Sheila E's Got Some Serious Chops on the Drums!

[JRNYMAN]

A couple of months ago I started a thread regarding Drum Solo Week on Letterman. Somehow, I completely missed the boat on the fact that Sheila E was one of the featured drummers that week. Just checked out her performance and I gotta tell ya..... she can definitely bring it right along with some of the greats! And the fact that she's wearing a very short dress and sitting on a drum stool and playing double bass with what look to be 5" Stiletto's is fairly impressive too! She's playing a simple 5 pc. kit with 4 cymbals and a high-hat but she makes it sounds like a much bigger kit.

Her performance is quite good but she really turns things up starting at the 2:00 mark forward.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBVKDmyjhzI

[verslibre]

Sheila's awesome. It's in her blood. I saw this during Drum Solo Week. As much as Neil "The Professor" Peart has played some unbelievably cool shit in Rush, I felt he was upstaged in the groove dept. by all the other drummers on Letterman, especially Sheila. Neil should have just loosened up and played by the seat of his pants for once, rather than phone in a truncated version of his concert solo.

[JRNYMAN]

Sheila's awesome. It's in her blood. I saw this during Drum Solo Week. As much as Neil "The Professor" Peart has played some unbelievably cool shit in Rush, I felt he was upstaged in the groove dept. by all the other drummers on Letterman, especially Sheila. Neil should have just loosened up and played by the seat of his pants for once, rather than phone in a truncated version of his concert solo.

Ya know, I was kinda disappointed with his performance as well as his overall persona that night. When I read about Drum Solo Week and saw Neil's name on the list, I guess I've just become programmed to believe that he, as arguably one of the best and most influential drummers ever to live and will remain high on the list long after he's gone, that his would be undoubtedly the standout performance - if for no other reason than the fact that he's fucking Neil Peart for Christ's sake and that's what we expect form him. Unfortunately, as you noted, his appearance was phoned-in and even though it was physically him playing the drums, he seemed like his mind and presence was somewhere else.
s
Having seen RUSH more times than any other band I've ever seen live (I think that's correct... if not RUSH it's the Scorps...) and having attended their shows since my first RUSH concert back in 76 or 77 and followed both their careers as a band as well as witnessing the evolution that has taken place within each of them, I can say for certain that Neil's passion for his craft and the love he once showed for it ceased to be the thing that made him magical on stage when his wife and daughter died. Ged and Alex have always and continue to be playful and silly on stage and always show deep genuine appreciation for the fans but Neil.... he just seems like he's doing the 9-5 grind anymore when he's performing live. Rarely does he crack a smile or alter his bits or solos. Maybe I'm wrong and I'm being too judgmental or seeing something that's not really there... I dunno. That's what it seems like to me anyway.

If you're a big or even somewhat big RUSH fan, you must watch this interview Ged and Alex did on CBC's "The Q" where they sat down with Jian Ghomeshi for a very candid and revealing interview in which they discussed openly what the band went through as well as what Neil went through when his world fell apart. One of the best interviews of the band I've ever seen. It's 1 hr. running time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt1YBFmsXSs

[verslibre]

Having seen RUSH more times than any other band I've ever seen live (I think that's correct... if not RUSH it's the Scorps...) and having attended their shows since my first RUSH concert back in 76 or 77 and followed both their careers as a band as well as witnessing the evolution that has taken place within each of them, I can say for certain that Neil's passion for his craft and the love he once showed for it ceased to be the thing that made him magical on stage when his wife and daughter died. Ged and Alex have always and continue to be playful and silly on stage and always show deep genuine appreciation for the fans but Neil.... he just seems like he's doing the 9-5 grind anymore when he's performing live. Rarely does he crack a smile or alter his bits or solos. Maybe I'm wrong and I'm being too judgmental or seeing something that's not really there... I dunno. That's what it seems like to me anyway.

Going by his narrative in Ghost Rider, it would seem his marrying Carrie was the necessary salve for him to come full circle. Still, I've wondered myself how much of Neil is on autopilot. I think in the last few years he's finally come back to us. I was surprised at some of the jokes he told Rick Mercer in their "drum lesson interview." ("What did the drummer get on his I.Q. test? Drool!") There are some moments in the new Time Machine video, too. Btw, I think Neil plays like a madman in that show!

If you're a big or even somewhat big RUSH fan, you must watch this interview Ged and Alex did on CBC's "The Q" where they sat down with Jian Ghomeshi for a very candid and revealing interview in which they discussed openly what the band went through as well as what Neil went through when his world fell apart. One of the best interviews of the band I've ever seen. It's 1 hr. running time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt1YBFmsXSs

Not sure if I've seen this, so I'll check it out. Thanks for the link.