Keith Moon is a great pick! I saw Keith play with The Who when he was still in his prime (1968). For sheer inventiveness, endurance (after the show a friend mentioned how cool it was to watch a drum solo that went on for the entire show, lol), and for his wild, marvelously distinctive style, Keith was an incredible drummer. Technically speaking, he has been criticized widely as being sloppy and not always having good tingeing. But who could have been a better fit for The Who? None that I know of!
So then, this illustrates the futility of naming a "best" drummer (or guitar player, or whatever.) Perhaps Keith was one of the best or maybe he wasn't. But he sure was one of my favorites, and definitely the most memorable of all those I have seen.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Having said Matt Cameron, i still dont think he's suited to Pearl Jam! Jack Irons is PJ's drummer to me
I was hoping someone would say DG and MC!!!! I think we're on the same page about MC being PJ's drummer. JI is THE PJ drummer. I don't know if this is true or not, but I saw something that said DG tried out to be PJ's drummer at one point. I don't think DG is suited for PJ, but that doesn't make him any less of the awesome drummer he is. As much as DG is the Foo Fighters frontman, which is what more people know him as, I will always see him as Nirvana's drummer. He's a great frontman, but he's Nirvana's drummer. When someone mentions DG, I immediately think, Nirvana drummer, and Foo Fighters' front man kind of flies over my head. If that makes sense
Having said Matt Cameron, i still dont think he's suited to Pearl Jam! Jack Irons is PJ's drummer to me
I was hoping someone would say DG and MC!!!! I think we're on the same page about MC being PJ's drummer. JI is THE PJ drummer. I don't know if this is true or not, but I saw something that said DG tried out to be PJ's drummer at one point. I don't think DG is suited for PJ, but that doesn't make him any less of the awesome drummer he is. As much as DG is the Foo Fighters frontman, which is what more people know him as, I will always see him as Nirvana's drummer. He's a great frontman, but he's Nirvana's drummer. When someone mentions DG, I immediately think, Nirvana drummer, and Foo Fighters' front man kind of flies over my head. If that makes sense
Dave Grohl has mentioned that Prince is a better drummer than he is.
IDK about the best drummer of all time, but the following are my all time favorite drummers (& with the exception of Bonzo, I've been fortunate enough to see them all play live multiple times):
Bonzo
Carey
Mike Bordin
Josh Freese
Danny Heifetz
John Stanier (love him more & more every time I see him - Battles is unreal)
Grohl (Songs for the Deaf and Them Crooked Vultures are unreal, as well as the (re-recorded) self titled Killing Joke)
Matt Cameron (for his Soundgarden work... while I do love what he brings to live songs like Last Exit & others, his drumming for PJ is pedestrian as compared to what he did w/ SG - different bands, different styles, it is what it is)
Dave Lombardo
Love Peart, but I'm not into Rush enough for him to make my list. He's definitely more skilled than some (most?) of whom I've mentioned, but I'm not enough of a Rush fan for him to make my list. Same with Keith Moon... as much as I respect the Who, I just never got that deep into their catalog.
Honorable mentions to Sean Kinney, Tim Alexander & John Theodore.
Having said Matt Cameron, i still dont think he's suited to Pearl Jam! Jack Irons is PJ's drummer to me
I was hoping someone would say DG and MC!!!! I think we're on the same page about MC being PJ's drummer. JI is THE PJ drummer. I don't know if this is true or not, but I saw something that said DG tried out to be PJ's drummer at one point. I don't think DG is suited for PJ, but that doesn't make him any less of the awesome drummer he is. As much as DG is the Foo Fighters frontman, which is what more people know him as, I will always see him as Nirvana's drummer. He's a great frontman, but he's Nirvana's drummer. When someone mentions DG, I immediately think, Nirvana drummer, and Foo Fighters' front man kind of flies over my head. If that makes sense
Dave Grohl has mentioned that Prince is a better drummer than he is.
Dave Grohls whole shtick is about being modest.
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
Having said Matt Cameron, i still dont think he's suited to Pearl Jam! Jack Irons is PJ's drummer to me
I was hoping someone would say DG and MC!!!! I think we're on the same page about MC being PJ's drummer. JI is THE PJ drummer. I don't know if this is true or not, but I saw something that said DG tried out to be PJ's drummer at one point. I don't think DG is suited for PJ, but that doesn't make him any less of the awesome drummer he is. As much as DG is the Foo Fighters frontman, which is what more people know him as, I will always see him as Nirvana's drummer. He's a great frontman, but he's Nirvana's drummer. When someone mentions DG, I immediately think, Nirvana drummer, and Foo Fighters' front man kind of flies over my head. If that makes sense
Dave Grohl has mentioned that Prince is a better drummer than he is.
