[drumming diary] What He Said

Terry Bozzio on Frank Zappa's You Can't Do This On Stage Anymore, Volume 3:

"Let me tell you, I love this man, I work for this man, but this show has, like, pushed me beyond the brink of what I can physically...withstand. My hands are...I mean...look at these callouses! Jesus Christ, I've had a hard tour...I mean, Jesus, we had...the fucking road manager committed suicide, and then my girlfriend fell out the fucking window. I mean, it's been hard, you know? And now, man, I mean, shit, this fucking shit, I mean...we have to do two, two fucking shows two nights in a row? Do you know what it's LIKE to beat the SHIT out of the fucking drums TWO SHOWS, two nights in a row? I mean, I can't fucking...I HATE that kind of shit! I can't take it anymore. My hands ache , I feel like I've been pounding nails, I feel like I've been beating my GODDAMN HANDS WITH A HAMMER!"

Okay, maybe not quite that bad, but last night was kinda rough. Three sets at Cullen's in the late afternoon, then a long set after a longer wait up at Celtic Knot in Evanston. Towards the end, I could feel something in my right forearm that was particularly not happy, but rest and coffee and all that good stuff have reduced the physical effects to a lingering headache.

On the plus side, I'm really digging the new ride cymbal -- my first Paiste in probably twenty years -- and the four-piece configuration that it sorta necessitates.

Other positives were our best rendition of Franz Ferdinand yet, although there are still two tiny kinks to work out. Instrumentally, we talked about them during the interminable wait and then sprung them on Anto, which nearly made for a spectacular train wreck when we reprised it up in Evanston. Then there was the older couple who got down with their bad selves on the dance floor in the nightcap once we broke out the Beatles tunes.