Trading Places: Rock's Latest Tour Gimmick Is Member-Swapping!

[David]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

I like Stan's playing. You don't like Porcaro? I am well and truly shocked. I think Ferrone fits like a glove.

I mean, these guys are all superb technicians, no doubt. They exemplify professionalism. They just don't seem to me to have much distinctive personality as drummers—they're more like classic drumming textbooks or methods. That's why I think so many drum students have always used them as training tools. They do it the "right" way, but that makes them interchangeable with one another. I remember Ferrone's work on Christine's 1984 album and tour. I remember listening to him drum on Hold Me at Universal at her show, and I thought, "He's just drumming." With that batch of songs, he made me miss Mick Fleetwood (the way that listening to the esteemed Russ Kunkel on Dreams makes me miss Mick). But that's his gig. He can slip right in on a Bryan Ferry, Bernie Worrell, or Johnny Cash track because there isn't much "Steve Ferrone" coming through. He subsumes his own quirks (if he has any) into the personality of the guy he's drumming for.