Drum As You Are

Winner of the Music Show Queue-Of-The-Weekend gong, Chris Slade, entertained a rapt audience in the Green Room on Sunday afternoon. The AC/DC legend – who has also bashed skins for Tom Jones, Manfred Mann, Dave Gilmour and Jimmy Page to name but a few – regaled the crowd with stories from his colourful career, gave away a few trade secrets and made a huge impression with his jaw-dropping performances.

The rock veteran talked the crowd through his impressive DW kit, which he uses with an extra tom and second bass drum pedal, and effortlessly played through a variety of different rolls and fills.
He chatted about his signature Pro-Mark sticks (a pair of which are currently up for auction on hotpress.com!) and his love of Paiste cymbals. It was all a long way from where Chris started out – playing with knives on pots and pans!
He explained how his style of playing has evolved over the years and illustrated with samples of tracks from each of his various bands.
Chris discussed the various rhythm sections he has been part of, his toughest taskmasters (Michael Schenker and Gary Moore, fact fiends!), favourite rhythm players (Malcolm Young got a very special mention) and of course went into much detail on his AC/DC days (including the recording of The Razor’s Edge in, of all places, Dublin).
Other career highlights up for discussion were giving The Boss his break by taking ‘Blinded By The Light’ to No. 1 with Manfred Mann’s Earth Band (Bruce has not yet said thanks, apparently!) and his fond memories of playing with the young Tommy Scott And The Squires before the singer changed his name to Jones and went solo.
After taking questions from the crowd, he was joined onstage by Andy and Eoghan from Shadowplay for a blistering version of ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ that brought the house down. Whew! Rock ‘n’ roll!