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Thread: The Church Drummers Thread

  1. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by Russ View Post
    Regarding your mic situation, what size room are you going to be using? If it's a smaller one i'd say an overhead or two should be all you need. Not a whole lot of sense in buying a ton of mics if the room doesn't allow for decent cable management so you can navigate around. If you do end up using a drum shield, I recommend getting some good hearing protection because it will intensify what is heard in the drivers' seat.
    Space is not a problem, it will be a pretty good size room, we're converting the room behind the platform. We will be putting my kit and a few amps in it, which will still leave plenty of room. Also, thanks for the tip about the hearing protection
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  2. #27

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    It's interesting to me how one of the primary discussions we wind up in as church drummers is about volume. I must admit that I like to wind it up when I can - when you are hitting the drums solidly it produces tone and a kind of sound that is hard to achieve hitting the drums softly. I don't like using rods either - I feel like it robs the drums of their tone. My thought is, if you want drums, then have drums - have them for what they are, and not what you want them to be.
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  3. #28

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    I play for a church plant that doesn't have a building yet. We meet in the cafeteria at an elementary school and have to set up and tear down everything every Sunday, so I just tote my Roland kit back and forth. We have 4 Bose sticks. I get one all to myself with 3 subs daisy-chained, and I keep the controller for the stick on top of my module so I have full control.
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  4. #29

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    Quote Originally Posted by trickg View Post
    It's interesting to me how one of the primary discussions we wind up in as church drummers is about volume. I must admit that I like to wind it up when I can - when you are hitting the drums solidly it produces tone and a kind of sound that is hard to achieve hitting the drums softly. I don't like using rods either - I feel like it robs the drums of their tone. My thought is, if you want drums, then have drums - have them for what they are, and not what you want them to be.
    I've noticed that too. Playing soft is the pits, I hate using rods and brushes to help volume levels, it just doesn't sound good.
    Dw | Zildjian | Pro-Mark | Evans

  5. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by PerryGoRound View Post
    I play for a church plant that doesn't have a building yet. We meet in the cafeteria at an elementary school and have to set up and tear down everything every Sunday, so I just tote my Roland kit back and forth. We have 4 Bose sticks. I get one all to myself with 3 subs daisy-chained, and I keep the controller for the stick on top of my module so I have full control.
    I have a set of Roland TD-6's that I sometimes haul around for that, along with some cymbals I got that set for $500, very proud of it. They're good for practice, but I absolutely hate playing them at live gigs.
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  6. #31

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    I'm the drummer for a church that rents a multipurpose room of a new public high school. There is a 4 - 5' high stage and we set up risers in front of that, creating a 2-tier platform. For the most part we set up with drums centered on the upper stage with keyboard to one side, electric guitar and bass on the other. The lower stage will typically have 2 - 3 singers and an acoustic.

    The room is large with a high acoustic ceiling and tile floor. It is not ideal acoustically for live music, however the bodies in the congregation do improve on that. We run a snake from the stage to a soundboard (everything has to be broken down during the school year). The mix is projected through two large speakers and we use 5 floor monitors for the musicians. The drums are the only instrument not supported by the sound system, but it's not necessary.

    When selecting my current gear, which is owned by me, it was primarily for playing in this venue . My cymbal selection, which are all Paiste 2oo2s, indicate I didn't know what I was doing when I chose them, but also reveal just how versatile they can be.

    Our pastor (former youth pastor), who is also one of our musicians is not a fan of drum shields or hot rods so I do not use either. Other than an EMAD kick head and an EC2 SST FT head I use no muffling like pillows, moongel, e-rings, etc. I also use the plastic side of my kick beater for increased kick volume.

    I'm going on two years now playing each Sunday, with very few Sundays off. This has been an invaluable experience for me on many levels. I used to get feedback, from some, that my volume was too hot at the same time getting feedback, from youth mostly, that it rocked.

    I've questioned my wife many a Sunday asking for her honest opinion about the drum mix. As I've learned to play with some dynamics it's been some time since I've received any feedback concerning volume from anyone. They have either grown tired of mentioning it or I have gotten better at controlling the drum volume. I like to think its the later because I no longer lay into my 2oo2 crashes.

