Oh, I'm Loving Dave...

There’s many a fine, fine drummer out there at the moment, and many of these fine, fine folk have reached a level of musicality and ability that others just have to sit up and take notice. Be it for reasons of nuclear-warhead infused speed, sheer outrageous technique, unrivalled musicality or a combination of all those features, there are several players around who flag up on the radar as great. Now, I love all these players, and there are indeed many, so why is it that whenever I speak to many other musos, and indeed even other drummers (deliberate gag, there...) the current name-drop of choice is none other than Dave Grohl.
Now, I like Dave. Indeed, he’s one of the very few guys who managed to achieve that most difficult of objectives, and change my opinion of him entirely. When Nirvana came out and I was at school, having just picked up the sticks, my first impression was ‘great tunes, shame about the caveman beating the kit’. This was set against the backdrop of listening to Neil Peart complete all sorts of odd-time tomfoolery (Tom-Sawyer-y?) with Rush, hence my teenage distain for anyone not playing in 13/16 and on a massive drumkit. Unfortunately, that prejudice stuck with me and I always thought our Dave was a bit of a basher, even though I musically liked Nirvana and later on the Foo Fighters. My opinion changed when Dave drummed on the Queens Of The Stone Age album ‘Songs For The Deaf’. I think that was the first time I actually felt the attitude and vibe coming off his drums, (especially on the song ‘A Song For The Dead’. Check out the intro. Ouch.) and from that point on, I’ve listened back to his drumming history and realised that I was the one who had gotten it wrong. He’s a monster player, with a deep pocket and great vibe, who gives it some attitude and plays for the song.
Now, you may be surprised that I feel a little on the narked side when my fellow musos quote Dave as being their current skin-beater of choice. Why, after the glowing recommendation I’ve just given him, is that the case, I hear you cry? Well, it stems from a couple of things, really. Firstly, the assumption that is inherent in many of the points that are raised ‘pro Dave’ relate to the idea that he plays ‘simple’, and because he does, then it’s cool for me to do so too. Nothing untoward in that, of course, it’s all good and proper for us to absorb the influence of our heroes and take that into our own playing. Sadly, I can’t escape the feeling that a lot of the time it’s apologist for not actually wanting to practice your instrument to improve. Indeed, many of the players saying that Dave is their favourite are the kind of people who can only bash, and are not only using Dave’s silky skills as cover for their own lack of ability, but are also missing the point when it comes to just how well Dave operates within a song. Secondly, when I turn up to a gig with my double kick, multi tom, several cymbal, monster drumkit, many are the sound men, promoters, venue owners and other bands who take one look, then rise as one to proclaim that Dave Grohl is their favourite drummer and he only plays a four piece kit, and I should really check out some of his stuff and see how he plays a four piece kit and still manages to make it sound awesome with only four pieces. Cheers, Dave. Get a bigger kit and start blasting some 16th notes at 200bpm just to keep these folks quiet, will you?