Robbie France’s BlogBroadcaster, Musician, Author

Just posted a video on the Robbie France YouTube Channel.

It’s from the 1984 Canterbury Tour I did with Diamond Head. In particular, it’s from the gig we did in Leicester. Here’s a bit of background:

I think Sean & Brian liked the fact they had good players in the band. They relished the fact that no matter what they threw at us, we came up with the goods. This intro… predominantly 7/4, was something we threw together at the rehearsal studio. Once I’d moved to Stourbridge and was determined to make a real go of the situation, Sean & Brian seemed to really trust me with ideas and were less wary in general about experimenting.

So a couple of quick blasts. Then the same with a few long tom rolls. These were the things I loved about Billy Cobham as a kid. Those rolls which just seemed to have no ‘timing’, but a beautiful descending note. (I do the same in the Robbie France Drum Tutorial Video Part 2. At the end of the middle part, to reintroduce the build up melody.)

Then 7/4 melody over 4/4 drums. Back to 7/4 with the band. A couple of fills, a nod of the head to Billy Cobham & Lenny White…And back to a straight 4/4 a ‘Highway Star’ type snare thing, a quick bash and there yas go! Intro. Simple.

LINKS:

• Robbie France Videos on YouTube
• Robbie France Drum Tutorial Part 2 (Video)
  

This solo is from the Diamond Head University Tour 1984, recorded at Leicester, taken from ‘Heaven From Hell’.

A bit of background:

Sean & Brian were well aware that I could `play a bit’…it was Sean’s idea to do the drum solo half way through the set. One of our most popular tracks was ‘Heaven From Hell’, that’s where we chose to introduce the fans to my style of playing.

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