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The magic of Paicey

Bits and pieces (presumably, the good ones) from Ian Paice’s drum clinic held at the Adams Drummersfestival in March 2014. Young and old drummers alike, take note!

And an oldie but goody — his clinic at the Bass’n’Drum Festival in Stockholm back in 2005:


Thanks to Marco van de Meulenhof and Lasse Niemela for the videos.



11 Comments to “The magic of Paicey”:

  1. 1
    henrik says:

    Easily the best rockdrummer of all time.
    Bonham had better drumsolos. But Bonham was way too heavy. You can’t listen to a Zep-record two times in a row.

    Paice on the other hand plays w/ a light swing.

    From around Stormbringer to Malice in Wonderland, Paicey is, in Bolin’s words: “Unbelievable!”

    Paice’s playing on Coming Home and the outro to
    Drifter represent the best rockdrumming of all time!

  2. 2
    byron says:

    Yes he’s the best.He can swing,groove,play hard,jazz and funk….he can play everything..and he has a sound of his own..
    never heard another drummer playing “Burn” just like him

  3. 3
    De Pourcq Michel says:

    I was there, it was great!
    Took a bunch of pictures (I was on stage).
    If you want to, I can mail them….
    cheers,
    Michel

  4. 4
    Les Hedger says:

    Easily the best! His solo’s are never boring. For number 2 I’d pick Charlie Watts of the stones.

  5. 5
    MacGregor says:

    henrik @ 1 – Maybe Paice is your ‘favourite’ drummer, put simply there is no ‘best’ in rock drummers. Paice is a wonderful drummer of many styles, but there are so many great drummers. The progressive rock & rock ‘fusion’ drummers, are on the next level again. It would have been interesting to hear Paice play with some of the more syncopated bands of decades gone by. I am sure he could cut it no doubt. In my younger days of rock music awakening, Paice, Bonham & others from the mainstream bands blew my mind, still do to this day! But when I discovered the prog & fusion bands, my perception of a ‘complete’ or ‘best’ drummer shifted dramatically. Each to their own as we say! Cheers.

  6. 6
    Chris Mallinson says:

    As far as im concerned he was THE star of California Jam.

    His drumming and endurance are awesome, and as for showmanship endures at a high tempo throughtout the gig, the glory only being stolen by RB when he goes on a rampage.
    Would love to see him do some gigs in UK with Purple tribute bands as he does on the continent

  7. 7
    nupsi59 says:

    I used to say: Paicy is the Hendrix on drums!

    Have a nice Day!

  8. 8
    henrik says:

    You most certainly is able to conclude that someone is better than someone else.

    Ronaldo was just given the Ballon d’Or. There ia a reason for that!

    Buddy Rich is the best drummer of all time. There is a reason for that!

    It’s easy to play syncopated fusionmusic. You just need to do yor math homework!

    What is more profoundly “difficult” and musically much more challenging than fusion-drumming, is exactly what Paice does more or less on his own from around Stormbringer to Malice in Wonderland.

    He puts the syncopations WITHIN the basic rock drumming. And he was always able to do so right on the spot, listen to Space Trucking from Denmak 1972.

    On the “rolling on”-stanza from Drifter, check out his syncopations on the hi-hat/bassdrum. He almost stops the music, but still is able to carry the rhythm.

    The 3 liveconcerts from MK III demonstrate that Paice has in spades what Bonham never had, ie the ability to groove in a very complex rhythmstructures within common time.

    And simple, yet very difficult rockdrumming, was never better than on Coming Home.

    There is a reason Paul McCartney hired Paicey for his “Live at The Cavern Club”-concert.

  9. 9
    MacGregor says:

    Chris @ 6 – Yes, Ian Paice was awesome at The Jam, but Blackmore was on fire big time throughout the gig & as we all know, so was Jon Lord. That trio as always, the backbone of Purple! On a humorous level, that little ‘stuff up’ in Space Truckin’ always raises a smile.
    Paice coming back in on the ‘off’ beat so to speak, Blackmore & Hughes turning & walking towards him with a smile or two, & then Paice holds it back a second to get back on time! Classic moment indeed! Also when they kick back in after the Blackmore ‘solo’ guitar section, someone counts Paice in, Hughes possibly, with Blackmore also watching & waiting, another classic moment from a great live concert! Cheers.

  10. 10
    Svante Axbacke says:

    It’s all opinions. Buddy Rich is the greatest drummer to a lot of people but that does not make it a fact. And I don’t think Paul McCartney set out to hire “the world’s greatest drummer” for his project.

  11. 11
    henrik says:

    It’s actually Blackmore, who misses the cue on the “come on”-stanza from Space Trucking on Cal Jam. Listen carefully and you’ll notice he doesn’t start the riff on the “1” but “the 1 and.”

    The rest is right on the money. Listen to Coverdale who follows Paicey.

    Also notice how Paice makes use of his floor tom to give the illusion of two-bass drums in the build-up.

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