Drum Dream

On 7/7/07, the Boredoms put on a crazy, already-legendary concert under the Brooklyn Bridge with 77 drummers spiraling out from a humongous guitar gong that Boredoms leader Yamataka Eye struck with a giant trident scepter. It was, according to all who attended, “the best show ever.”

I was one of the 11 drum leaders for the concert and my initial reaction to the experience is to say simply that there are no words or recordings that can approach what it was like to live that piece and participate in it. Friends who weren’t there ask, “how was it?” and I have no answer. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life—how do you say that and not seem like a blowhard?

When I found out I had been selected I felt honored and unworthy. I had visions of Eye having a huddle with the Boredoms after the first rehearsal and deciding that I needed to be let go. There are artists who you respect and there are a few who are beyond understanding. The Boredoms are like that for me. My head was full of fantasy and fear. Failure felt palpable.

The load-in time was at 8:30 AM. By the time I arrived most of the drummers were already there with their kits set up. And like drummers tend to do, they were all banging away. It was a war zone and completely overwhelming. The drums obliterated all thought.

We started the piece at 7:07 PM. The sun was just beginning to set. Seventy-seven drummers sat in the spiral. Eye let out a long wail and we began to play. Drum patterns were passed along the spiral from the center where the Boredoms sat on an elevated stage. The rhythms were simple and powerful and when everyone was playing them at once they felt elemental.

By the time we finished it was almost dark. When the last sound finished I was overcome with emotion. Slowly and granularly the experience began to reveal itself. I had been borne upon an idea so clear and powerful that it transcended all individual weaknesses. I felt blessed and awed.

It is very difficult to relate to people who were outside the spiral. As I was walking the mile back home, I stopped to get a bite to eat. A dude was like, “Hey did you just play at the Boredoms thing?” I said yeah. “You were good,” he said. “There was another guy in a white shirt that wasn’t so good. He kept dropping his sticks. But you were good.”

Suddenly I knew I was going to cry. I could feel it in my chest. I kept rubbing my hands over my face and looking down at the street on the walk home. There are few musical moments that have brought me to tears. When I cried that night it was for the uncommon fortune that had visited me that day. I don’t think it’s too much to say that my entire life had led me to the moment I started drumming in Boadrum77.

KID MILLIONS
Photo of the whole scene from above by Jason Nocito. Thanks to JellyNYC, Nike, Scion, American Apparel, Sapporo, and Sparks for enabling this wondrous event.

All drummer photos by Joshua Wildman. We didn’t have room to show all 77 drummers, so we devised a special, mystical, tarot-ish, numerological method to choose a handful of them to feature. We have full love and respect for all 77 Boadrum drummers! Thanks to JellyNYC, Nike, Scion, American Apparel, Sapporo, and Sparks for enabling this wondrous event.



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