Guest Book

Since THAT door has been opened, I will walk through.... You have to go back to the roots of the decision tree re why Marc was brought on in the first place. This is simply my personal opinion, however I have felt Marc was originally brought on in part to shore up Butch's drumming demands. Butch does not play nearly as hard, nor does he have to play with as much overall energy with Marc, as he used to. Argue all you want, but just this last tour, I watch Butch very closely and he played that particular night with very few differing fills. Pretty much straight ahead drumming with not much on the accents; not the Trucks of old days. And JJ at the time was hurting (?) and needing to lay back. So Marc was brought on in my opinion because Butch needed Marc to fatten up the sound and bring that dimension into the overall sound. Personally, I think it was not only necessary but a brilliant move when you think about it: could the ABB bring on another drummer? Nope already had 2. Another guitar player? Nope...that was not the answer either. So, bring on a percussionist that could fill in the holes and had awsome chops to boot. I think you hear more of Marc in the mix because Butch and JJ may be laying back more and more. Not saying that is good or bad, but perhaps its time after over 30 years. Drummers have the hardest job 🙂 I honestly dont know how the ABB would sound these days with just 2 drummers; my sense is it would be much more thin and a far shorter set list. I do agree there is not much room for JJ, but in all honesty, even in the early days there was not a lot of room to begin with. And some arrangements just beg for Marc. Rocking Horse is a good example. And I credit Marc for completely changing the groove for Dreams.