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Thomas Lang Creative Control Tour

Thomas Lang Creative Control Tour

by Greg Zeller

I'm sure that many of you out there have ever heard the term trial by fire, we'll I feel like I'm surrounded by 100 gallons of gasoline at a pyromaniacs convention. You see I've recently accepted a new position (with a title too long to print and still growing) with Sonor Drums and Percussion in the United Sates. In a nut shell I'll be involved with merchandising at the store level, managing all Sonor related promotions along with all of the artist relations duties in the U.S. And that's where this story begins.

My first official task was presented as a "let's get your feet wet" type of promotional event. I thought, "hey yeah, that sounds great!" as I envision a small in-store Sonor promotion with one of our top dealers, "a piece of cake" I thought. Well I quickly came to realize that this task was on a slightly larger scale. A 14 date clinic tour with none other than Thomas Lang was the task at hand for this rookie. I have to tell you that I was very excited to have this opportunity not only to prove myself on the job, but like many of you I'm a huge admirer of Thomas' playing. Although I've had quite a bit of playing experience myself including some touring, concert promotions was not listed on my resume, and let's face it a clinic tour is a concert tour on a slightly smaller scale.

This process actually started in mid March when we decided to bring Thomas to the U.S. for his first major clinic tour in the states. Many of the Five Star Drum Shops in the U.S. had recently added Sonor to their lineups and we wanted to help support their decision by bringing in one of, if not the hottest drummer in the world right now, Thomas Lang.

I became fast friends with Rand McNally as I looked over the list of Five Star Drum Shops and slowly started to plot a path across the country. I called, called and called some more eventually narrowing down my list of dealers to 14. Thomas as you may expect, has many commitments in Europe and around the world so our window of opportunity was limited. If it weren't, I feel fairly confident that I could have made a nice career of booking Thomas for clinics in the U.S. as I got bombarded with calls from dealers wanting the tour to come to their store. Fear not my friends as we'll try to get him back later this year.

We were fortunate to have the support of some of the biggest names in our industry (Meinl, Remo, Vic Firth, Hudson Music and Hard Case) on this tour as well, and I'm sure you can imagine the list of phone calls grew longer as I worked thought the logistics of the tour with these manufacturers. I can't thank them enough for all of their support in making this tour happen.

Things were starting to come together when it dawned on me that to this point, not only had I never met Thomas, but we've never even spoken! Hi-ho, hi-ho it's back to the phone I go. My first call to Thomas was, shall we say, poorly timed. You see I knew that he was on tour in Asia or Australia or somewhere but I didn't quite get the time changes right and woke up Milan (Sonor Artist Relations Manager) at about 3:30am. Oops! My timing was a little better the next time and caught him with a little free time. We had a nice conversation and as most drummers seem to do, we clicked early on. This is a good sign as we'll be spending the better part of the next 18 days sitting next to each other on a plane that I'm sure will be overbooked. After getting the details on his requirements for the tour we and going over the travel arrangements I wished him safe travels and that I'd see him in a week.

It's Sunday night June 20th and I'm sitting in the Hampton Inn in beautiful Santa Ana California watching Terminator 3 and writing this intro. I left my house at 7:30am Eastern time and I'll pick up Thomas at 10:30pm Pacific about 2 hours from now. Tomorrow we begin the tour at West Coast Drum Center in Santa Ana California. I'll try to give you a blow by blow accounting of the ins and outs, ups and downs of our travels. It's been an interesting learning experience for me up to this point but now its show time and it's going to be one hell of a show.

Monday June 21st
West Coast Drum Center
Santa Ana, CA
Owner: Darren Carr

So you always wanted to live the "glamorous life" of a rock star? You may want to think twice. Thomas was easy to pick out of the crowd at the airport last night as his eyes were glowing red from lack of sleep. He had just arrived from Milan via a short layover in Detroit and due to his tour schedule hadn't really slept in 3 days! Did I mention GLAMOROUS…

But today is another day and we're ready to go. Darren Carr did an amazing job getting ready for the event. West Coast Drum Shop looked spectacular and this was a great way to kick off a tour. After setup and sound check we had a quick bite to eat and it was show time. Darren had a line of 150 anxious drummers waiting at the door ready to see just how many feet this guy actually has. I can verify that there are only two but there like no two other feet you've ever heard.

Thomas opened up playing to two original tracks that featured everything from rock solid grooves to blazing chops, and the transitioned into a solo that blew the crowd away. Dynamics, feel, emotion, independence, and those feet! Complete control and mastery of the kit is what his playing is all about.

After everyone took a deep breath and managed to close their gaping jaws it was time for some Q and A. I was very impressed with the "intellectual" questions on technique and equipment, not your typical "how long have you been playing" type of stuff. Thomas went into great detail on hand and foot technique and demonstrated some mind bending independence practice routines. He also went into great detail on his gear and why he plays what he plays. He was using a Sonor Delite series kit that sounded amazing. Darren pulled the kit out of the boxes, literally threw Remo clear Emperors on top, PIII on the kick and tightened a couple of tension rods and that was it! The kit sounded huge and needed absolutely no additional adjustments the entire evening. And Thomas isn't afraid to hit so that's impressive. He also had his complete compliment of Meinl Signature Series cymbals and let's not forget about those Giant Step Pedals. His setup includes (1) double pedal (right), (1) Twin Effect, (1) single and (2) 600 series hi-hats stands.

Thomas finished off with two more tracks and hung out to sign autographs and say hello. We grabbed a late night snack with Darren Carr and Shane Howell (HSS Sales rep for southern California) and said goodnight. I want to thank all of the guys at west coast Drum Center (Zack, Charles, Joe) and of course Darren for making this happen! And we're off to San Jose…

Tuesday June 22
Lemmon Percussion
San Jose, CA
Owner: Galen Lemmon

Let's just say that the day started off with an unusual twist. We arrived at the John Wayne INTR Airport and checked way too many bags on the plane and grabbed a cup of coffee. We had a little time to kill so we talked about his upcoming tour schedule and about the clinic the

night before. For some reason or another no boarding announcement was made for our flight so we took it upon ourselves to find our ride. As I turned out we almost missed the flight which may not have been the worst thing to happen that day. As we were on approach into San Jose the pilot performed a rather aggressive maneuver which startled most of the passengers. The guy behind me says "did you see that plane?" Thankfully I didn't but after we landed the pilot apologized for the ruff flight and explained that we were "in conflict" with another aircraft and elected to miss the other plane. A good choice we thought.

After that it was smooth sailing. Once again the staff at Lemmon Percussion did a great job of organizing the event. The clinic was held in the music building of San Jose State University where Galen Lemmon is the percussion professor. We setup the kit, sound check and once again had a few minutes to chill before the show. We had one of the percussion practice rooms to hang in which is a cool place to hang and Thomas sat down to play the piano. Yeah, that's right he's one of those guys! It's not bad enough that he completely reinvented modern drum set playing but he also is an accomplished piano player and bass player. In fact he is a very accomplished and well rounded musician which is something that we should all strive for regardless of our instrument of choice.

Before the show we had access to one of the percussion rooms at the school to use as a dressing room. As we waited there was a knock on the door, and who should be standing there but none other that Walfredo Rayes Sr.! He and Thomas are good friends and he wanted to check out the clinic and say hello. Talk about a classic moment. In a matter of 10 minutes Wafredo talked about everything from playing with Buddy (that is Buddy Rich to you and me) in Cuba when he was only 17 to his early drumming education and back again to infamous Buddy/Louis Bellson battles. Somehow when drummers come together it always leads to Buddy. But then he turned to Thomas and started asking foot technique questions. It was so cool to see this icon of the drumming world still eager to learn and turning to the "young gun" for advice. I have to say it's great to be a drummer.

The show was once again spectacular with inspired playing followed by some great questions. And let's not forget about the Italian food! The Lemmon Crew was kind enough to take us a local place called "The Original Joe's" (I highly recommend it if you're ever in San Jose) and we ate a great meal. Again I would like to thank everyone at Lemmon Percussion (Ryan Stohs, Adam Guzman (good luck and be safe), Chris Trujillo, John Testani, Eugene Wake, Leah Stohs and Galen Lemmon) for a great day!

Wednesday June 23
Bentley's Drum Shop
Fresno, CA
Owner Dana Bentley

San Jose to Fresno is only approximately 160 mile so we elected to drive on this leg of the tour. It was a beautifully scenic ride with a mix of mountains, golden hills and lush green trees. The ride also provided us with an opportunity to decompress if only for a few hours. We arrived in Fresno around 3:00. The show wasn't until 7:30 so I dropped Thomas at the hotel and stopped by the drum shop to check out the store.

