Anyone remember on a tour in the 70's Charlies drums were hydrolically lifted high above the stage?
Which tour was this, did anyone see it happen, any pics anywhere of this?
How high did he go?
I thought Charlie hated heights, sounds scary.

I think you mix that up with Kiss '77 tour and Peter Criss famous drum riser

I think Earth, Wind & Fire did it with there two drummers! before Kiss... I don't know of any such rising with Charlie. He hates such gimmicks.

I think Charlie would sooner quit the band than to be sunbjugated to such humiliation.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

is that the same tour that Mick wore the cat makeup?

On a live boot, Mick claims that Charlie has a device to lift his drums '100 ft in the air,' or something to that effect. Then Mick says, 'But he won't use it because he's too chicken ... good drummer though.'

That's the only reference I recall to Charlie's reputed drum riser. Sounds like it did exist.

Van Halen did it too.

Thank you Scaffer for vindicating my memory, I don't follow 'Kiss' or these other bands who may have used this rising drum platform on stage.
I remember reading about Charlies '100ft arial lift' at the time - but as you say, he was probably very reticent about using it.
Surely someone must remember this.

turd:

It might have been at the Nicaragua benefit they did in Los Angeles. But I'm not sure.

But there's zero doubt that Mick said this on stage on a live boot in the early '70's.

Wasn't Charlie planning a 15 minute drum solo once he got to the top. hahaha

I don't know about all this....surely Mick did say that, but being the careful planner that he is, I doubt he'd buy such a rig, transport it to a gig, and set it up when he knows full well that Charlie won't use it...

mercy - Mick said it as a joke!


"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith

hey Turd. THINK! THINK! COME ON MAN!!! Did you read that Mick pukes blood too? How old are you?

Just out of interest I contacted Richard King who supplied Charlies Gretsch drum set, to see if he could shed light onto this subject - this was his reply;



"Thanks for the e-mail! I do believe that Charlie had a rising drum platform, but I'm not sure what tour that would have been on, nor do i have pictures of that riser. Charlie is actually using a hydraulic stage on the current tour.
Thanks,
Richard King"


I personally believe it was the 75/76 tour - they used a lot of gimicky props on that tour - but I don't think this was used much, if at all.

Mick did refer to it at the Nicaraguan earthquake benefit...

One other thought: the hydraulic capability might have been intended only for small height increases to compensate for different venues. The fact that it was CAPABLE of being raised 50-100 ft high might have been told to the Stones by the supplier, and the Stones might then have joked about it. They might not have actually intended to raise Charlie to such a height - it would have been a feature of the product and cost them nothing.

A variation of that theory: Mick, realizing it could go that high, might in fact have proposed to Charlie that he try it, and Charlie refused. This scenario wouldn't surprise me.

I never heard that the drums were actually lifed very high, only Mick joking that they could be.

Never happened in 75 and never happened before or after.