Amazing performance, Liberty! You are a legend! You can play along with this and many other Deftones songs inside Drumeo - Click on the link to get started: www.drumeo.com/trial.
A year ago I started listening to Billy Joel and when I saw The Bridge to Russia in concert, it's on RU-vid (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YT1ExN7ugxw.html), I saw a super passionate drummer, it reminded me of the passion that Lars Ulrich has live, and I thought Liberty should play a heavy song for his way of playing. thanks drumeo!!
Yeah he did a good job for sure. I wouldn't be able to jump into a genre I don't listen to and play that well on bass for sure. It does make you appreciate how good The Deftones drummer is, though. He really makes the song hit hard.
So is my dad and he’s dealt with a quad heart by pass, intestinal and sinus issues, sudden kidney cancer, pancreatitis and an ulcer and side note: he accidentallly buzz sawed off his top left index finger, reattached with a metal rod so he can no longer bend it and righteous arthritis and he still WAILS on the kit. This is so awesome. Thanks Liberty and Drumeo ❤
This was so sick. 73 years old and can still play fast as ever. The drumming community is just full of guys who just appreciate each other’s craft and approach. Pure wholesome content. Love drumeo
Yes, I love these. Every time it just shows how a great drummer can just take a song, hear what it is and every time they come up with something amazing.
it depends, there are great drummers that creates a whole new thing and sticks with it... (can't play other stuff) tbh, in the end, the ones that creates new things are the most interesting drummers to me.
I got to meet and hang with Liberty DeVitto once when he visited a clothing shop I managed nearly twenty years ago in Soho, NYC. He was super cool and couldn’t believe I recognized him. Being a drummer myself and a bit of a fan it was obvious to me immediately and when he introduced himself by his first name confirming such we got into a conversation about some of our favorite drummers whilst I made and served him an espresso from the store’s coffee bar. We both talked about our admiration of Nigel Olsson and he gifted me a pair of his signature Pro Mark Millennium 2 412 sticks from his bag before he left which I still have and cherish.
This series does more than anything else possibly could to show how drums are critical to the mood and feel of a song. Every interpretation is interesting and creates a whole new song almost.
It's why when writing a song, especially when a member of the band has a specific idea they want to try, it's important to really be able to communicate your ideas. I'd tell our singer/bassist to literally sing the drum part to me if he had a specific idea. Sometimes I'd have them just play the whole song to me, and I'd come in a few times and see if they liked what I was doing. Writing isn't easy.. some of it just comes natural though if you have spent a long time playing with a group of people
"He played that for the recording" That's seriously wisdom right there. Never underestimate someones playing just because they are playing what fits for the song. They might be able to shred you under the table.
Yep. You see this kind of thing all the time, and it’s always so ridiculous. Everyone was a *musician* before they were in a band. The best example of this I can think of is when Alter Bridge first started making music and everyone was losing it because “wait the guys in Creed can actually play???” Like yeah no duh it turns out making safe radio rock doesn’t encompass a musician in their entirety, who knew lol
Yeah, I've noticed that a lot of these older guys that they feature in these videos are so out of their element, that instead of playing something more like they would play--they try to fit the sound they think someone who normally plays that sort of music might try to play. So, they're pulling out all their tricks and just going wild with the fills and doing double bass stuff you know they probably never do on the stuff they usually play. They're always surprised at the end when they hear how downright reserved or even tasteful the original drums were on the recording, because they song obviously wasn't written as a showcase of the drummer. I'd bet that if you played someone in Liberty's age bracket any song by Limp Bizkit that they'd go wild, when John Otto's drumming was more jazz than metal. That was one of the things that attracted me to Limp Bizkit as a kid, because the rhythm section of John and Sam were just straight up funky, and then you had Wes Borland doing his thing over top of that, and it was just different from everything else out at the time. In hindsight, I realize that the biggest part of their whole hip-hop vibe wasn't rapped lyrics or a turntablist scratching records along with it, it was because of the fact that their rhythm section was writing and playing parts very similar to the sort of 70's funk that hip-hop artists had been sampling and using since the very beginning.
So he came up with the minimalistic drum fill at the start, ghost notes on the snare, hitting the crash on the chorus and doing fills on the correct places... All things that are on the original song without hearing it before. Just amazing
Dude wow. This one is maybe my favorite, his IQ towards the parts was premiere. Riding the crash, that opening fill, crazy. Kept his own feel to the ride which I thought was cool too. He was awesome
Bass player here, this is absolutely best "first time hearing" I have heard ever. He is so on point on everything and the accents work all the time to the songs favor. He makes that song feel like it should.
