The beat goes on...

My apologies for not posting in a while. We have experienced a bit of a family tragedy. Then this past weekend, to get away from it all, myself, Tokyo Lola and J-Mac all went to Ottawa to enjoy Winterlude.

From a pop culture standpoint, my main focus has been on The Police. They opened the Grammy Awards by performing together for the first time in years. Unfortunately, they chose to play the song Roxanne. As much as I like Sting, he simply is unable to hit those same notes he did 30 years ago. I think Can't Stand Losing You or Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic would have been a better choice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIIOwONgmJY

Despite Sting's shortcomings, the band sounded terrific. I was absolutely enamoured with Stewart Copeland's drumming. It brought up an interesting conversation between myself and Coglero while we were in Ottawa this past weekend. Who is the best drummer ever? And can anyone really answer that question accurately. Stewart Copeland, a drummer who uses more cymbals and high hats than anyone else in rock history is pretty innovative but how do you compare him to the workman like pounding of Max Weinberg. Or U2's Larry Mullen Jr. whose talents are really what gives U2 that distinctive sound. And what about The Beatles' Ringo Starr or the Stones' Charlie Watts. Neither of them are brilliant, but come on, these are the two most popular bands of the last 50 years. How can they not be considered among the best. Coglero's theory is that no one really knows the best drummers ever as it all depends on what bands you specifically like.

My Top 5 Drummer List

1. Keith Moon

2. Max Weinberg

3. Stewart Copeland

4. John Bonham

5. Phil Collins

This is obviously a rock list, otherwise jazz greats Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa and Philly Joe Jones would be on there.

Getting back to the Police, they are touring this summer and J-Mac and I had a mild interest in going. Our ticket gura Jayman was all over this issue and was going no matter what the cost. I was in as long as the tickets were $120 or less. J-Mac was in at $100. It didn't matter as top ticket prices were over $200. I can't agree to see any concert at that level. It just seems like there has to be things I can better spend my money on.