small zeppelin
February 23, 2015 10:00 PM   Subscribe

Kashmir + The Ocean performed by 50-plus percussive pre-teens. Straight outa Louisville. Note the seriousness of purpose.
posted by philip-random (38 comments total) 41 users marked this as a favorite
 
I was smiling at 10 seconds in, laughing once I noticed the kid with the hat, and about on the floor with glee when I saw the kids in the back waving their arms... what a delight... Thanks...

it was a long day, 7 clients, all of whom needed MUCH attention, a friend who had to put her pup down, a couple of other hard things.... Thanks MetaFilter for allowing some light hearted stuff, sometimes it's exactly what we need...
posted by HuronBob at 10:14 PM on February 23, 2015 [5 favorites]


oh... that was.. that was AWESOME!

And as HuronBob pointed out, deeply needed (yeah, had one of those days myself).

Will say that I did not expect Immigrant Song as well -- just about fell outta my chair when they did that.

Loved how the kid way over on stage right was jamming out, also noticed the young girl up front was wanting to cut loose, too. Love 'em or hate 'em, Zeppelin still entrances folk.

Can we have more of this?
posted by drfu at 12:09 AM on February 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


oh so much teh awesome. Grown man with giggles awesome.
posted by Sintram at 12:18 AM on February 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


They're all amazing, but I think it's no coincidence the kid in the Oregon shirt + the tall girl next to him are center frame. Along with the drummer, they're the main ingredient here.
posted by mannequito at 12:26 AM on February 24, 2015


Holy shit!

Just heard this on BBC radio!

Oh, I love you metafilter, you keep me au courant.

Turns out the video went up in November, has had a million views, and Jimmy Page linked to it(!).
posted by drfu at 12:26 AM on February 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


50-plus
I only see 23 kids.

Anyway, this is 100% certified awesome.
posted by brokkr at 1:47 AM on February 24, 2015


OMFG. Be sure to check out the Crazy Train video as well.
posted by brokkr at 1:48 AM on February 24, 2015 [4 favorites]


Yeah, what a tonic at the end of a long Monday! Thanks! Big smiles here.
posted by mosk at 2:18 AM on February 24, 2015


x2 on Crazy Train! Their Hey Pocky-Way kicks ass, too! These little guys and gals ROCK!
posted by mosk at 2:25 AM on February 24, 2015


This has been floating around Facebook this week, love it. Especially the two drummers on the far back right; it might take two kids to equal one John Bonham but they're totally killing it.
posted by octothorpe at 4:20 AM on February 24, 2015 [3 favorites]


That was fan-freaking-tastic, but as always don't read YouTube comments.
posted by yhbc at 5:18 AM on February 24, 2015


Most of all it is the innocence of the children, their talents and trying and the dedication of their teacher (who can be heard starting the piece), that delight me so much about this. The racial mix a wonderful thing. My new appreciation of Kashmir's composition. That girl drummer keeping it real through the whole thing. She's awesome.
posted by rmmcclay at 5:19 AM on February 24, 2015


Wow, was everybody's Monday garbage yesterday or what? (Mine was too. I care not to linger.) And damn - this just made me run down the stairs and make my kids watch it before they got on the bus.
posted by Nanukthedog at 5:22 AM on February 24, 2015 [2 favorites]


I'M SORRY I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE AWESOME.
posted by clvrmnky at 5:22 AM on February 24, 2015 [3 favorites]


I think my favorite thing about this may be that the reason it went viral is that the media picked it up after Jimmy Page posted it to his Facebook page.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:28 AM on February 24, 2015


Also, I'll point out that they finish up with The Immigrant Song, so this is like a perfect percussion trifecta.
posted by clvrmnky at 5:29 AM on February 24, 2015


This is fantastic. When they slide into the 15/8 riff in The Ocean it's just beautiful. And the kid playing the giant bass in the Crazy Train video is great, too. I love this stuff.

Seeing kids play drums without hearing protection, though, always bugs me a little. A rock drum kit is brutally loud. I know more than one person who developed awful hearing loss at a young age from drumming. Although to be fair I guess lots of them have longish hair and might be hiding ear plugs. But probably not.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:32 AM on February 24, 2015 [2 favorites]


The random head bobs as the kids get into their various parts really is terrific.
posted by mfu at 5:44 AM on February 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wow, that brought a smile to my face that it dearly needed. Between this and House of Bricks, I'm feeling a ton better.

Monday was brutal, today is gonna be worse. Meh, what's the worst thing they can do?
posted by Sphinx at 5:54 AM on February 24, 2015


No Shoes
No Sheet Music
No Problem
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 6:21 AM on February 24, 2015


This is pretty awesome. What a great teacher they have.
posted by Librarypt at 6:43 AM on February 24, 2015


Aw, Lord, that's lovely. I hope word is getting back to the kids of just how joyfully this has been received round the world.

It makes you realise how important John Bonham's thunderous drumming was to LedZep's sound too. Somewhere, I'd like to think his ghost is smiling.
posted by Paul Slade at 7:36 AM on February 24, 2015


I love this.
I love the Crazy Train adaptation (although, I wish they had the fill right after the head, and I say this only because I've spent countless hours trying to get that right). And if you like Crazy Train, you might also like the Tufts Beelzebubs version, a cappella.

I really like the joy people get in making music by hitting things. Heck, I like little things hitting each other (oblig).

