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He's currently kicking ass in NYC, but I saw him do the same in Charlotte earlier this month. I've also heard testimonials from others about his consistently great drumming. We all knew it would be impossible to replace Jimmy. And we all knew it was weird for Billy to hire a kid who was 1 year old when Gish was released to take over. But we have to admit he's doing an awesome job. I also feel like he brings a great, youthful energy to the shows. It's clear Billy is happy with his current lineup, and it's partly because I think he knows he hit the nail on the head and silenced the critics (in relation to Mike) with this tour. Here's to you, Mike.

Yes! I think a real good sign that Billy is super happy with this line up is the fact that they will all be present on the third ep.

yeah, i have to admit that he does pretty good all things considered. i was pretty impressed.

He does things I would never be able to do in a million years with his set, haha. Well, I still have a few years to catch up, I guess

Mike's a good drummer ans he should get much more place on future recordings.

I think he's a decent drummer. Some moments he shines, but other moments he fails...and it can all be in the same song. I try not to pick on him, as it's unfair to compare him to Jimmy. He absolutely butchers United States though. Maybe it's on purpose, but he changes up the whole song.

PistolPete wrote:
I think he's a decent drummer. Some moments he shines, but other moments he fails...and it can all be in the same song. I try not to pick on him, as it's unfair to compare him to Jimmy. He absolutely butchers United States though. Maybe it's on purpose, but he changes up the whole song.

I follow ya on that. I hear botched sections of songs quite a bit. It's getting better the more he plays with Billy but I still hear it. He's one of those drummers who really really wants to show off how technically talented he is. Yes, he's got skill, but he comes across as very show-off-ish to me and it makes the songs sound very forced and unnatural at times. Jimmy had mad technical skill but it just flowed out of him effortlessly. Mike has to force it. There are drummers all over the place that are every bit as good as Mike is. He's a middle of the line drummer. I think that show-off mentality will go away as he matures and gets more experience, but for now he doesn't do much for me.

I hope in future recordings that Mike has a bit more of a say in where the song is going because so far it's been stuff similar to a session drummer..

he does screw up United States. i will agree with that like when Billy was doing that guitar bit and he started playing some. it didn't work and seemed unnatural.

I disagree about Mike "showing off". I don't really see how you came up with that. We know Billy, and we've seen Billy in the studio with Mike. It's not 'whatever beat Mike comes up with goes". I'm guessing whatever Mike was playing during Billy's guitar bit in United States, Billy wanted him to.

I will agree with you though, as far as United States went (besides the fact that it was a weird version), the drumming sounds a little flat. Like you said, Jimmy's drumming seems to "flow" more natural.

Maybe you think he's just a middle of the line drummer, but all I know is that to me one aspect of Smashing Pumpkins has always been unique and interesting drummer compared to the boom-chop of the rest of the scene,, and Mike's doing a pretty bang-up job of keeping that aspect of the pumpkins alive.

I feel his playing is a little harsh. He has no soft touch. From what I've seen I'm not sure if he can pull of the loud/soft dynamic of the Pumpkins.

I'm not sure if I'm explaining this right but his cymbal work really bugs me.

No, youre right, and that's definitely part of what's lacking in the tom work in united states.

I really wouldn't be surprised if he's just nervous haha. I mean the kid IS like 20 years old. If that.

I think the best thing about Mike is potential. There's something about watching him live, you know he's very talented. He's just a little green. When he hits his strides, he really kicks ass at live shows. And I noticed that Billy does have to keep him in check during shows. About halfway through the Charlotte show, he walked back to Mike and motioned for him to slow down and got him back on track. After he shakes off this first tour, I think we're really going to see him blow up. He might not be Neal Peart, but he's certainly talented and has been great so far after following a drummer who most of us believe was one of the greatest of our generation.

What I meant about the show-off-ishness is that he forces in a lot of complicated fills at places where they don't fit within the song. Look at the youtube of Hummer from the NYC show that was streamed the other night. He's jamming in all these fast rolls and fills just to show off the fact that he can play them and it distracts from the overall sound. It would sound way better to just stick to the groove and leave a lot of those out. It's like PistolPete said...the hard/soft dynamic is not executed very well. I will agree that he has potential though and I am curious to see what he's got 5 years from now when he's grown up and matured as a person and as a drummer.

I thought he was good the other night, judging by those HD videos on Youtube. His fills in Hummer were impressive, in my opinion!

Strayz1 wrote:
I thought he was good the other night, judging by those HD videos on Youtube. His fills in Hummer were impressive, in my opinion!

I think he is realllly good, and there factors that could be playing into his playing. Nervousness being higher up on the list.

ghostchild wrote:
What I meant about the show-off-ishness is that he forces in a lot of complicated fills at places where they don't fit within the song. Look at the youtube of Hummer from the NYC show that was streamed the other night. He's jamming in all these fast rolls and fills just to show off the fact that he can play them and it distracts from the overall sound. It would sound way better to just stick to the groove and leave a lot of those out. It's like PistolPete said...the hard/soft dynamic is not executed very well. I will agree that he has potential though and I am curious to see what he's got 5 years from now when he's grown up and matured as a person and as a drummer.

Well, personally I disagree with your opinion on Hummer.. I thought everything sounded amazing, and Hummer has been one of my absolute favorite songs.

If anything, Billy's guitar playing at the end of the song didn't sound quite as atmospheric as I like it to. But it still sounded amazing.

and Nicole looks great when she's in a groove

I still think Ginger was the hottest so far. I want to do things to her that are not legal in some states.

Strayz1 wrote: