DVD at a good price make sure you pick it up there because they never go on sale anywhere else.

I made sure to pick up Todd Sucherman's latest DVD Meathods and Mechanics. Be sure to check back with us for the upcoming review.

There were also several tables stacked with some of the best gear donated by today's top manufacturers to be given away during the largest MD prize raffle ever.

The show opened up on a solemn note as the announcement came that Travis Barker was involved in a tragic plane crash which he thankfully survived. Afterwards the crowd observed a moment of silence for those who lost their lives in the crash, and also for drumming legend Earl Palmer who had recently passed away.

Earl Palmer was a session drummer whose pioneering backbeats were recorded on such classics as Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" and The Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin''.

Thomas Pridgen opened the show with an explosive performance on a beautiful DW Collectors series kit. Since winning the Guitar Center Drum-Off at the age of 9, Thomas has also set other milestones such as receiving his Zildjian endorsement when he was 10, and a four year scholarship to Berklee College of Music by age 15.

After his initial solo Thomas addressed the crowd on the importance of playing dynamically in order to produce a more musical tone from each drum.

Afterwards he was joined on stage by two other child prodigies whom he had grown up with. After the trio performed a few songs Thomas was brought out on center stage to receive the MD Readers Poll Reward for Up & Coming Drummer.

Next up was Billy Ward aka "Shaker Dude". Billy is a world-renowned drummer of relentless creativity and purpose. He is definitely a man who is unique in his own by his ingenuity and ability to constantly think outside of the box. In the last fifteen years Billy has toured and/or recorded with jazz artists Jim Beard, Bill Evans Supergroup, B.B. King and many more. Beside him was the infamous stick bag which holds all of the Shaker Dude's little tricks, gadgets and oh yes, shakers-most of which he made himself.

Billy is an expert when it comes to playing at lower volumes. He moves very fluently around the kit in an almost dance like fashion. Every note is carefully placed and unlike most you can really hear all the little subtleties of his kit, particularly the snare drum.

He was joined on stage by his trio who with Billy performed several songs from the highly acclaimed Out The Door. Afterwards he lectured the crowd about his music and the importance of jazz in modern society. Before leaving he also pointed that drummers ARE the smartest people in the band, and who can argue with that.

After Billy Ward's performance the stage crew had their hands full getting set up for the next artist. The beautiful hybrid of electric/acoustic drums in a striking canary yellow finish could belong to no other than William Calhoun.

Will's performance was nothing short of amazing. The former Berklee alumni showed his incredible independence by playing odd time ostinatos accompanied with an intricate double bass pattern that would set your entire legs on fire.

He then transitioned from his kit to a Mandala drum which he used to set loops, then moving back to the kit to solo over top of them.

Calhoun then went on to play a very rare instrument called a Hanging Drum which looked like a flying saucer, yet sounded like a steel drum. He then surprised everyone by displaying his versatility on yet another instrument called the bawu, which is an indigenous Southern Chinese flute.

The real treat came at the end when the crowd erupted as the sound of Malcolm X's voice came through the speaker when Calhoun played a never before attempted finale of "Cult of Personality".

The last two performers of the day were Ndugu Chancler and Simon Phillips.

Ndugu Chancler is the big beat behind Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean," the "Carnival" in Carlos Santana'a festival of sound-and an indisputable legend at the top of his game.

A true giant of rock and fusion drumming, and a revered clinician, Simon Phillips has been enrapturing audiences for over thirty years.

Unfortunately we were unable to see their performances because we had leave in time to see a special presentation of Carmine Appice's SLAMM!! You can check out http://www.hudsonmusic.com/festival/  to find out what we both missed as well as other performances. Then it was off to see SLAMM!!

To see all the pics from the modern drummer festival click here!

http://www.drummerconnection.com/v/Users/webadmin/MDFest/

Sources: Modern Drummer, Hudson Music, Drummer World