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| Top: Joey Heredia, Middle: Liberty Devitto,
Top: Dom Famularo |
The Montreal Drum Fest, now entering its fifteenth year, is one of the world's
largest, most prestigious drum and percussion events. LP is proud to have participated
since Day One in making the Festival an exciting forum for those who play with
sticks, brushes, mallets and bare hands.
This year the two-day weekend Festival was held November 11-12 in the Pierre
Mercure hall in downtown Montreal. LP artists were out in strength.
Possibly the most electrifying performer was Joey
Heredia, who shared the
stage with his band: Marco Mendoza and Renato Neto. All three are repeat visitors
to the Montreal Drum Fest, and for good reason. They are one of the tightest,
funkiest acts on the face of the earth, capable of precision punches, dead
stops, and rousing dynamics. Their repertoire ranged from Weather Report to
Stevie Wonder. Throughout their set, drummer Joey Heredia commanded a hybrid
drumset, stuffed in every nook and cranny with LP
percussion instruments. Heredia's
freight train groove, combined with his stunningly intricate patterns, were
a big reason for the spontaneous ovation at the conclusion of their fiery set.
Dom Famularo and Liberty
DeVitto, both longtime LP artists, gave separate
solo performances and fielded questions. Then they combined for a powerful
tour de force. Whether it was Dom's legendary charisma or Liberty's pop savvy,
the standing ovation came at just the right time-before the roof blew off the
hall!
The Montreal audience is a discriminating one. They catch the nuances others
miss. In the case of the LP performers, all eyes were glued to the stage. Applause,
gasps, and other eruptions were frequent.
“LP has been very good to us all these years,” remarked Ralph
Angelillo, Montreal Drum Fest Artistic Director. “They've brought us
world renown percussion artists and up and coming artists who have gone on
to rock the percussion world. We appreciate LP's long standing support.
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