Ok, so this is going to sound crazy, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that last week I attended what was probably my most anticipated concert ever. I'll start with some back story.
In fifth grade I decided to take up an instrument at school, the orchestra bells. I was the only kid at Plympton Elementary that chose the bells. (I quickly started referring to them them as 'the xylophone' since the aforementioned name was embarrassing for whatever reason.) Being the lone bells player, every Friday during recess became a personal lesson from a guy who must have been one of the best music teachers to ever live: Walter Tokarczyk. He was short, stout, bald, and very tough. He told me that one of his former students named Mike Mangini was a very successful drummer now, so he was going to hold me to high standards. I told my father about the Mike Mangini story that Mr T had told me earlier. I remember my dad responding by telling me stories about how he and his brothers used to hang out with Mike (who they aptly called 'mini-guinea') quite a bit and play music, but that is a story for another time. At any rate, I stuck with the bells for about 3 years before I (regrettably) quit. Then Mr T retired and I couldn't imagine starting back up without him as my instructor. Other students tended to dislike him, but I'm positive that's because he knew very well when kids didn't practice at home. He was openly very hard on those students, often in front of the entire band. Anyway, I look back at my time spent with Mr T very fondly; he wanted to mold me (and all his students) into real-ass musicians.
Over the years post xylophone, I came to know more and more about Mike Mangini, his world records and his overall technical mastery of the drums. When the youtube era rolled in I finally got to see some footage of Mike playing. It was insanity. Inspiring... we had the same teacher goddammit. Why did I quit? Anyhow, it got me into thinking about Mr T again. I Googled him. He had died a year ago, in 2005.
The thought of getting to see Mike Mangini perform was an awesome thought. Here's another one of those rare folks who remembers Mr T as fondly as I do. Hell, I even feel like we share a bit of history, with our childhood music instructor as the medium.
Fast forward to 2011. I hear that a band called Dream Theater had been auditioning new drummers and that Mangini actually won the job. I was pumped. I had been a DT fan since high school and had seen them in concert four or five times. I was not going to miss their next tour stop through Boston.
As a DT fan, I was not impressed with the set list. A lot of their newer songs are just not enjoyable for me. However, they are very technical and fun to watch. The older songs they did play were mind bogglingly good, and really exciting to see and hear with Mangini behind the drums.
As a Mangini fan, I was blown away. The solo they gave him was worth my money alone. The speed, the stamina, the polyrhythms, the showmanship. I might be a bit biased, but I wasn't the only amazed person in the Orpheum.
Its too bad I didn't get to bump into him outside and say something like "Remember Mr. Tokarczyk, man?" I was clinging onto that possibility until we hit the highway on the way home.
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During a recent trip to New York City, a friend of mine was reading through the New Yorker and casually noted that McCoy Tyner would be playing at the Blue Note Club the following night. After skipping a couple heartbeats, I expressed to my friend that this was something we should see.
