The fact that Tama would be celebrating its 50th anniversary on the last weekend of May was public already six months ago, so there was no fear that the post-pandemic economic reality would force austerity to the point where there would be no festival. First box ticked off. That being the case, questions immediately arose: “Who’s going to play?”, “Are the big names going to come, even if they don’t perform?”, “Maybe Lars or Stewart Copeland will be there?”. After all, half a century of the brand’s existence is no trifle.
Eventually, Lars Ulrich didn’t show up (although Metallica was in the nearby city of Munich at the time), nor did Copeland, Dave Lombardo, or Kenny Aronoff. Neither did Eloy Casagrande, who’s really busy with Slipknot at the moment (this was known beforehand). Did that take away from the event? Perhaps the fact that the personal presence of all these star players would have added some “bling”, if at all. Other than that, everything went according to the precise plan drawn up by the organizers, and there was no shortage of attractions for the festival audience.
Let’s start with the idea of holding an exhibition of vintage Tama kits from the 70s, 80s and 90s, which we thought was great. There was the famous white Tama Artstar II, which Lars Ulrich toured the world with in support of Metallica’s self-titled album. There was also the kit which Stewart Copeland played with The Police on their 2008 reunion tour, and the Tama Starclassic One Of A Kind with shallow concert toms – the only one in the world. In addition, the attendees could see some of the drum kits produced throughout the 50-year period, such as the first ever acrylic kit from Tama (1974), a 1976 Superstar Birch, a 1978 Fibrestar, or a 1983 Artstar Cordia. An electronic booth installed right next to the exhibition made it possible for the visitors to take a quiz on their knowledge of Tama equipment. The organizers didn’t forget about a room where you could bash on some kits, of course from Tama, sporting Meinl cymbals. There were also two tents with auxiliary events. In one, there was a full-day True Touch Training Boot Camp workshop using Tama True Touch kits (which we wrote about HERE). It featured several segments: one for beginners, one dedicated to working on chops, one focusing on speed and the last one on double-bass playing. In the second tent, a double-bass speed competition was held. The the winner walked away with a Tama True Touch practice kit.
The merch stand is worthy of separate mention. There, it was possible to get hold of commemorative Evans drum heads with a Tama 50th Anniversary Drum Festival imprint, as well as a great cushion imitating the Tama Bell Brass snare drum, which is just coming back on the market. Plus, of course, T-shirts, caps, sticks and anything else you can think of.
Before the artists sat behind their kits, the floor was taken by Alex Meinl, who welcomed all the artists, special guests and audience members and invited to the stage Kimihide “Ken” Hoshino – president of the Hoshino Gakki company, which owns the Tama brand. Tama is the name of Ken Hoshino’s grandmother and also the wife of the company’s first president Yoshitaro Hoshino. Tama Hoshino handled the company’s accounting, and the brand and factory established in 1974 were named after her. The two gentlemen opened the festival, and then it was time to soak up the experience of the event’s star performers….
Simon Gattringer is already established in the German and Austrian markets. He performs with a number of popular artists there, who represent a variety of musical styles, which requires him to be versatile. That trait is exactly what he demonstrated during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Tama brand – he breezed through a prog metal track, showed off some funk and hip hop skills, then he went on to display some serious gospel chops and (perhaps most importantly) playing “for the song”, that is, without overdoing it, but with a cool groove to carry the number.
James Stewart simply crushed everyone present. The way he has mastered the entire palette of extreme drumming elements (different types of blast beats, fast tom fills, fast double-foot playing applying various techniques,) is downright inhuman. This guy is simply a terminator on the drum kit. It must be said that he deserves praise for the way he replaced Eloy Casagrande, who was originally supposed to represent the heavy music scene during the festival.
Ukrainian drummer and graduate of the Kharkov Conservatory, Paul Kholodyansky, made a very cool and mega positive impression. The wild card winner played hard, but with panache and imagination. Unfortunately, we couldn’t watch and listen to his performance in its entirety because we had to run to do a previously arranged interview, but what we experienced was enough to make us feel like searching for his recordings online.
Anika Nilles didn’t allow herself to be discomfited by some backing track kickoff problems at the beginning of her set and presented everything that drummers admire her for, i.e. insane grooves (including, of course, odd meter ones), gospel chops, linear fills and great feel. She got a round of lashing and fully deserved applause from the drum maniacs who came to Gutenstetten that day.
Sebastian Lanser is also a force to be reckoned with in the German and Austrian markets. He is an active live and studio musician, as well as an educator. His arrangements, reminiscent of the rhythmic textures we know from Devin Townsend’s recordings, as well as his bold soloing, made quite an impression on everybody present.
Robert “Sput” Searight displayed insane technique (which is no surprise), great grooves and dense jazz/fusion textures we know from his band, Snarky Puppy, but he also wasn’t afraid to do his rendition of TOTO’s “Africa”, which he did with style and grace. It was also evident that there were quite a few fans of his talent and Snarky Puppy lovers among the audience.
Simon Phillips is in a class of his own, and has been for many years. He was the only player on that day not to perform solo, but with his band, Protocol V. We have already witnessed a concert by this lineup in the fall of 2019 at the Blue Note in Poznań, Poland. It was just as good in Gutenstetten. Ernest Tibbs (bass guitar), Otmaro Ruiz (keyboards), Jacob Scesney (saxophone), Alex Sill (guitar) and the leader are great instrumentalists, possibly even more in synch with one another than before the pandemic. On top of that, they did several tunes from their latest album, released two years ago, which undoubtedly was a bonus for those who had experienced Protocol V live before. Midway through the performance, Simon told a beautiful (though rather convoluted) story spanning a period of several years about how he learned about the existence of the Tama brand and the beginnings of his collaboration with Hoshino Gakki. It was evident that everyone present (even those wearing T-shirts with extreme metal band logos) absorbed every note Phillips played and every word he spoke. It’s also worth mentioning that, rather than sip some wine in the dressing room before going on stage, Simon chose to closely watch all the performances. He did so on the assumption that the art of drumming has changed a great deal in recent years and he wanted to experience the new players’ performances with his own eyes and ears. That’s what we call not falling into a rut. Mastery in its pure form!
The birthday party can be considered a success, and whoever did not get there may regret it. We are already counting down to Tama’s 60th birthday!
Watch our video report from the event!
