Delorean's drummer

Andrew is going to start band practice for school soon, so he and I went to Guitar Center today to pick up a snare drum for him.

Saturdays being what they are, Guitar Center was overrun by a crowd of teenagers beating on the various drumsets around the place. Andrew eventually took a turn, so I went over to look at the snare drums. A red-haired girl standing there said that I ought to look at the piccolo snares, since they sound good in a marching band. Talking to her further, I came to find out she played drums. She was really helpful and unassuming. I thought, "How nice. A nice girl. Playing drums. " Eventually, she got a turn at a drumset. It's hard to describe what happened next.

Imagine lighting one of those little ladyfinger firecrackers, expecting to hear a sound like someone snapping their fingers. Then, it explodes hard enough to knock your house over, kill your pets, and leave a 100ft. crater in the ground. (Dang. Wasn't expecting that...)

She played with a skill level and ferocity I've rarely seen in top-tier drummers, and have definitely never seen from some kid hanging out a GC on a Saturday. Andrew was standing there wide-eyed, giggling, and I was too. It was kind of a cool mix of styles, too. Complicated beats, jazzy-sounding high-speed fills, and double-bass work that would cripple Danny Carey. It was not only technically good, it sounded like music. Seriously. I'm a Rush fan. If I saw Neil Peart do what she was doing, I would have said "Wow. After all this time, he's still the man!"

It turns out she's in a band called DeLorean, and they're playing around the KC area. They have a myspace site, http://myspace.com/deloreanband. There appear to be downloads available there, so I'm going to check them out. I haven't heard them yet, so I don't know if Delorean is collectively as good as their drummer. But she's good!