Dave Grohls whole shtick is about being modest.
No way I put him and Cameron at the upper echelon I will tell you that.
I love Grohl's feel. Just brutal. His tone on In Utero is one of my favourites. Nothing subtle but so fast. NIN sounded great with him on the kit for most of With Teeth.
Stars are suns to other people.
Wellington 1998 London 2007 Brisbane 2009 Stockholm 2012
Amsterdam 1 & 2 2014 EV Dublin 2017 Milan 2018 Padova 2018 Boston 2 2018 Auckland 1 & 2 2024
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
I've been getting into Porcupine Tree this last year and holy hell Gavin Harrison is ridiculous. Absolute precision and his mastery of subdivisions and polyrhythms is insane. Fast becoming one of my very favourites, my top is Danny Carey and Jimmy Chamberlin is a close second. Style and the songs themselves play a big part in bias though. Tomas Haake I've found is amazing, Carter Beauford blew my mind and I haven't found anyone that sits as far back of the beat as Eric Kretz. Josh Freese is the most versatile I've seen. Wish I'd seen Slayer back in the day as from what I've heard Lombardo seems like the GOAT for thrash. PJ (and all the big 4 for that matter) were blessed with amazing sticksmen, no matter how stylistically different they were. Appreciate Krusen a lot more now, the non Jack No Code and Yield songs would have sounded great as they are the most similar for mine.
Post edited by JT167846 on
Stars are suns to other people.
Wellington 1998 London 2007 Brisbane 2009 Stockholm 2012
Amsterdam 1 & 2 2014 EV Dublin 2017 Milan 2018 Padova 2018 Boston 2 2018 Auckland 1 & 2 2024
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Best drummers I've ever seen in concert. Jon Theodore-Mars Volta and Queens of The Stone Age Julian Dorio-The Whigs (Maybe the best) Dave Grohl-Them Crooked Vultures Carter Beuford-DMB Jimmy Chamberlin-Smashing Pumpkins Glenn Kotche-Wilco Bryan Devendorf-The National Patrick Hallahan-My Morning Jacket
Comments
Sammy Davis Jr.
Dude could play.
Bill Ward
Matt fucking Cameron (the amount of songs he knows off the stop of his head is insane)
Kieth Moon
Moon
Pert
Beauford
Keith Moon
John Bonham
Copeland
Peart
IDK about the best drummer of all time, but the following are my all time favorite drummers (& with the exception of Bonzo, I've been fortunate enough to see them all play live multiple times):
Bonzo
Carey
Mike Bordin
Josh Freese
Danny Heifetz
John Stanier (love him more & more every time I see him - Battles is unreal)
Grohl (Songs for the Deaf and Them Crooked Vultures are unreal, as well as the (re-recorded) self titled Killing Joke)
Matt Cameron (for his Soundgarden work... while I do love what he brings to live songs like Last Exit & others, his drumming for PJ is pedestrian as compared to what he did w/ SG - different bands, different styles, it is what it is)
Dave Lombardo
Love Peart, but I'm not into Rush enough for him to make my list. He's definitely more skilled than some (most?) of whom I've mentioned, but I'm not enough of a Rush fan for him to make my list. Same with Keith Moon... as much as I respect the Who, I just never got that deep into their catalog.
Honorable mentions to Sean Kinney, Tim Alexander & John Theodore.
(Edited to include Heifetz & Lombardo)
Wellington 1998
London 2007
Brisbane 2009
Stockholm 2012
EV Dublin 2017
Milan 2018
Padova 2018
Boston 2 2018
Auckland 1 & 2 2024
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
Wellington 1998
London 2007
Brisbane 2009
Stockholm 2012
EV Dublin 2017
Milan 2018
Padova 2018
Boston 2 2018
Auckland 1 & 2 2024
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Jon Theodore-Mars Volta and Queens of The Stone Age
Julian Dorio-The Whigs (Maybe the best)
Dave Grohl-Them Crooked Vultures
Carter Beuford-DMB
Jimmy Chamberlin-Smashing Pumpkins
Glenn Kotche-Wilco
Bryan Devendorf-The National
Patrick Hallahan-My Morning Jacket