Uproar, roars into Tampa

Summer touring season keeps rolling right along.  Tampa played host to Rockstar Energy Drink's second festival tour, Uproar.  Playing counterpoint to Mayhem, earlier this year, playing the main stage was yet another ddrum artist, John Humphrey with Seether! John is a rock drummer of the highest order.  Seether takes the stage as a power trio these days, which really allows John to shine.  He anchors the band while spicing up the arrangements with well-placed tom hits and tasteful double pedal work.  The song is the number one priority, and John lays it down with authority.  The set was lean, and powerful, with radio-hit after radio hit, including the brand new single Tonight, and their previous single Country Song.  This was John's 6th show, on his all-new Dios kit.  For this tour, we custom-fitted a red cherry sparkle kit, with black-nickel hardware.  The hardware made the already rich painted finish even deeper and more intense.  John augmented his usual one rack, two floor set up, with a 14" floor tom to the left.  This added a bit of dimension to grooves and fills. Ever the explorer, John has 3 different snares on this tour.  In addition to his signature snare, he is also rocking the Dios Bamboo, and the Dios Zebra.  He choose the bamboo for this show, and it cracked through the PA like a metal drum, but with added warmth and punch, that can only be had from a wood shell.

John Humphrey's new Uproar tour kit.

Here it is, the first shot of John's new kit for Uproar.  Dios with a twist.  We added black-nickel hardware to match John's soon-to-be-released signature snare. 

Uproar will be rolling through Tampa on September 3rd, stay tuned for more pics and maybe a little video of this beast in action!

SEETHER CONTINUES THEIR DOMINANCE ON THE ROCK CHARTS

The latest in Seether news, courtesy of Shauna O'Donnell at Muen Magazine:

(August 11, 2011 – New York, NY) – South African rockers Seether are proving to be juggernauts in the United States as they continue to dominate the radio airwaves.  Currently, the band has two singles from their latest Wind-Up Records release, Holding Onto Strings Better Left To Fray, sitting in the Top 15 on the Active Rock chart and is the only artist to hold that distinction.  The debut single, “Country Song,” is hovering at #9 this week after spending 11 weeks in the #1 spot which is the longest reign at #1 for any single this year so far.  It is also the most spun Active Rock record of 2011 to date. “Country Song” is the fourth #1 single of the band’s career at Active Rock following in the footsteps of “Fake It” (Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces) which was #1 for 13 weeks, “Remedy” (Karma and Effect) which held the top spot for 11 weeks and “Fine Again” (Disclaimer) which was the group’s first ever #1 hit.  The follow-up single, “Tonight,” is making a run to the top of the chart to pick up where “Country Song” left off. It is #14 with a bullet after only 4 weeks since its release to radio. Holding Onto Strings Better Left To Fray was released in May and debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 and is the band’s highest album premier to date.  

Seether is also gearing up to head out on the road this month.  They will be headlining this year’s Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival playing alongside Avenged Sevenfold, and Three Days Grace among other acts. The tour kicks off at the end of the month on August 26^th in Camden, NJ and wraps up October 16^th in Las Vegas, NV with stops in markets such as Toronto, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and San Francisco to name a few. Tickets for the all-day Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival as well as more information can be found at www.RockstarUproar.com and www.LiveNation.com.  

Looking back on Seether's career path, it's not surprising that the band has progressed to this juncture. The band has sold millions of albums to date worldwide and are mainstays in the touring circuit averaging more than 275 performances per year. They have had 10 #1 singles and 16 Top 5 hits across multiple formats at radio.  Originally founded in Johannesburg, South Africa, by Shaun Morgan and Dale Stewart, Seether made its initial impact on U.S. hearts and eardrums with 2002's Disclaimer. The album's first single, "Fine Again" was a pensive ballad that resonated with fans worldwide. Seether gained nationwide live exposure with a spot on that year's Ozzfest tour. Seether rerecorded the acoustic track "Broken" as an electric version featuring Evanescence vocalist Amy Lee. "Broken" became a massive international hit for the group. In 2004, Seether remixed and remastered Disclaimer, adding eight new songs and new cover art to create the two-disc set Disclaimer II, which went Platinum. In 2005, Seether released Karma & Effect, which is certified gold and followed that release up in 2007 with the now Platinum Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces. The album was reissued in 2009 with a cover of George Michael's "Careless Whisper," and became another successful single release for the band. 

Seether is Shaun Morgan (Guitars/Vocals), Dale Stewart (Bass) and John Humphrey (Drums). 


On the ddrum side of the world, we have been ptting together a very special dios kit for John's upcoming run on the Uproar tour.  Pics coming soon!