Rush's YYZ with 13-year-old on drums

Check out Sara, age 13, rocking out on Rush's YYZ. (Thanks, Joel Johnson!)

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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willy359

Makes me wonder if she’s ever seen Neil play. That dude never cracks a smile behind the kit. He usually looks like he’s in line at the DMV. Do Tom Sawyer next!
highlyverbal

#24 and #30:

Please check your hypertrophied facial processing software at the door. This fine young lady seems to be concentrating and enjoying herself. Reading anything else into her demeanor without personal knowledge is projection; it says more about you than it does about her. Maybe she has an injured muscle in her face! (etc) What take do you think this was?

In some way, your posts might be educational for this young lady. Sure, she expects to be judged on the musicianship and technique, but she needs to realize that she will be judged on her persona at all times.

=========

This sort of “form over substance” analysis is what produces Boy Bands, Fox News, etc. I hate making results about who acts like they are enjoying it the most. Did you also feel a little sad for stiff ol’ Al Gore? I hear there’s a challenger who “strikes poses”… laughs, and feels alive. Don’t complain when you get a Guitar Hero presidency.
bellebouche

I just love these things. The sheer joy if it is heartmelting.

Another. 10 y/o kid, this time knocking out a highly credible, nuanced/powerful Tom Sawyer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMwc35jGepk
Hayduke

Amazingly cool! I nearly wept from the beauty of it, a favorite song of mine and a young person having complete fun with it.
Cupcake Faerie

Right On! I love Rush – this makes me a musical enemy to about 90% of my musician friends – but they have their collective heads up their collective rear entry ways . Rush rocks – anyone who plays Rush rocks – and – having experienced what a bitch trying to play this song – it’s Rush’s most complex in my opinion – this young gal rocks!
Rocks! Rocks! Rocks!Rocks!Rocks! Rocks! and Rocks!
crispernaki

I can’t believe the folks who are down on this kid for missing a few accents. Jealousy is a stinky cologne. She just makes it look easy.
feedingfashionistas

Wow! She is going to be a complete shredder if she keeps this up… Hopefully she’s into writing her own stuff, as well.
frankieboy

My first reaction is feeling a little sad, maybe a little sorry for her. I’m not sure why, though. I guess there’s just not enough information from this one little clip. Does she just really love this music? Why all the flipping the sticks? Exuberant joy of the moment? It’s all a little grim, somehow. Check out a clip of any number of 13 year old ninnies jumping around their rooms, playing air guitar, striking poses, jumping from the bed to the dresser, falling down, laughing, feeling alive! Now that’s rock!! And they aint playin’ nothin.
Gag Halfrunt

Agobard @46: I was going to post that video too…
absolutetrust

Rock it Sara! Way to work the stick spins and tosses!
undergroundbastard

Right on David/Joel: nice to see Rush (and Sara) representing. Not sure if you’ve ever seen 10 year-old Neil Allen rocking Spirit of Radio or Vital Signs but you can check him out here.

(Or, if that html doesn’t work, here:
http://undergroundbastard.blogspot.com/2007/12/update-on-ten-year-old-rush-drummer.html)

Great job, Sara!
Cloudform

Fun fact–this song encodes “YYZ” in morse code into the melody of the song.
failix

Rush…nah… I don’t like too much. But this girl really rocks, has style, talent, and precision!
undergroundbastard

Fun fact #2: With YYZ being the code for their hometown airport (Toronto’s Pearson Int’l), Neil observed that “It’s always a happy day when YYZ appears on our luggage tags.”
Anonymous

Awesome. It looks like she’s having a blast too.
rAMPANTiDIOCY

She is pretty good. I tend to agree, though, that she should should spend more time working on her chops than on her showboating. She is pretty good but doesn’t seem like her priorities are straight.
franko

somewhere, nick andapalous is green with jealousy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taB3U0b9zdA

oh, and i hear neil peart sucks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrMBIH2TBpU

(long live freaks & geeks!)
ill lich

She doesn’t yet have “drummer’s face” down– she needs to smile less, and look like she’s in a trance, or like she’s trying to excrete a particularly large bowel movement (or at least that’s what I’ve always noticed with drummers I’ve played with).
scothampton

this is awesome. thanks for posting David!

YYZ” was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Rock Instrumental category in 1982. YYZ lost to “Behind My Camel”, by The Police, from their album Zenyatta Mondatta.

