Last night I attended my friend Aaron Solowoniuk’s (drummer, Billy Talent) charity art show called CUT TO THE DRUMMER in support of F.U.M.S. (Fuck You Multiple Sclerosis) and MS Scholarship Program. As some of you may or may not know, Aaron has MS yet has never let that interfere with him being able to tour and record with one of Canada’s biggest bands. He has also been on a mission of sorts for the last few years, raising funds for research and awareness of the disease; last night was proof positive of his endeavours.
The event was well attended and the art on display for auction was really good…for the most part. But honestly the price tag of most of these pieces were too rich for my poor ass, even if it was a charity art show. Regardless it was pretty amazing to see the support the show received.
Later in the night, Janet, Aaron’s wife, was looking for all the drummers in the venue (Steam Whistle Brewery House) to perform drum jams on stage. I’m having a beer with another friend unaware that any of this may happen, and I get a tap on the shoulder from Janet who asks me if I wanted to play. I got to be honest, I haven’t played in a band setting in years and I got really nervous when she asked me. While I was still debating the request in my head, Aaron comes over and asks me to play as well and coaxes me to get up there. We start making our way over to the stage, and Aaron introduces me to Dave from Simple Plan (trust me, I’m not a fan of their music) and asks him to play as well. I started thinking, but he’s a bass player, does he really have any chops…drum lingo people, keep up. So we get up there, after setting up some kits, and Aaron and Dave start off the drum jam. They play for a bit and then Aaron calls me up. Dave and I pick a beat to groove on and then we were trading fours for about a 15-20 minute jam. I’m nervous and not very confident in my playing abilities at this point. The two beers I just had prior to playing weren’t really keeping my nerves in check but after that moment of “oh shit, I actually gotta play something” passed I completely let go and got into it. I had so much fun playing again in front of people. And Simple Plan Dave, who’s suppose to be a bass player, holy shit, what a wicked drummer.
Playing last night made me miss live performance so much that I gotta start looking for a band again. After getting great feedback from people I had never met before and even friends who had never seen me play, my enthusiasm and love for the kit was reinvigorated.
I wish I had a photo to post but all I got is a ticket stub.
For more information on Cut to the Drummer and F.U.M.S. please visit:
http://cttd.wordpress.com/fums
http://www.billytalent.com