As is common with the Five Star shops, Dana's store is nicely laid out and well merchandised. He gave me the grand tour and we finalized a few detail for the clinic and it was back to the hotel to pick up the man.

The clinic was held at the Cal-State Fresno campus with 260 in attendance. Once again Thomas floored the audience with his rock solid grooves, blistering foot work and insightful responses to the many questions asked this evening. One commonly asked question on this tour inquires as to where the future of modern drum set playing is heading. "There are so many great drummers playing today but only a few are really pushing the art form in a new direction. I see myself in ten years, and what all of these others will be doing, and it motivates me to continue to work hard on my drumming."

After the clinic Thomas signed autographs and talked with all who wanted to talk. As people waited in line I over heard comments like, "amazing," "did you see when he…?" or "I have to get home and practice." The last comment is the most common. After seeing Thomas Lang perform live, you will certainly want to go home and practice.

Thursday June 24
Columbus Percussion
Columbus, OH
Owner: Jim Rupp

This morning was a little ruff (no offense intended to the like named rudiment). We had to catch out flight to Columbus at 6:00am. As you can imagine we didn't get much sleep. The good news was that Thomas' wife and 15 week old twins would be in town so even at 5:00am he had a little extra spring in his step. We arrived in Columbus and were greeted by Kevin Coggshell (HSS Sales Rep) who graciously offered to pick us up. I think you probably are getting the routine down by now but it was off to the hotel, check in and back to the store to setup. When we dropped off the luggage in Thomas' room the hotel had provided two cribs for the twins that would spend the night with mom and dad tonight. I laughed to myself when I saw them thinking that this would make for an interesting episode for MTV's Cribs…but I don't think that's what they mean.

We are starting to get the system down so our setup time was minimal and Adam did a great job mixing the sound so it was a very easy load in. We had a little time before the show so we went to fill up our tanks with a little high-test Italian food. We were joined by Donnie from the shop along with Chuck from Vic Firth. As we finished our meal Thomas got a look on his face like a 6 year old on Christmas morning which only could have meant that the twins had arrived. Sure enough his wife Elizabeth came in with a stroller built for two. I don't think that it matters what line of work you are in, whether you're a fireman, a football player, a lawyer or a rock star, when it's daddy time that's all that matters!

The entire family came out to the show tonight and Thomas' playing (if you can imagine) was the strongest yet. "I like to experiment with different setups and configurations but I only bring what I need to whatever gig I'm playing. No more, no less." This tour features 3 Giant Step pedals on the kit. His main pedal is the Giant Step Double (right). Just left of his main hi-hat is the Twin Effect playing a Meinl (BLOCK) and to the left of that is a single pedal playing a 10" Sonor Jungle Snare. All of these pedals can be played individually or in combination with each other and the two hi-hats.

Thomas plays amazing combinations of pedals by maneuvering his feet to cover all or parts of multiple pedals. The effect is very cool as you hear amazingly intricate and fast double bass patterns in conjunction with open and closed hi-hat patterns. The coordination involved in his footwork alone is enough to make a grown man cry, but don't forget that while all of this is happening he's tearing up the rest of the kit with his signature Vic Firths. When the spirit moves him he plays the Jungle snare with his left foot on the single pedal in as many possible combinations that you can imagine. Double strokes between the left foot and either hand, paradiddles, flams…let's just say whatever he wants. All while keeping impeccable time in any time signature.

Jim Rupp is one of the founding members of the Five Star group and is himself a very talented musician. His staff is first class and they all did a great job of helping out. Thanks to all in Columbus but now it's off to my home town of Philly!

Friday June 25, 2004
Jersey Drums and Percussion
Brick Town, NJ
Owner: Bill Richmond

I'm originally from the Philadelphia area so this was coming home for me. My house is only a 40 minute drive from the airport but unfortunately due to our schedules I will have to wait another 8 days before I'll see my beautiful wife again. We still had what was supposed to have been an hour and forty five minute drive but as I should have known the traffic turned this into 3 hours. No cheese steak today I'm afraid.

On our way my cell phone rang and it was Rob Wallace of Hudson Music. For those who may not know, Rob was one of the founders of Drummer's Collective in New York along with DCI Videos. Rob led the way and really created the concept of instructions music videos. Today his new company Hudson Music continues to produce and distribute the best in instructional DVD's including Thomas Lang's Creative Control.

