Simon Phillips is one of the most underrated drummers of all time. Original style, lets his drums SING and a true scholar of the art.

Simon's work with Hiromi Uehara's "Trio Project" is also PHENOMENAL.

His kits are alway best sounding, period.

When people ask “who’s my favourite drum video reactor?”, I’ll say Andrew Rooney!!!

I met Simon Phillips randomly at an event not related to music. There was a period of... damn, that dude doesn't half look like Simon Phillips! - he introduced himself as "Simon" and I went... "erm.. you're not a professional musician by any chance are you?"... people would come over and go "Uh, they're talking drums, forget it!" and walk away again! ... I got to see him live a couple of months later! Great bloke!

Simon Phillips is an amazing totally ambidextrous drummer.

My husband and I have been lucky enough to see Protocol several times in a small Northern California gold mine theater. Incredible to watch this master and the talented musicians he tours with. Quite a treat!

Years ago I used to be pretty much 100% a metal guy and mostly listened to and watched metal drummers. Simon along with Steve Smith really got me into the wider world of drumming. Huge respect. So musical.

What a band! Everyone is awesome!!!! @Simon: Thx so much for this genius drum solo! Thx the whole band!!!! Greetings from germany Christoph 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏

Simon Phillips has to be one of my top favorite drummers for sure! Thank you Simon and chaps!!!! Amazing!

I went to school with Simon back in the early 70's. He was playing in his dad's Dixieland jazz band at the time (his dad was Sid Phillips)

Simon is the epitome of finesse

When in high school I had gone-unknowing as to what I'd hear-to a Mahavishnu Orchestra concert. I'd never seen anything like it before and Billy Cobham instantly became a drum god to me. In 1980 I went to a Jeff Beck concert. Jeff had a young drummer named Simon Phillips on the kit. My jaw dropped. In every way I could think of, power, technique, musicality I felt he existed in the same rarified atmosphere of Billy Cobham. Mind-blowing, then and now. I think perhaps Simon has been great for such a long time that he is often taken for granted and passed over for the current flavor of the week. Simon Phillips is the definition of a professional and a legend. What a great video and such tremendously energetic playing.

I LOVE everything about Simon and this band. I’ve watched it dozens of times and now I’m watching it w you👍🤟🏼

Check out his playing with 801 (with Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music). He was only 19 at the time. His work on the Pete Townshend solo albums is also stunning. My favorite rock drummer of all time. Thanks for the video!

Sin After Sin was one of his earliest studio gigs and it remains the best percussion on a Judas Priest album ever.

That was incredible. The best one I've seen in a very long time. From the incredible playing, to the amazing tones. The whole band were aliens. I have to listen to that again

Ever thought of putting one of your super star students on the chanel so you can sit back like a proud dad.

I just can't remember ever hearing a bad Patreon pick on this channel. Big shout out to the Andrew Rooney Patreons👏. This beggar appreciates it. What a song and craftmanship. Andrew you said you would play more songs yourself: this is the one. You deserve a big kit🥁.

Another of my fav drummers. He does that lick with doubles on the toms and his feet - awesome. I know it is Phillips' immediately with that one lick. He's played it on everything, even when he played with The Who in live show. He's played with everyone. Legend.

Everything about this video was incredible...the playing by all the musicians, the song and an amazing recording job...loved every second of this.

At least I can say that he was requested in the comments before. I did. Love Phillips. Some of the geratest drumsound ever.

Such good timing, with great open handed and incredible finger technique.

I saw this band (with a different guitarist) in 2019. They are absolutely incredible and the keyboardist really stole the show. Also I agree that Simon, for whatever reason, doesn’t get the credit and praise I think he deserves. He is so versatile, musical, creative, and just has his own approach and voice on the kit.

These guys are so in sync with each other. Great sound from all of them.

Probably THE best drummer around now...

Hi Andrew , nice to see you back again . I know Simon Phillips because he was playing with Hiromi Uehara , but Hiromi Uehara had another drummer , Steve Smith , during trio project in Vienna , his drum solo is also amazing . Cheers .

And also kudos to Greg Howe, an incledible guitarist!

This was seriously mind blowing. What a pick! Simon Phillips is one of those drummers who, of course, deserves so much more recognition! Such control here...

Simon could solo on the rims and hardware and we’d be in awe!!😂

Simon influenced me so much, after i sore him first time the cymbal grew into the skys!

Wow those guys can play. Wish I could imagine how deeply satisfying that must be. Wow. Thanks for a great pick

Simon is just ridiculously good.

Absolute master of groove!!!

@ Andrew Rooney, Simon is from the UK. I presume you are from the UK as well. The UK is known for great Drummers. Phil Collins is a great Drummer. And the list is Vast. Just came across your Channel for the first time. Enjoyed your critique. I am a Bass Player from Detroit Michigan USA. You drummers keep the pulse, us Bass players will guide the ship. Peace.

You had me at Simon Phillips but as soon as I saw Greg Howe on guitar, I knew it was going to be special. The audio quality is spectacular and yes, Phillips' drum tones are pretty much perfect. The cymbal on Phillips' left is a 22" or 24" China "Swish". It's quite a bit more mellow than a normal china.