  7. #32

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    Quote Originally Posted by areFish View Post
    I'm the drummer for a church that rents a multipurpose room of a new public high school. There is a 4 - 5' high stage and we set up risers in front of that, creating a 2-tier platform. For the most part we set up with drums centered on the upper stage with keyboard to one side, electric guitar and bass on the other. The lower stage will typically have 2 - 3 singers and an acoustic.

    The room is large with a high acoustic ceiling and tile floor. It is not ideal acoustically for live music, however the bodies in the congregation do improve on that. We run a snake from the stage to a soundboard (everything has to be broken down during the school year). The mix is projected through two large speakers and we use 5 floor monitors for the musicians. The drums are the only instrument not supported by the sound system, but it's not necessary.

    When selecting my current gear, which is owned by me, it was primarily for playing in this venue . My cymbal selection, which are all Paiste 2oo2s, indicate I didn't know what I was doing when I chose them, but also reveal just how versatile they can be.

    Our pastor (former youth pastor), who is also one of our musicians is not a fan of drum shields or hot rods so I do not use either. Other than an EMAD kick head and an EC2 SST FT head I use no muffling like pillows, moongel, e-rings, etc. I also use the plastic side of my kick beater for increased kick volume.

    I'm going on two years now playing each Sunday, with very few Sundays off. This has been an invaluable experience for me on many levels. I used to get feedback, from some, that my volume was too hot at the same time getting feedback, from youth mostly, that it rocked.

    I've questioned my wife many a Sunday asking for her honest opinion about the drum mix. As I've learned to play with some dynamics it's been some time since I've received any feedback concerning volume from anyone. They have either grown tired of mentioning it or I have gotten better at controlling the drum volume. I like to think its the later because I no longer lay into my 2oo2 crashes.
    Interesting. Haha when we first started at our current church, people would always come up and say "The drums and bass are too loud!". Aside from a few youths that complained about the other instruments not being loud enough We've finally got the bass player to turn it down, and I've gotten better at my dynamics and ability to play soft. I annoyingly ask people every service how it sounded, "leveled, blended, or fine" are the usual answers. I think tonight I will let my backup drummer play, while I listen to the mix. I like to do that to see what need improving, and I just like to hear my kit
    Dw | Zildjian | Pro-Mark | Evans

  8. #33

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    I dont have much to add here b/c I don't play in a church band...far from it actually...but our last 2 shows have been at the same church. Not religious affiliated shows, just a place where they let us play heavy metal.


  9. #34

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    In my late teens and early twenties I was a church drummer for the local Catholic church in my area, played in the youth group at the time. Because I could read and knew how to control my volume (imagine how loud a kit can sound in a building with a tiled floor, glass windows and a tall wooden steepled roof?), not long afterwards the group, Toongabbie Antioch, had me and a couple of others on loan to another group in Plumpton (further out west from us) and then later we were "on loan" to another group up at Kellyville, people who I still stay in touch with occasionally to this day. So I was playing in a variety of building enviroments....one moment it was only a snare, kick and hi-hats crammed in a small schoolroom, next it would be in a carpeted church with a little sound reinforcement. Well, in 1993, had been roped into a pretty cool gig.....

    Playing Sydney Town Hall for the 1993 Antioch Convention, for well over 2,500 people from all over Sydney and Australia. It was a big band...me with a five piece "rock band" core, a horn and string section and complete choir. The MD? None other than John Field, older brother of Anthony Field aka the "Blue Wiggle"....he, younger brother Anthony and older brother Paul were in The Coc.kroaches prior to that. We had 3 full weekends of rehearsals at the Austalian Catholic University, it was the biggest chart swotting period in my life up until that time. My kit set up was my first Rogers set with a few added things like a roto-tom and a timbale (an old no name snare with the bottom head and snares removed) some cowbells and a block and some windchimes, and if I remember right, my hi-hats were Sabian HH's, a Paiste 2002 Medium Ride, two Paiste 2002 crashes, a small Sabian crash and a UFIP splash. I made some good muso friends at that time, especially Marty, one of the guitarists, whom I still get an email every few months asking me to come and gig in Singapore lol (he and I had played in a funk covers band together years later).

    Well, that was in the past, but knowing how to play appropriately for the room you're in, whether you're outdoors and can blast it, or indoors in a large wooden walled hall and having to play softly, whether you pick sticks, rods, brushes or mallets to do do your job still serves me to this day, because I'm adaptable both as a drumset player and as a percussionist. Quite a few years back I played with one of my old drum teachers and good drum buddies, Luke (in fact he came my way not long back to hire some of my percussion nick-nacks for a corporate gig), he, together with a keyboardist mate Steve and myself played down at the Nan Tien Buddhist Temple down at Wollongong, probably the biggest of it's kind in the Southern Hemisphere. The reason? They were opening up a new hall and they had asked Luke, who has been a Buddhist for years, if he could get some musicians to do some low volume atmospheric music. I was the first percussionist he had in mind. He had to play a small set with rods, brushes and mallets, Steve had all his loops and keyboards going....and I was there to add all the choice spice! Lotsa bells, windchimes, small bend-pitched drums, blocks.....pity I didn't have my tablas then! So this was an occasion where you couldn't go full on, so lucky we knew how to play quietly.
    Last edited by Drumbledore; 08-31-2011 at 02:41 PM.
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  10. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by Drumbledore View Post
    In my late teens and early twenties I was a church drummer for the local Catholic church in my area, played in the youth group at the time. Because I could read and knew how to control my volume (imagine how loud a kit can sound in a building with a tiled floor, glass windows and a tall wooden steepled roof?), not long afterwards the group, Toongabbie Antioch, had me and a couple of others on loan to another group in Plumpton (further out west from us) and then later we were "on loan" to another group up at Kellyville, people who I still stay in touch with occasionally to this day. So I was playing in a variety of building enviroments....one moment it was only a snare, kick and hi-hats crammed in a small schoolroom, next it would be in a carpeted church with a little sound reinforcement. Well, in 1993, had been roped into a pretty cool gig.....

    Playing Sydney Town Hall for the 1993 Antioch Convention, for well over 2,500 people from all over Sydney and Australia. It was a big band...me with a five piece "rock band" core, a horn and string section and complete choir. The MD? None other than John Field, older brother of Anthony Field aka the "Blue Wiggle"....he, younger brother Anthony and older brother Paul were in The Coc.kroaches prior to that. We had 3 full weekends of rehearsals at the Austalian Catholic University, it was the biggest chart swotting period in my life up until that time. My kit set up was my first Rogers set with a few added things like a roto-tom and a timbale (an old no name snare with the bottom head and snares removed) some cowbells and a block and some windchimes, and if I remember right, my hi-hats were Sabian HH's, a Paiste 2002 Medium Ride, two Paiste 2002 crashes, a small Sabian crash and a UFIP splash. I made some good muso friends at that time, especially Marty, one of the guitarists, whom I still get an email every few months asking me to come and gig in Singapore lol (he and I had played in a funk covers band together years later).

    Well, that was in the past, but knowing how to play appropriately for the room you're in, whether you're outdoors and can blast it, or indoors in a large wooden walled hall and having to play softly, whether you pick sticks, rods, brushes or mallets to do do your job still serves me to this day, because I'm adaptable both as a drumset player and as a percussionist. Quite a few years back I played with one of my old drum teachers and good drum buddies, Luke (in fact he came my way not long back to hire some of my percussion nick-nacks for a corporate gig), he, together with a keyboardist mate Steve and myself played down at the Nan Tien Buddhist Temple down at Wollongong, probably the biggest of it's kind in the Southern Hemisphere. The reason? They were opening up a new hall and they had asked Luke, who has been a Buddhist for years, if he could get some musicians to do some low volume atmospheric music. I was the first percussionist he had in mind. He had to play a small set with rods, brushes and mallets, Steve had all his loops and keyboards going....and I was there to add all the choice spice! Lotsa bells, windchimes, small bend-pitched drums, blocks.....pity I didn't have my tablas then! So this was an occasion where you couldn't go full on, so lucky we knew how to play quietly.
    Wow, thanks for sharing! I never really considered how important the ability to play quiet is. I try to be very versatile, but when I think of a versatile drummer, I just think of styles, I never really thought about the dynamics part of it. Guess that's one more thing I've benefited from while playing in a small church
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  11. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by marko138 View Post
    I dont have much to add here b/c I don't play in a church band...far from it actually...but our last 2 shows have been at the same church. Not religious affiliated shows, just a place where they let us play heavy metal.

    That is a really cool thing for a church to do. I like the idea.

    A couple of weeks ago, we were hired to play in the local Sears store.... during store hours. We played a mix of country and gospel, and it went off very well. I was very anxious about the whole thing, being mainly a gospel type group playing out in the general public. It was well received. I wasted a whole lot of worry on nothing.
    Last edited by ThePloughman; 08-31-2011 at 06:11 PM.

