Author: Steve Dougherty

On Saturday I experienced the most amazing performance of my life. We went to see Global Drum Project, a band of five individuals who use rhythm to tremendous effect. There were many moments when my jaw literally hung open in awe.

The performance started  with two of the performers drumming on driftwood – fossilized roots. There were a total of four drummers and one tech guy. The tech guy was on the back of the stage and edited the audio from the drummers in real-time to continue loops they were playing at their request. For example, the drummer in the middle played a riff on his xylophone, and then after nodding at the tech guy, was able to within a few seconds play a duet with himself. This also allowed sound to continue playing when someone walked off the stage or stopped playing for a rest from the two-hour long drumming marathon.

They would use vocals occasionally, and there was a segment where one drummer would look at the others and vocalize, and they would copy it on their drums. One guy had this awesome talking drum, which was very entertaining. Lighting was also used to good effect. We got their CD. This was one of the two times where I’ve sincerely given something a standing ovation. The other time was a performance of Little Shop of Horrors at the Wharton. We bought their CD.