Great Keyboard/Drum solo in 9 !!!!!!

Kudos to guitarist Greg Howe and the superb bassist Ernest Tibbs here too!

holy frickin sht... i got today with this drunk dude, that gave me acoustic guitar to play him some stuff. last time i had guitar in my hands 3yrs ago. acoustic? like 15yrs... i was so ashamed that i can't play it anymore, cause ofc bass... now with this piece, same day? "i don't want to play on this planet anymore" :D

I just saw Protocol play tonight at the Baked Potato in Los Angeles and Simon Phillips is God.

So much great material from Simon! Two that have always stuck out to me are Let My Love Open the door by Townsend and Into the Arena by Michael Schenker Group. Both 1980 releases, so a great year for Simon!

Your reactions are the best for me to watch, it’s a very chill environment

Smokin' performance! Love the end to the drum solo when they just nail that queue.

Amazing, you gotta love those Tama Drums they sounded beautiful

What a monster kit!

Hey!! I did request Simon Phillips in a comment, months ago. You just broke my heart, Andrew. hahaha I've suggested a video of him playing with the Hiromi Uehara Trio - Move, at Blue Note Tokyo. :)

Flawless amazing timing 😎

Ladies and Gentleman.... Diego Maradonna on Keyboard! 🤣🤣🤣

EDIT : Again, Andy, you have the BEST Patreons !! This is SO amazing. I always love the fusion sound more than any genre. I remember Greg Howe from the Shrapnel Records days. I've never seen a drummer play open handed, as opposed to crossover.

Sin After Sin by Judas Priest. Excellent album made even better by Simon's drumming.

Simon Phillips ... one of my all-time favorite drummers. Criminally hardly mentioned when talking about the greats.

WOW !!!!!

As another comment said, the stuff Simon has done with Hiromi is out of this world! When you have time you should check some out😊

Bout time Andy... Simon sez meee

Maradona plays mean keyboards lol. What an awesome take.

Hmhmhmhm !!! Damm that was good, and for myself in most of the record 2 or 3 record to get the perfect one is sufficient !!! Peace !!

The big "china" he's riding on is a 1979 Zildjian 24" Swish Knocker. One of only two Simon claims.

Mr Phillips is also a kick ass producer, which helps explains his stellar drum sound. For something heavier check out Pesadelo from Derek Sherinian’s album The Phoenix. Kiko Loureiro plays guitar on it.

It is my understanding that swish knockers were used by jazz players as alternate ride cymbals from way back. Some jazz players would even put rivets in to create a really sizzling wash under the ride pattern. Swish knockers usually have a cup shaped bell unlike the squarish profile of true chinas, so their sound is a little less harsh sounding than regular chinas. They are still pretty loud, though, so in some situations one has to be a little gentle when crashing if one doesn't to overwhelm the music. I started playing open-handed because I wanted to "strengthen" my left hand. Unlike many open players like Simon Phillips, Carter Beauford and Billy Cobham, I chose to keep my ride on the right side. Mainly because I wanted to still play on other drummers' kits (such as in a open jam session) without having to move anything. I've heard that Carter Beauford and Billy Cobham are actually left handed, so it would make sense for them to have their rides on the left side close to their hi-hats. Simon Phillips has said he started playing open style to accommodate the multi-tom set-up while keeping his toms at the same level. I guess he felt it made sense to have the same hand doing all the ride patterns. There are some advantages to playing open handed. I found easier to breathe, especially when singing. In my case, anyway, playing with my right arm reaching across in front of my chest to reach the hi-hat seemed to restrict my rib cage a bit. And playing a pattern between the toms is so much easier when using the right on the toms and the left on the hi-hat. Another area where open style is particularly helpful is when the groove has an accented note on the hi-hat just before a snare back beat; such as accenting the up beats on the hats while playing 2 and 4 on the snare. I find that as one hand is coming down to play the accent on the hi-hat the other hand is coming up to prepare for the loud back beat on the snare, it can be pretty tricky with the hands crossed, at least for a klutz like me. But with open style, neither hand is impeded by the other. Each hand is free to prepare for the coming accent regardless of what the other hand is doing. Anyway, thanks for the video, Andrew. Simon Phillips is one of those drummers with awesome chops and a great pocket. Check out his playing on Pete Townshend's solo albums in the early eighties for some great pocket grooves.

I never forgot about Simps Philipps. He plays on so many great records for such an amazing long time already and always shines. The guitarist here sounds as little bit like Alan Holdsworth. And the keyboarder looks like Diego Maradona, but is thankfully very alive.

Blimey..that was good

The ghost notes he was playing were so tasty.

I didn't know he's right handed. That was a big surprise to me. And that's a 24" Swish, by Zildjian.

Good to see you brother

I love seeing how people have their kits set up. In addition to all of the things you pointed out, it’s interesting to me that his throne is so low and his cymbals are so high. Whatever works.

I saw Simon twice live with Hiromi Uehara Trio.He is a beast....

I started catching up on his older work with Hiromi Uehara. It’s a trio and they are just amazing together. Simon and Gavin are in my opinion the most melodically innovative. True Simon gets sadly overlooked.