  12. #37

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    That's so awesome, marko!
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  13. #38

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    Quote Originally Posted by marko138 View Post
    I dont have much to add here b/c I don't play in a church band...far from it actually...but our last 2 shows have been at the same church. Not religious affiliated shows, just a place where they let us play heavy metal.

    That's pretty cool of them Marko, most churches I know wouldn't allow that haha.
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  14. #39

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    Quote Originally Posted by 2slow View Post
    Talking about a shield, ive got a story for y'all. started playing at a church and a couple weeks in was told we were gonna build a shield to match the oak blinder/rail thingies. I was like why ? Then get this now some of the older ladies said " it looks like a rock concert with all those drums" not because it was loud !? So the church spent a good bit on this shield to hide my beautiful drums ?? I have a picture somewhere ill post later.
    I somehow didn't see this comment Depending on the shield, I like em for the most part. I think my shield really compliments my drums
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  15. #40

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    My good friend belongs to a church (I don't belong to any church) and they wanted to have a little jazz group play a few times a year, so he asked me if I'd do it. I love to play and if I have to sit through a few church services in order to play I'm okay with that. The church has an electronic set and he said I could use it. I looked it over for five minutes and I have no idea how to even turn it on so I bring my kit. I'm used to playing with finesse and volume is not a problem for me, but the two saxes get a lot of grief from the churchgoers for volume so I have plenty of room for dynamics. But the key (as mentioned by ploughman) is learning to play effectively at all dynamics. Every exercise I do I play at least once through at pianissimo and playing soft is something I'm good at.

    I guess it would behoove me to learn how to work electronic drums, just in case.

  16. #41
    ThePloughman Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by fjsjr45 View Post

    I guess it would behoove me to learn how to work electronic drums, just in case.
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  17. #42

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ciz View Post
    Hmm thanks for the information gives me something to think about. I've also got to get a board for em haha. No clue whatsoever about that but they're paying for that, not me thankfully
    I just picked up the PV6, holy cow did peavey do such a good job with its PV line of boards. they make a PV10
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  18. #43

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    Quote Originally Posted by fjsjr45 View Post
    My good friend belongs to a church (I don't belong to any church) and they wanted to have a little jazz group play a few times a year, so he asked me if I'd do it. I love to play and if I have to sit through a few church services in order to play I'm okay with that. The church has an electronic set and he said I could use it. I looked it over for five minutes and I have no idea how to even turn it on so I bring my kit. I'm used to playing with finesse and volume is not a problem for me, but the two saxes get a lot of grief from the churchgoers for volume so I have plenty of room for dynamics. But the key (as mentioned by ploughman) is learning to play effectively at all dynamics. Every exercise I do I play at least once through at pianissimo and playing soft is something I'm good at.

    I guess it would behoove me to learn how to work electronic drums, just in case.
    I would say really master the art of dynamics as much as possible on an acoustic set, using all sorts of implements....sticks, brushes, mallets and rods, before moving onto electronics.
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  19. #44

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    It's very cool of them. I don't know the folks in charge but they are clearly good people. They hosted a 3 day hardcore/metal fest last weekend. We played Sunday evening. Was a good time.

  20. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by Drumbledore View Post
    I would say really master the art of dynamics as much as possible on an acoustic set, using all sorts of implements....sticks, brushes, mallets and rods, before moving onto electronics.

    It's really more a matter of convenience of not having to haul the drums rather than the dynamics. But I'm not really interested in the e-drums anyway so I imagine I'll keep on carrying drums. Still, I should at least know how to turn the darned things on. You know, in a pinch.

  21. #46

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    For guys looking for a decent drum mic set, Musicians Friend is currently running a "Stupid Deal of the Day" on a set of EV drum mics. $199 for a set selling elsewhere online for $459. Basically it's 3 tom/snare mics, a bass drum mic and a single overhead condenser. It's not "ideal" but the mics individually aren't terrible, and for what it's worth, I'd rather use an SM57 on snare anyway, so you'd have enough for a 5 piece kit if you only used one overhead. It's supposed to be pretty decent.