Fortunately, even with the traffic delay, we had time to eat. You guessed it, Italian food…are you seeing a trend? We had a great meal and talked about some very cool ideas that Thomas has for his own band Dynamo. "I want to present a complete party package to the audience with Dynamo," Thomas said. The band consists of primarily 3 drummers, 2 DJ's, an MC, dancers (some shall we say, "On the exotic side") and a myriad of guest performers. "The performers are on mobile platforms that are set up in the midst of the crowd. As the show begins, the platforms move through the crowd allowing the audience to interact with the musicians and dancers to become an integral part of the show. We play for four hours rotating various artists throughout. The sound is all quadraphonic and the show consists of 26 crew and 3 tractor trailers. It's totally cool!" To date he hasn't been able to bring the show to the U.S. but keep your eyes open as I'm sure sooner or later you to will become a part of the Dynamo experience.

Tonight's clinic is being held at a VFW in Brick, NJ. for Jersey Drums and Percussion. Bill has two locations (one in Brick and one in Edison, NJ). We had a few special guests show up tonight to lend their support including Juan Berrios from Meinl, Marco Socolli form Vic Firth and of course Rob Wallace from Hudson Music.

As you can imagine Thomas once again tour it up and put on an amazing show. The crowd was mesmerized and hung out to 11:00pm just to get a chance to say hello and get an autograph. We still had a long night ahead of us as we had to drive back to Philly so we hit the road. Of course our ride would have been a little more entertaining if we had Marco's sweet new ride. He called us over and said, "hey gumbas! Come check this out!" He proceeded to show us his in dash DVD playing Led Zep of course, with a sound system that we could have used for tonight's clinic. "It's got GPS, DVD, ABC you name it!" Only Marco…

Saturday June 26
Rupp's Drums
Denver, CO

The morning started as usual with an early wake up call and a quick ride to the airport. That was until Thomas decided to lift the cymbal bag out of the trunk and threw his back out. Remember to always lift with your knees! We were quite concerned as he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to play. Of course the 4 hour plane ride didn't help but he toughed it out. We arrived in Denver just before noon local time and gathered our gear and picked up the car. This time I told him no lifting of anything and we were off to the hotel. We stopped at a local drug store for some heating pads and aspirin then checked in.

The clinic was held in a small concert hall that was converted from an old church. It was a nice sounding room and a very professional operation all the way around. Approximately 120 people were in attendance and once again, all were blown away by the performance.

Jim and the crew from Rupp's did a great job preparing for the clinic and closed the evening with a raffle for prizes donated by Sonor, Meinl, Vic Firth and Hudson Music. Thomas signed autographs and answered question and another fine clinic was behind us. We decided to make it an early evening to try to give his back some recovery time. We got to the hotel just before 10:00 and came to the realization that we hadn't eaten all day. Fortunately the lounge was still open so we had dinner. We sat and talked about the current tour, the Sonor Drum Company, and exchanged few very funny stories from our past experiences on the road. What started out to be an early evening once again lasted till midnight. I for one had no problem sleeping this night but unfortunately the same didn't hold true for Thomas.

Sunday June 27
Ellis Drum Shop
St. Paul, MN
Owner: Tim Ellis

This was yet another early morning and when I met Thomas in the lobby he was not looking good. The back wasn't any better and we had another long flight ahead of us. I gathered up the gear and dropped him at the airport and wet to return the car.

As it's been just the two of us and we are traveling with quite a bit of gear we have been jumping through hoops to get all of our bags checked. Fortunately this morning we were greeted by two very sweet ladies at the United counter. They went way beyond the call of duty to get us checked in and if they should happen to read this, THANK YOU!!!

We thought everything was cool at this point as we still had 45 minutes before departure. That was until we rounded the corner and noticed the line for security. You know the drill, the maze of ribbons forming lines for the human cattle call. Well this line didn't have an end, not that we could see anyway. We looked at each other with that "this can't be good" kind of look and hoped for the best. Of course today was the day that security wanted to check every drum key and foot pedal we had on us and that was quite a few. Don't get me wrong, I know we need the security but the timing was just bad today. We walked as quickly as one guy with four bags and one guy with a bad back could walk and made it to the gate with what would have been only minutes to spare. That is until we noticed that the flight was delayed. Doesn't it just figure?

Fortunately we were not too behind schedule and arrived in St. Paul just a little late. Larry from Ellis Drum shop was kind enough to pick us up and we were off to the hotel. We checked in and had an hour to kill so we checked emails and tried to get caught up on the rest of the business that continues on as we're on this tour.

