Drum Cam: MacArthur Park with Rainere Martin (Donna Summer Tribute)

This video was taken from my Drum Cam recording of a recent live concert with Rainere Martin, one of the best Donna Summer tribute artists touring currently.
I’m going to put up the entire 6-minute video for this tune (mostly for my students because I doubt anyone who isn’t a drummer will sit through the whole video... but you should, even if you're not a drummer).
MacArthur Park is by far the weirdest, most challenging Pop song I’ve ever played. It’s just not your typical ‘Intro-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Etc’ type of song. Throughout the whole arrangement, there are lots of phrases with non-symmetrical odd numbers of bars, and sections that aren’t really a verse or a chorus, and then, there are the variations on the different grooves that help make each section stand apart from each other.
The song itself already presents a pretty high degree of difficulty before we even get into the logistics of a for-hire gig like this one: Meet the Artist for the first time for soundcheck at 3PM, play through the tune one time to make sure it won't come off the rails mid-show, and then don't play it again until you're on stage at 8PM, under the watchful eyes (and ears) of a theater full of people who have been listening to this song for almost 50 years. A job like this is a total pressure cooker!!
Sure, I've got a drum chart that contains all of the details I need to know how to play this song correctly. But, I've also got about 19 other 'New-To-Me' songs & arrangements swimming around in my head for this show. There are all of the other things I've got to manage as Musical Director, Quarterback, and Traffic Cop of this band. (So, don't be surprised when you see me mouthing the counts for bar numbers as we play or occasionally whispering section markers from the chart into my talkback mic to the band.)
If I'm honest, I have to admit that I LOVE this kind of pressure. It makes you feel alive and completely present in each moment of that 2-hour show. There's nothing like the rush you get when playing your first (and sometimes only) show with an Artist. It's almost like being a musical magician up there. All kinds of convert sleight-of-hand is going on to get the band through each song, to telegraph arrangements & transitions to vocalists out front, and to make it sound like we've all played this show together a million times.
The goal is to make the whole experience seamless for those wonderful people out in the seats. This music is an important part of the soundtrack of their lives. So, it's our job to transport them back to that time when these sounds had the most meaning for them. We go back there with them and relive those love affairs & breakups, both the joys and the pain, and the up's and the down's of their lives. In the end, we collectively relive our own personal journeys and then stand together, supported by that final chord, in the triumph and excitement of lives well-lived.
#WorkingDrummer #DrummerForHire #GrooveDrummer #HiredGun #DonnaSummer

[@captainbaptain]

Brian, I loved every second of this and your description really adds to it! Also, I’ve loved this song since I was a little kid.

[@BrianStephensOfficial]

Thanks so much!! I’ll have some more of these soon. (I’ve done a couple more like this on the channel: ruclips.net/video/RoYNqkvdZMA/видео.html “Saturday Night At The Movies” with the Drifters)

[@tonyalbertson8379]

Sound good Brian 👍

[@BrianStephensOfficial]

Thanks Tony!!! 🤜🏻🤛🏻