    Out of curiosity, what are people using for mics?
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  22. #47

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    Quote Originally Posted by Zeta View Post
    I just picked up the PV6, holy cow did peavey do such a good job with its PV line of boards. they make a PV10
    Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely check it out My ex church just got a new board, so I'm trying to get them to donate their old soundcraft
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  23. #48

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    Yes, this is an important thread, because church drummers face a lot of issues that drummers in other venues don't. Sticky it and keep it!

    Playing in church is the most frustrating, and at the same time most rewarding experience there can be. We will ALWAYS deal with the volume issue until we die. No one is ever gonna be totally happy that you are there and what you are playing. It will always be a life lesson for you in humility and patience. Church music will never be the wellspring of creativity and perfect expression that it should be - deal with it! People working in other areas of the church have their challenges, too.

    You have to learn dynamics, listening, and tuning skills. I use my double kicks and my China cymbal in worship. How? Because I play them at the right moment, and at the right volume. Personally, you will have to learn when to keep silent, and when to speak up for yourself. If you don't fight back a little, you will end up in that drum room with foam pads on your drums playing with brushes - or worse, that instrument of the Antichrist himself: Electronic pads, which never get turned up in the mix over the sound of the stick hitting the rubber, because Joe-Bob's 'ministry' is running sound board, when he's not selling storm doors the rest of the week. One day, frustrated, and facing the possible 'drum booth scenario,' I said to the worship leader, "You want Contemporary Music? You're gonna have to live with Contemporary VOLUME." He got the point.

    I switched to my 18" kick drum and Mahogany snare, and it is worth it to see the smile on the sound man's face. I can't convince them that the plexi whale tank exacerbates volume problems because I can't hear the room volume and have to gauge my volume by my monitor, which is turned up so I can hear it above the drums, and. . . I fold it up each week, and sometimes, everyone 'forgets' to put it back up for some reason. . .

    Despite the frustrations, it is very rewarding. Glen Kaiser of Rez band once said that if you play every Sunday, you will play in front of a lot more people in your life and affect more lives than your 'Christian rock band' ever will. I didn't really think it was true 20 years ago, but now, I do.
    And the trees are all kept equal by hatchet, axe, and saw. . .

  24. #49

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    Quote Originally Posted by =^-..-^= View Post
    Yes, this is an important thread, because church drummers face a lot of issues that drummers in other venues don't. Sticky it and keep it!

    Playing in church is the most frustrating, and at the same time most rewarding experience there can be. We will ALWAYS deal with the volume issue until we die. No one is ever gonna be totally happy that you are there and what you are playing. It will always be a life lesson for you in humility and patience. Church music will never be the wellspring of creativity and perfect expression that it should be - deal with it! People working in other areas of the church have their challenges, too.

    You have to learn dynamics, listening, and tuning skills. I use my double kicks and my China cymbal in worship. How? Because I play them at the right moment, and at the right volume. Personally, you will have to learn when to keep silent, and when to speak up for yourself. If you don't fight back a little, you will end up in that drum room with foam pads on your drums playing with brushes - or worse, that instrument of the Antichrist himself: Electronic pads, which never get turned up in the mix over the sound of the stick hitting the rubber, because Joe-Bob's 'ministry' is running sound board, when he's not selling storm doors the rest of the week. One day, frustrated, and facing the possible 'drum booth scenario,' I said to the worship leader, "You want Contemporary Music? You're gonna have to live with Contemporary VOLUME." He got the point.

    I switched to my 18" kick drum and Mahogany snare, and it is worth it to see the smile on the sound man's face. I can't convince them that the plexi whale tank exacerbates volume problems because I can't hear the room volume and have to gauge my volume by my monitor, which is turned up so I can hear it above the drums, and. . . I fold it up each week, and sometimes, everyone 'forgets' to put it back up for some reason. . .

    Despite the frustrations, it is very rewarding. Glen Kaiser of Rez band once said that if you play every Sunday, you will play in front of a lot more people in your life and affect more lives than your 'Christian rock band' ever will. I didn't really think it was true 20 years ago, but now, I do.
    I really like what you said about the life lesson. Thank you for your post.

  25. #50

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    one of the best drummers ive ever seen live was this 15/16 yr old kid in a church in So Cal.
    5th or 6th time i ever set foot in a church (including 1 marriage)
    and that cat still inspires me!
    that choir sang one step up from what that kid was layin down.
    best damn concert i ever saw

    SUNRISE......!
    Last edited by kyle102565; 09-04-2011 at 04:13 PM.

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