We arrived at Ellis Drum shop around 2:45 and started the normal setup routine. The back wasn't any better so Thomas took it as easy as he could while we were getting ready. Just before sound check, two unexpected visitors arrived to say hello. Now you may be thinking perhaps these were fans of Thomas Lang that wanted to say hello but that wasn't the case. As it turns out, Thomas' wife Elizabeth has family in Minnesota. As Thomas and Elizabeth live in Europe, Thomas hasn't had the opportunity to meet many of the family yet. Well today he met his new aunt and her daughter for the first time. It was a fun little encounter and they spent a few minutes talking and trying to get to know each other in the short amount of time they had.

We were getting tight on time and had to sound check before the show so he said goodbye and got back to work. Tim has a great clinic room at the shop complete with a large stage, lighting and a great sound system. The crowd was already lining up outside as we finished the setup.

The clinic was once again inspiring and caused quite a few jaws to hit the floor. After the guys from the shop heard the sound check two of them were ready to purchase their first Sonor kits! I have to say that this is not an uncommon reaction after hearing these beautiful drums.

All of the crew from Ellis Drum shop are incredibly nice and were extremely helpful. In fact Doug even managed to get a local chiropractor to come out and "adjust" Thomas' back after the show. This is something you don't see everyday! Dr. Daniel Boling worked on him for 20 minutes or so and helped ease a little of the tension in his back. After that we took the gang from the drum shop out to eat to thank them for all of there much appreciated help. Doug went the extra mile and offered to drive us to the airport at 6:15am (you da' man Doug) and it was off to Pittsburgh.

Monday June 28
Drum World
Pittsburgh, PA
Owner: John Buzzwell

Unfortunately Thomas' back was worse this morning. It was all we could do to get him on the plane and the flight certainly didn't help to ease the pain. We were met at the airport by Jerry Goldenson (Director of Sales and Marketing for Sonor U.S.) who spearheaded the entire clinic tour concept. We made a quick stop at the hotel and jerry managed to line up an appointment at a local "pain management center" for more work on Thomas' back.

We dropped him off and went to the venue to set up for the show. We held the clinic at a local club called Club Café (www.clubcafe.com). This is one of the coolest live music venues in the country. The club is permanently wired with four remote cameras and a complete Pro Tools studio upstairs. Throughout the tour I've been helping get the kit set up for the show but tonight I was flying solo and Thomas has a slightly more advanced setup than most with his multiple pedals. I dug deep into my mental archives and slowly started to recreate this puzzle. Once the kit was set up we got levels and were ready to go, well we were missing one important component which was Thomas.

We were all getting a little concerned as show time was scheduled for 7:00pm and it was now 6:45pm. The club was packed and at five till Thomas very slowly came in the front door. It was all he could do just to walk in so we gingerly sat him behind the kit to see if all was well. Much to my relief we only had to move a cymbal an inch or to here and there and he was good to go.

The clinic was amazing as usual and know one was the wiser as to his actual condition unless he tried to get up and down. John was quite pleased as he never had impressive turnouts for his clinics in the past. Tonight was different though and we packed the room and had a great entertaining and very educational event. After the show we did the usual giveaways and autographs and then were treated to the greatest food we've had on tour to date. Bernard Lee who is partners in the club was a tremendous host. While we ate we watched the playback of the clinic they had recorded. Club Café is no stranger to "big time" artists and they are in the process of recording many performances that will appear on their own live music television show. We can't thank them enough for the use of this great facility and if you ever find yourself in Pittsburgh, go check it out!

John was totally pumped after the show and we also want to thank everyone from Drum World for making this a very memorable stop.

Tuesday June 29
Chicago, IL
Midwest Percussion
Owner: John Lerenta.

6:30 came as early as 6:30am always comes after you've been up way too late for too many nights in a row, but at least we had Jerry who offered to take us to the airport. We made arrangements to meet again in Nashville and settled into our now all to familiar routine of checking baggage, airport security and flew into Chicago. I picked up the car, loaded the gear and found the hotel. We checked in and had about 3 hours before we had to leave for the show.