Idk man he always seemed like he was struggling to keep time. The weird toms part in the verse doesn’t fit. Playing the ride at weird times and then getting softer in the chorus. Just weird decisions
@ariannaquevedo6222 I mean, he played for billy Joel lol. It's a little bit of a change up. I thought it was very solid considering his age and his career.
Wow 😯 this dude is beyond impressive. To go from Billy Joel, to jumping on that much heavier Deftones horse like nothing, I give him props for his speed at that age, wow.
The fact that he went in to this open minded at his age is impressive in itself. Too many older people, even as musicians, label anything outside of their comfort zone as "noise". He was fun to watch, and his kit is nice too
He killed it. As a longtime deftones fan it was great to see an old timer actually try to play a tempo faster than the original drummer who recorded it in his 20s. Great job man!
@michaelhall5429 I perfectly know what he meant, but he didn't express it correctly, and I corrected him. People should just refrain from correcting people who don't use the right terms ? Good way to level down, yes. But some people actually like to educate themselves and elevate their knowledge, possibly not you.
@@sledge1885 nah, he botched the song so hard. I'm genuinely surprised that a world class drummer can't hear the difference between beats 1 and 3 or 2 and 4. Purely embarrassing
absolutely... the... highest... respect for him to pull that off i grew up with the deftones and seen them many times live, to see an old school legend pull this off brought a tear ill be honest
Stoked to see an older Deftones song for one of these! The way he got confused during the bass solo and shifted the time/beats for the rest of the song threw me off completely, but he still killed it!
One of the most impressive performances I've heard on Drumeo. Nothing but respect for this man. before today I had never heard of him, but now I am convinced he's one of the best. You don't see many people his age playing like that, and especially not with only given one chance to listen to it and then getting thrown into the deep end. He has the energy of a 20 year old and the knowledge of a 70 year old, that's a master at work.
Liberty is a Jewel in the Drumming Community. A real guy, down to earth, and extremely talented. Anyone who can sustain the throne with Billy Joel for that long and be so consistent, solid and creative, is a great Drummer in anybody's book.
I'm sure he has listened to atleast some Metallica or something lol. I am almost sure he knows Tool and Danny Carey lol. Yeah though: this is what the mastery of an instrument sounds like after many decades of learning and performance. Genres become irrelevant to a degree,and music becomes a universal language.
@@py_a_thoni think the original comment was just praising his chops lightheartedly, but if you've ever been in a band you know every rehearsal there's a moment where you suddenly break out in a metal/reggae/punk version of your song or just go crazy. I think it's impossible to be a professional musician for decades and still never have played around with a gerne or even toured/played shows with bands of all other genres.
@@wavewithus4081 Absolutely. Musicians often get bored easily to be honest(especially professionals). Or rather, they often tend to be high in openness and conscienciousness, and that leads towards various forms of learning via (often rigorous) experimentation. Not every musician is like that, yet many seem to be. That is my hypothesis atleast.
You have to respect the hell out of Liberty for killing this. I didnt expect this out of a drummer for Billy Joel. This channel is definitely opening my eyes to many different drummers and their talent.
Even if a music type is slower and less technical, to be alongside one of the most successful and famous musicians in the world you still are going to have chops for days. It's the Ringo argument. He was great, or the others wouldn't have kept him around.
This was the best edition yet. Liberty; you kicked major balls and you do play like you're 20 yrs old + you have a super cool, laid back personality. Be SUPER PROUD of what you just did on Drumeo. Absolutely fn'g amazing, cheers!
@@VuotoPneumaNN Well take into effect that the Deftones suck & have the crappiest music & singing (whining), so give the guy some slack trying to play along with this shit song.
Other than losing the 1 in the bass section you couldn't ask for a better take from someone who has probably never even listened to the genre before. Abe's playing is so immediately identifiable, but to hear Liberty nail those accents in the chorus brought a very...very real smile to my face. Massive Billy Joel fan, so to see him throwing ghost snares in the verse was just frosting.
@@defbatface Caught that too. I just went and listened to that section. There's a bar of 2, or a bar or 6, depending on how you want to count it, before the bass comes in. Also, the drum groove of the prior section stops on 3, which can feel odd, since now beat 4 is silent and now count 6 more haha. Anyways, I feel like he could have heard as the song progress that he was not on the one and somehow flipped it proper. Could've been a great tension release moment. Either way, his playing has passion and energy and that matters a shit ton!!!
Thank you Liberty! You killed it brother!!! As a life long Deftones fan since I was 13 now 39. You did Abe justice my man. You got a new fan as well. Once again thank you. I was rocking out with you.