That was nice. As a rule I never delete the first take.

I'm going to listen to this song as I play Mario Kart

Probably not at the leading edge of drumming so much now, but I don’t care. He’s still my all time favourite drummer. I first heard him when he joined Toyah’s band and he bent my head! He sounded like no one else around at the time. In an age which saw liberal use of gaffa tape, he was one of the first to have his drums undamped in any way except for the bass drums. Sound engineers would struggle with that until they twigged the benefits. He’s actually right handed too, but just found that open handed playing gave him more facility round the kit.

Fn Bonkers. Reminds me a bit of Heavy Machinery (w/ Allan Holdsworth).

I play open handed like him, not on purpose, it just happened that way. Allways thought this guy was incredible

Watch the guitar center Simon Phillips and Gavin Harrison Drum-off . There’s 4 rounds to the battle. 4vids.

Diego Maradonna at the keys. 😝

If I'm remembering correctly....Simon has a KZfaq video on why/how he plays open-handed.

4:56 swish cymbal

Apologies in advance for a novel of a comment, but I've got a lot to unpack from this video (which I already loved) and your commentary: 1) Listen to those toms, kids - clear Ambassadors, wide open. You don't really need all that muffling, do you? What if your drums could sound like this instead? 2) Simon Phillips has been playing the same China cymbal since Jimmy Carter was President. What's your excuse for cracking yours? Or, seriously, any other cymbal? In nearly 30 years as a drummer, the only cymbals with cracks I have ever owned, I bought that way. Learn how to properly mount and play your cymbals, kids. It will save you a fortune. Your cymbals don't HAVE to break, unless you simply insist on breaking them. 3) Speaking of that china, riding on the china in heavy music was pretty much invented by Billy Cobham, a hero of Simon's, and a titan of our instrument who really deserves some shine on your channel. In fact, Simon's kit is quite obviously inspired by Billy's: double bass, open-handed setup, lots of China ride. Think Alex Van Halen invented the double bass shuffle with "Hot For Teacher"? Think Simon invented it on Jeff Beck's "Freeway Jam"? Think again - Billy Cobham, 1973, "Quadrant 4." Seriously, if you are reading these words, and you are not hip to Billy Cobham's watershed 1973 album "Spectrum," stop your everything and buy a copy immediately. Just for starters, it's where Phil Collins and Neil Peart got the idea for triplet rolls on high-pitched toms. 4) The debate about cross-handed vs. open-handed playing is very aptly described by a term my high school music theory teacher used to use all the time: "convention," meaning, the only real reason we do it this way is because we've always done it this way. If you want to do it the other way, nothing is stopping you. Just play whichever way helps you execute this art to your fullest potential. With regard to music theory and "convention," my teacher would say, "These practices evolved over centuries. It's not like a couple of Italian monks got drunk one night in 1532 and invented all the rules." The orientation of the drumset evolved organically over time, and I play cross-handed because I learned that way. I'm not about to sit here and get all holier-than-thou about open-handed playing when guys like Billy Cobham and Simon Phillips and Carter Beauford exist, who could all smoke me with one hand tied behind their backs. Great video, great review. How about some Billy Cobham next?

Andrew, if you haven't done so already, check out this video of Simon playing with Pete Townshend and David Gilmour in the 80s. The energy is unreal! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gsuImZxhtK24eHk.html

Longtime drummer of Toto.

Hoping you get a chance to check out Tarn Softwhip, an incredible drummer who's done amazing covers of Avenged Sevenfold and just all around awesome in general.

Nice to see Diego Maradona in keyboards 😋

Nice choice Andrew, Thank you. Can you react to Mike Portnoy studio vidoe's with Dream Theater Please?

Burners Purdie has a china he uses as a ride and crash.

Analog 🤙🤙

Check out Tommy Aldrich.

Not many drummers these days have more drums than cymbals on their kit. Then again, tuning your drums to a point where they are a melodic and not just rhythmical instrument is not every drummers priority sadly.

I did recommend Simon. But Hey I am nobody lol ;)

First! Awesome!!!

Didn't know Diego Maradona could play keyboards

Diego Maradona on keyboards with his last public appearance before his untimely death!

In my uneducated opinion, I think the playing style (cross-over,open hand,etc) should be dictated by economy / efficiency for that players particular goal (genre,ideas) and their dominant hand. Eventually learning to be somewhat ambidextrous without sacrificing the musicality can be helpful. Btw, I think you'd dig Neural Code (I couldn't find any quality live videos): kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gJ90aa1h25myh2g.html

WHAT HAPPENED TO RUSH WEEK

Meean

Open handed is best.

I think the problem with getting subs is they won,t get a request played unless they become patreon or PayPal change your format have a couple of days or weeks just PayPal requests and patreon also include just subs request every one gets a shot it,s about music exploration not cash that's this Canadiens take should improve ratio but you might not see it I,m only a sub 🙄🦇😱

Individual musicianship is obviously outstanding but I find it all rather soulless. Seems more of an exercise in technique rather than producing a memorable musical experience. Diego Maradonna on keyboards though, was there no end to the man's talents!