We tried to get caught up on emails and phone calls etc. but a news report came on TV that changed all of that. My phone rang and it was Thomas, "did you just see the news report about the Prince tour?" he asked. I hadn't had the television on so I asked what had happed. He proceeded to tell me that Prince canceled a number of dates on his current tour do to the death of the drummer's child. We knew that John Blackwell was the drummer and Thomas and he were friends. Thomas made a few calls to see if anyone had additional information and tragically we found out that the worst was in fact true. It was heartbreaking and left us with such a helpless feeling. Our thoughts are with John and his family and will be for the rest of this tour and beyond.

News like this certainly puts a different perspective on everything you do in life. I'm sure the last thing on Thomas' mind was giving a clinic but we had a job to do and there were 150 drummers waiting to see him in person.

The clinic was held at a local club called Tommy's that had a great sound system. We went through the normal setup and sound check and Thomas was ready to go. He found those now famous red Pumas from the DVD and wore them for the first time on this tour. As you might expect he gave them an amazing workout. Tonight was interesting as he was performing in a club that had many non-drummers who were just there to hang. After the first song the entire place was watching intently. By the time he finished the evening there were quite a few more people thinking about learning to play the drums than when we started.

At one point in the show Thomas dropped a stick (yes, it actually happens) and a little boy who was sitting on the side of the stage ran over, picked it up and handed it back to him. He started to run off and Thomas said. "hold on, would you like some as well?" and handed him a new pair of his Vic Firth signature sticks. I wish you could have seen the look on his face, it was priceless.

Once again we were happy to see our new friend Mike Miller. Mike came all the way out from Chicago to California just to see Thomas play and if my memory serves me this is the 3rd clinic he's attended on this tour. "I think this will be the last one that I'll be able to attend on this tour" he told us. What are we going to do without Mike? Thanks for all of your support Mike and we're sure that we'll see you on the road again soon We finished up and it seemed as if everyone was in line for pictures and autographs. After a little food and drink it was back to the hotel with yet another notch in our belts. Thanks to John and the staff at Midwest Percussion for making us feel at home and for providing such a great club for the clinic.

Wednesday June 30
The Drum Shop
Portland, ME
Owner: Chris Telaman

Our travel today was rather uneventful and we got into Portland right on schedule. Luke from the Drum Shop was there to pick us up and took us to the hotel. We decided to get a bite to eat and stopped at a local micro brewery that sat directly across the street from the hotel.

As we were guests in this beautiful city we felt it only polite to experience a little of their home brew. This was a great choice and a very welcome thirst quencher now 10 days into this tour. We had a great meal only to be outdone by this amazing chocolate volcano explosion masterpiece that we had for desert! This was shaping up to be a good day. After lunch it was back to the hotel to catch up on emails etc. and then off to the venue to setup. The clinic was held at another local hotel and as we walked in we were greeted by what sounded to be a very excited voice speaking German. As it turns out there was a gentleman also named Thomas who studied with Thomas Lang 13 years ago in Europe.

They caught up on what each other has been up to while I got the kit ready for the show. We finished sound check and I walked outside of the room for some fresh air and walked directly into a massive line of people waiting to get in. They were totally pumped for the show so I snapped a few photos of the gang.

Tonight's performance was even more inspired (if you can believe that) than any others I've seen to date. The audience was great and kept Thomas on his toes (literally) as he demonstrated his masterful foot technique and accepted the challenge to play a different time signature on each limb simultaneously. As you might expect this was no big deal for him but the crowd erupted with applause as he pulled it off with relative ease.

Chris and Luke handled the giveaways at the end of the night with the Sonor Jungle snare going to one of the teachers at the Drum Shop. This guy was a total character and jumped up yelling at the top of his lungs when he won.

A big group from the store went out to eat after the show and coincidentally we ended up at the same place that we had lunch. Hmmmm, a little more of that home brew would hit the spot we thought. We all had a great time with everyone who joined us and certainly look forward to returning to Portland in the future!

Thursday July 1
Fork's Drum Closet
Nashville, TN
Owner: Gary Forkum

What could be more appropriate on this tour than a trip to Music City! Good old NashVegas was our next stop. Gary Forkum is a long time friend and I've always been fond of Fork's Drum Closet. Maybe at one time this store resembled a closet full of drums but no longer.

This is the real deal and they carry a great selection of drums. Gary joined us on a trip to the Sonor factory a few months ago and has a much greater appreciation for what Sonor drums are really all about having seen first hand the attention to detail that goes into every kit.