Just yesterday was listening to Billy Joel and was talking to my wife about Liberty. Billy was my first concert and watching this man put the work in made me want to be a drummer.
I agree that 3rd one was as fire... I could only tell the difference in a couple places but in that those few differences liberty maxed out on them, outshining the original.
@@hv1225 I'm so glad I'm not the only one to notice that. Aside from that, though, I loved what he did with the song, and actually liked some bits even more than what Abe did on the record.
Liberty youre still young, keep at it and by time you're in your mid 20's ypu will be 4x platinum and touring the world over. Bright future for this kid i tell ya. I know potential when i see it.
When I was 14 I went to a summer rock camp thing and got to meet him for a day when he did a talk and demo for us. He was such a awesome guy and blew my mind as a young drummer. I still have the stick he signed for me and love seeing him still getting love
The Deftones will always hold a special place in my heart. Around the fur came out when I was 13, got a bass and the entire sheet music for the album and taught myself to play, and play the album front to back. Just picked up a bass after not playing for nearly 20 years and my fingers still remember that bass line. I love this channel, any music nerd or first timers get to see the creative process! Thank you for the videos and the boosts of serotonin! Brought back all the memories.
The evolution to the last take gave me chills. Especially the bass part where he was initially confused about. Amazing that he can read that so quick. So good. ❤
Until today, I had never heard of Liberty DeVitto. I Just came from watching his Billy Joel Grooves and Fills video and first impressions..... I really love his sound, style and incredible energy. Also taking on his advice, what an inspiration. Now seeing this too........ just blown away by this man at 73 years of age and just killing it on those drums. Can already see the bones of how he can make a song really speak and become a hit.
This is what's great about this channel. Matching up drummers who don't know the band or music that is being played and to get their prospective from it. And matching Liberty up with the Deftones priceless....
I've watched a lot of videos like this, but damn dude. DeVitto really hones in on what the song needs and boosts the power of the other instruments with his performance. The skill he's got to not just overpower the original performance or make it all about drums... that takes talent. His final take, it just felt right for the song.
Im sorry but Im not getting all the praise of that third take. It's good at first but then he loses 1 and is a full beat out of time for more than half the song. A drummer with half his experience should be able to hear and fix that. Like no disrespect, dudes a legend and a better drummer than I'll ever be, but he pretty clearly messes up here.
I disagree, he was too busy and played far too fast for the song. He really overpowered it and made the drums stand out too much as it felt out of synch with the other instruments. I prefer the original as it’s more laid back and really let the guitar shine.
@@tickbox_hindsight is 20/20. Go play a song that you've never heard, in a genre you've never played, in 3 takes. Heck, even choose your own instrument and lets see how you do. It wasn't the original intent or form of the song, but its definitely a valid take and great performance.
I’m binge watching these videos knowing nothing formally about music and composition but to see to see guys work through the arrangement and slam something together that fits the song is absolutely amazing to watch. It just goes to show how great their understanding of music putting a song together really is. Great channel.
It’s wild how some of these guys come so close to the original and others interpret it so differently but the end result either way is always killer! Love these videos
Wow, this is by far the best “music-professional-gets-introduced-to-another-music-professional-and-trips-out-about-it” format I’ve ever seen. Incidentally, I’m intimately familiar with this song, which made it particularly interesting to see this charismatic and skillful drummer give it his all. I have a whole lot of respect for the way he put himself on the spot like this. My guess is that Billy Joel was very lucky to have this fellow making music with him for 30 years.
Liberty seems like he'd be a great hang. Stories and good times. And as always, these pros know how to adapt. This is so rad. Great stuff, Liberty and Drumeo!
This was an interesting one, I really liked that he tried a bunch of different things to see what is working and what is not. His approach perfectly matched with the method he described working with Billy. Another great video! Also, pls give someone a Rammstein song, it would be so fun to watch.
Every time I watch these I'm so impressed by the brilliance of these musicians and how well their drum parts fit with the song. And whoever does the drum mix for the videos does an amazing job. The drums always sound so so good!
That was pretty funny but good take, guy has insane energy, I actually like his double time ride after the 'shove it's part, I think that part specifically is better suiting than the original on the song writing aspect
the more talented Devito brother. At the end, was hitting the snare like it owed him $. great take on the song and glad y'all are continuing this series.
for having never heard the song, Liberty absolutely did the band (& abe) justice. I thought the initial toms (on top of the "bass part" as he put it) was really creative. his snare fills were seriously on point too.
So cool! That song has swagger..that’s what makes it so good. I love this series! Love hearing what these great drummers come up with on the spot. Keep up the great work!