[In Colbert's voice] Damn you Sting!!
scothampton

when i was thirteen i built a bass out of particle board and steel wire; then i learned how to play xanadu till my fingers turned blue.
stephen eighmey

sometimes life is very good.

this made me smile the whole way through.
birqbirq

@26:

Yeah, I love Olivia Newton John too
saywhatagain

kids who rock are awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh3ybkHh6xA
Daemon

This may well be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen a 13yr old do.
Rezpect

Absolutely amazing! Great job!
Comrade7

@24

I agree, you’re a sad, sad person. My reaction is that judging from her smile you can take your pity and cram it.
KidDork

What’s this strange thing on my face? Is this what…smiles?…are like?
Anonymous

This isn’t exactly YYZ, but it’s defnitely worth noting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_4aGXTHo7w
I especially like the little girl doing her best ozzy impersonation (even if it is Iron Maiden)
Cunning

#24, I got the same feeling. The timed smile/pony tail swing. The spinning sticks every second bar. Felt more like a gymnastics routine than rock n’roll. I wonder if I’m suffering from some latent sexist/racist stereotyping though.
cwclifford

\m/
maturin

I’m just happy a 13 year old is LISTENING to Rush.
Anonymous

Nobody ever clicks on the video to see what the poster has in the description before going off about it being too scripted or fake.

“Sara practiced for an entertainment contest, which she needed to compete with dancers or other instalments players and so on…”

They also have her doing YYZ live in concert, videos of her playing at 10, 11 and 12 – FFS, she plays King Crimson and Zappa.
martha_macarthur

#42 you are so correct.
I think that cologne might be called au de douche bag.
ssll

I demand a ukulele vs drummer YouTube war of awesomeness. Joel vs Mark. Oh, wait Joel just won.
cstatman

love it. WOO HOO! you GO girl.

she’s a cool kid, great music, and made me smile for the first time today.
Thanks
Takuan

what? now she’s Kohng Koy Kahn Souphanousinphone, Jr.? Gimme (and her) a break!
Joel Johnson

SSLL: I also like uke, though! What if we found someone who could play Red Barchetta using only ukuleles for sticks?
eustace

Criticizing her for the stick moves is missing the point – this is obviously a big part of her act, and while it is a careless and showy habit for a drummer in a band (if he misses a catch, everyone suffers) it’s a very cool thing to practice on your own, become skillful at, and to show off for it’s own sake. Cheers to a talented young lady!
FoetusNail

I’m not down on the kid, just the adults fawning over her. She reminds me of the Suzuki kids, all technique, with little musicality. She obviously enjoys what she is doing, kids don’t work that hard otherwise.

What she has accomplished is amazing and took a tremendous amount of work, but that doesn’t make her a drummer. If she continues working as hard as she obviously has she will make a decent living, if she can create music. Or maybe she will be modestly successful playing in one of the big touring cover bands, yawn.
Anonymous

Rock Band has done great things for this nation (and Canada, too). -DZ
Anonymous

I thought I was getting good when I hit 98% on “Feel the Pain” expert drums in Rock Band 2. Apprently I still suck. Awesome drumming, girl.
Cupcake Faerie

Wow, she really is awesome. Unadulterated joy. I was in rawk power trio once and we did this song, and she has better technique than our drummer.

@24 – I don’t think you’d know rock if it ran you over like a bus.

@30 – because we have here a girl and an Asian one at that you don’t think she can “rock” ?
ToddBradley

She probably wouldn’t sound so sloppy if she cut out the gratuitous drum major moves. Yeah, she hit most of the notes, but screwed a lot of them up because she couldn’t get from “stick spinning” to “drum hitting” quick enough.
usedwigs

beautiful! All that without roto-toms! Impressive.
halfvenus

To-to-totes fab. And some people think we XX’s don’t even listen to Rush.
Agobard

I’d love to see a bunch of the youtube kid musicians form a prog rock cover band super group: “Kid Crimson”; “Asia Minor”; “Kin Der Graaf Generator”; “Youthro Tull”; “Dinky Floyd”, “ELMNOP”; etc.

A better kid version of YYZ:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=4XsYuHbXZUk

Check out those feet!
FoetusNail

While she does a decent cover, she ain’t no drummer, yet. She has all the heart of a Suzuki Method violinist.

I wish I could find some footage of Buddy Rich, who was playing professionally by age 18 months, and leading a band at age 11.
From Wikipedia:

At the peak of Rich’s childhood career, he was reportedly the second-highest paid child entertainer in the world (after Jackie Coogan).
addmmm

Looks like she got her technique from this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiZd3TpYq_I

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