The store looked great (especially the Blue sparkle Designer kit that was prominently displayed on the floor). Sure, he had other blue sparkle kits in stock but this kit glittered like the Hope diamond. We had lunch (I know it seems like all we do is eat but that's really not the case) and headed to Sound Check Studios to set up. Sound Check is a great facility and many national acts rehears here for upcoming tours.

Thomas went through his normal sound check routine and was ready to go. I love to watch everyone's face during sound check because he just sits down and those feet go crazy. No warm ups, no nothin', just incredible musicianship from the moment he sits behind the kit. We had well over 200 in attendance and as usual no one was disappointed. There's a huge buzz in the U.S. about Thomas partly do to the huge success of his Creative Control DVD. By the way this is the fasting selling instructional DVD of all time so if you haven't had the pleasure, stop by your local drum shop and pick one up. I assure you that you won't be disappointed.

After the show Thomas signed autographs for everyone and then did a quick photo shoot for his upcoming cover feature in Modern Drummer (Nov 2004). After that Gary took us to see a Steely Dan tribute band that slammed. The band was huge (had to be 13 guys up there) but they pulled it off for sure. Yet another great meal and it was back to the hotel. We had hoped to make it an early evening as we had to leave for the airport at 5:30am but as usual it was after midnight when we got back. The good news is we actually have 2 days off over the fourth of July weekend. Thomas is spending it with his family in Ohio while I have to spend the entire weekend in Fort Lauderdale Florida. I know, it's a tuff gig but someone has to do it.

I'm sitting in the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood airport as I write this anxiously awaiting my wife's arrival. I can't believe it's been 14 days since I left home and as you can imagine I'm looking forward to seeing her. Next stop is Resurrection Drums in Hallandale Florida so I'll see you on July 5th. Have a great holiday all!

Monday July 5th
Resurrection Drums
Hallandale, FL
Owner: Jeff Lee

If you have to be stuck on the road over the 4th of July weekend it might as well be in Fort Lauderdale Florida! I actually lived in Fort Lauderdale for almost 4 years and have a number of friends still in the area so my wife came down for the weekend and we spent it with friends. Thomas headed for Ohio where he was spending the weekend with his wife and boys. This was a much needed break and a great opportunity to catch up on sleep (at least that was the plan). As you can imagine once you get to sunny Florida the sleep idea goes out the window fairly quickly but I did sneak in a little couch time here and there (thanks Deb and John).

Tina and I headed to the airport on Monday to pick up Thomas. We talked about our weekends and it looked like his back was feeling much better. We got him checked into the hotel and still had time so it was off to the pool. It was a beautiful day so we soaked in some rays and desperately held on to the last few minutes of peace before we continued the tour.

The clinic for Resurrection Drums was held in a club called MOZ (pronounced Moe's) in Hollywood Florida. Derrick Roddey, also a Sonor endorser and killer drummer was there to handle the sound mixing duties and did a great job. There was a long line of people waiting to get in as we set up. After sound check we opened up the doors and the mad scramble for the best seats began. As you would expect the front row goes quickly as everyone wants to see his feet in action.

We had well over 200 in a club not really set up for 200 and the South Florida heat was making a statement. Thomas played with all of the amazing power and finesse that he normally does but I think he had to dig deep to pull out this amazing performance. It was extremely "warm" on the audience but when I went up on stage to pack up the gear it was easily 15 degrees hotter on the stage.

Jerry Goldenson (Director of Sales and Marketing Sonor US) and his beautiful family were in town for the clinic and during the question and answer portion Jerry's adorable daughter Rachel raised her little hand for 10 minutes until Thomas finally saw her and she asked "how do you play so fast?" "Well, I practice a lot" said Thomas. He then talked about focusing on technique first and then the speed will come. Rachel (like most women on this tour) was quite taken with her new drumming hero.

After the autograph signing and meet and greet we were treated to some amazing Italian food. John Becker (HSS Sales Rep) new a great little place around the corner where we all ate way too much and had a great time.

I couldn't believe the weekend was over but we were back to work and had to get up at 5:15am to get to the airport the next morning. On the drive back Thomas entertained Tina and I with some great stories from his life on the road. Tomorrow we were heading to Kansan City, MO and Explorer's Percussion so it was sack time.

Tuesday July 6
Explorer's Percussion
Kansas City, MO
Owner: Wes Faulkner

Our flight to Kansas City was uneventful and we were greeted at the airport by Wes. Wes is a huge Porsche fan but I had to ask him not to pick us up in his sweet ride as our baggage wouldn't have fit on our laps. He dropped us at the hotel and I had some time to attack my exponentially growing list of emails. Juan Berrios from Meinl USA picked us up at the hotel and drove us to the store to get set up. We has a great store and took it upon himself to set up a video screen and camera so everyone could see Thomas' footwork in action.

We got the drums set up and Thomas gave me a look and said "come on Greg, it's that time!" You see, the past few days Thomas was "encouraging" me to sound check for him so he could hear me play. I put it off as long as I could but tonight seemed like the night so I grabbed the T. Lang Signature Vic Firth's and sat behind his kit.

Now I've set up his kit 13 times so I had a pretty good idea where everything was and his kit is set up in a very "user friendly" way so it was quite comfortable. Of course the four hihats and five pedals threw a curve ball into the mix but I figured if I just keep it simple I wouldn't embarrass myself too badly. I laid down a little of my patented GZ funk and got through sound check without dropping a stick. No pressure right? I felt it best not to try to dazzle him with my footwork as he had a clinic to perform after I was finished. What a great experience and I have to say that I received what is probably the most meaningful compliment on my playing that I have ever received when he said "you're a wicked drummer!" I think I'll get that tattooed somewhere…

Thomas performed yet another spectacular clinic and I have to say that the 13th show in a row was just as, if not more impressive that the 1st. We had approximately 200 in attendance and they all stayed to get an autograph. After the show the crew from Explorer's took us out for some local barbeque (which was tremendous) and it was back to the hotel with only one show to go.

Wednesday July 7th
Harrisburg, PA
Dale's Drum Shop
Owner: Dale Wise

Once again the alarm went off at 5:15am and I went through my normal routine of making sure I wasn't leaving anything in the room. We took a shuttle to the airport and started what is now the end of our journey. We went through Philadelphia on our way to Harrisburg. I'm from the Philadelphia area so I was almost home but we still had one more show to so. We took a little puddle jumper from Philly to Harrisburg which took all of 25 minutes and literally flew over my house on the way there.

Pat from Dale's picked us up at the airport and we got Thomas checked into the hotel and had some lunch. Over the past couple of days we've been joking "what am I going to do when you're gone?" After 17 straight days you really start to think to yourself what am I going to do? No airport in the morning, no hotel to check in to, no late night dinner, no strip search at the airport! I'm really going to miss this guy.

Well we still had one to go so we headed off to Dale's Drum Shop and did a quick tour of the store and took some pictures with the staff and headed to the venue to setup. Once again we had a video screen so the 250+ attendees could see his footwork. This last show was the best of the tour. Thomas played amazingly and answered all of the questions with easy to understand explanations on everything from technique to life on the road with major international acts. We packed up as he signed autographs and got ready to grab some food. Before we left though, I had to get Thomas to sign a few autographs for me as well. What can I say, I'm a fan too you know! The gang from Dale's came with us for the food fest and as quickly as it started, the tour was over.

So here we are some 20 flights, 17 Hotels, 15 rental cars and countless thousands of miles later and I have to try to sum up my thoughts on this tour. Although I've tried to put into words the many experiences we've shared on this tour, I don't really think it's possible for you to understand the dynamics of such a beast until you actually do this yourself. In the beginning I said that I would try to bring you the ups and downs of the tour. As I reflect back on our events and look at all of the photos I can't think of one down. We didn't miss one flight, we didn't loose one bag and all of the Sonor gear held up like a champ!

We were able to expose approximately 2800 people to Sonor, Meinl, Remo, Vic Firth, Hudson Music and Hard Case not to mention the unbelievable "Creative Control" that Thomas brings to the drumming world and help promote the amazing services the Five Star Drum Shops provide to us all.

All of that said the most important effect this tour had on me was my friendship with Thomas. When I left my house way back on June 20th I said to my wife that by the end of this jaunt we would either be fast friends or not speaking. I'm happy to say that we had many great conversations throughout the tour and we're speaking when we bid farewell in the parking lot of Gilligan's in Harrisburg. Not only is Thomas Lang an amazingly talented musician, but he's a wonderful human being. I learned a tremendous amount on this tour not only about drumming, but about life, family and the importance of friendship.

If you ever have the chance, go check out a Thomas Lang clinic and make the effort to introduce yourself and you'll get a small glimpse of what I'm talking about. And while you're there, tell him I said hello.