My alma matter has a Can Consortium that does this kind of thing.

And what it comes down to is Gamelan.
You know, with awesome hats. And puppets.

Or taiko drumming. You know, the kind that makes your rib cage rattle. Because I like little people hitting things.

Did I say taiko, because I think I meant drum line. Yeah, maybe drum line.

Drum line? No, I think I meant pipe band.

No, that's not right. Handbells. You know, crazy people like the Raleigh Ringers (although they could use more cowbell). Or some kids who play Crazy Train on handbells (albeit sedately - they are handbells).

The point is this:
Humans consistently make music in ways that are clearly inspired by smoking pot or by boredom or both.
"Lets make a whole set of brass bells and hit them with sticks while we make shadow puppets."
"These whistles aren't doing it - let's stick them into a bag made from a animal skin, then we can be heard from miles away."
"Let's take oil drums and hammer them into instruments."
"Let's cut up a bunch of metals bars and hit them with sticks."
"How can we get an anvil involved?"
"Anvil? No I meant typewriter (because it's funny, that's why)."
"Let's put a whole bunch of whistles into a box and have choir boys jump up and down on bellows for air!"

Don't think I'm down on these instruments (heck, I play a weird amalgamation of 3 unified bugles of beaten brass that comically I manage to make somewhat reasonable sounding music by blowing carefully times raspberries). It's quite the opposite. I'm all for the people who conceive of ensemble music on this scale and have the patience, ability and foresight to share the joy of making music with kids for the world to enjoy. I say foresight because without this, music dies (honestly, I get sad when I see someone with a lip piercing because I think that's one fewer sax player (at least not without an ancillary whistle - hey I might be on to something)).
And this goes across all the arts. Music is my bag. Dance is my daughter's bag. Regardless of our ability to produce arts we are usually able to appreciate it and if we can't appreciate it, we certainly shouldn't get in the way of it. If you harsh someone's mellow, you might be stepping in the way of the next Georgia O'Keefe or Terry Gilliam.
posted by plinth at 7:39 AM on February 24, 2015 [13 favorites]


Those kids are killing it! The two on the drums were amazing...most children don't seem to get hanging out behind the beat, but they did. Very nice channeling of Bonzo.
posted by notsnot at 7:45 AM on February 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


NOW how do you feel about the "No Xylophonist Left Behind" program?
posted by spock at 8:08 AM on February 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


most children don't seem to get hanging out behind the beat

Few adult drummers do as well. I have a friend who had a hard rock cover band for about twenty years. He said he had one drummer that could do it on a consistent basis. You can cover Zep and hit it square on the beat, but it lacks the swagger and slink element. I understand Bonham picked it up from listening to Motown as a teen. He gave Zeppelin not just a thunderous beat but a GROOVE. Very few of their peers had that and it's partly why that music endures.

Obligatory account of Terry Manning trying to place Bonzo's mikes, via Gov't Mule.
posted by Ber at 8:10 AM on February 24, 2015 [4 favorites]


The whole thing is so much fun, but oh my god their smiles at the end when they finish! Terrific.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 8:15 AM on February 24, 2015


I love this. Absolutely made my day.
posted by aught at 10:08 AM on February 24, 2015


Stupid ear-to-ear grin on my face. The Kids ARE Alright!
posted by TDavis at 10:33 AM on February 24, 2015


Wonderful. In addition to all the elements that others have pointed out, there's something about seeing the car lights passing by through the window that adds another layer for me.
posted by benito.strauss at 10:39 AM on February 24, 2015


Ber: "He gave Zeppelin not just a thunderous beat but a GROOVE."

I may have told this story before, but...
When I was in high school, our jazz band went to see a master class held by Branford Marsalis. Jazz bands from around the area crowded a public school theater, and a drummer, guitarist, horn, and sax player from that school were set up on the stage. They played a pre-arranged tune, then Marsalis went to work with each player on their technique and feel on the song.

When he got to the drummer, he instructed this kid to play some quarter notes on the ride cymbal. "No, no, no...*swing* 'em!" It might have been staged beforehand, but of course the drummer resisted, "You can't swing quarter notes!" which, technically, is true. He tried anyway.

Marsalis took a drumstick and started knocking out quarter notes on the ride from the wrong side of the drumkit. "I'm not picking on you, but these are your quarter notes." They had the same technically correct, but non-swing feel.

Then he said, "here's some swing quarter notes."

And damn if those quarter notes didn't just fucking GROOVE! Slinky, swinging with a swagger that was utterly exotic to us teenage jazz wannabes.
posted by notsnot at 11:10 AM on February 24, 2015 [3 favorites]


Oh my goodness. Absolutely wonderful.
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 2:16 PM on February 24, 2015


Haha, sounds like a fun time.
posted by gregerrr at 4:48 PM on February 24, 2015




This is what the internet is for!
posted by DiscourseMarker at 8:06 PM on February 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


thanks all

I gave almost no thought at all to posting this. It just felt necessary. HuronBob said it best, I think ... or certainly first.

I was smiling at 10 seconds in,


joy is good.
posted by philip-random at 11:16 PM on February 24, 2015


joy
posted by philip-random at 11:23 PM on February 24, 2015


This goes on to my funeral play list. I say this truthfully, that is so much fun.
posted by jadepearl at 5:50 AM on February 25, 2015 [1 favorite]


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