On the Road with NDV: Drums, Cymbals & Sticks . . . Oh My! A Mr. Big Drum Rig Tour

[@sweetwater]

Want to see Nick D’Virgilio’s rig in action? Catch him with Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan, and Eric Martin on Mr. Big’s The Big Finish Tour, where they’ll perform Lean into It in its entirety! Find out more here 👉 www.mrbigsite.com/

[@stevenfederico2594]

Nick is the man Deserves more praise. Incredible drummer not enough recognition.

[@DanielWürtz-y4t]

Imagine Paul Gilbert doing your rig rundown 😂😂😂

[@daltonidaho]

Nick is such a kind, down to earth guy. It's nice to see his successes.

[@silentskystudios]

I got to meet Nick one year at Morsefest (my family was staying at the same hotel as Nick and the Sweetwater crew that accompanied him), and he was just as nice and down-to-earth in person as what he seems in the videos. Just a real class act. And what a phenomenal drumming talent. I absolutely love that he's landed the gig with Mr. Big, which happens to be one of my favorite bands!

[@MikeLumer]

Both these guys are complete legends. I wish more gig rundowns were like this. Paul asked all the good questions!

[@alessandrorossini8704]

Who isn't glad that Nick had this gig? He's an awesome drummer and a very nice, down to earth guy, I think that Paul and the other Bigs just made the right choice. Rock on, Nick! 👍🏼👍🏼💪🏼💪🏼

[@jables3377]

Definitely a perfect choice!

[@NikkLiberos]

So we are doing Nick's rig with no other than PAUL GILBERT!!! Chills throughout. Loved the chemistry between you guys.

[@adammercysystem6450]

These guys seem lovely. Paul just exudes lovely friendly nerdiness hahaha! In the nicest way possible

[@JDWindtPlaysGuitar]

This is a great angle for an interview: One seasoned pleayer asking the other great questions about life as a drummer in a world-touring band, with a perfect combination of ingenuity and well thought out questions.

[@markkeneson6806]

Congratulations on your signature sticks, Mr. D'Virgilio.

[@mikeskenne]

I love Nick! All the experience and knowledge with youthful excitement. Such a great teacher and player.

[@xeverettx2564]

Paul Gilbert is the coolest dude ever!!! He’s so humble, talented, funny, great suburban dad vibe going on too!!

[@TinnyHidge]

Those were great questions! That's the kind of shizzle you want to hear being asked. Nice one Paul! 👍 Also Nick seems like a good dude!🤘🙂🤘

[@joshuajuaire8757]

One of my favorites is the China cymbal with rivets

[@diegosolana374]

Paul just did the best rig rundown interview ever. Great questions both for beginners and pros.

[@srwaite7]

Nick is not only a great drummer and singer but a great guy. Always a pleasure, NDV! 👌🏼😎

[@Trav86]

Two of my absolute favorite musicians ever. I could listen to these guys talk all day.

[@intradibles]

Drummer here! Nick and Mr. Big, thank you for coming to Manila to play. Backlining is pretty much common in the Philippines since most Filipino drummers can't bring their own drums on tour with them. But since playing music is only a hobby for me I would want to carry my kit around to my friends or relatives' events. I love DW Drums and hardware, they're my dream brand! 🥁🥁🥁

[@MauricioMagaldi]

Jose Baraquio is a freaking drum tech legend! I had the distinct pleasure of sharing a tour with him while working with MP in Brazil back in 2019 and could witness how a real pro works like. Truly an honor.

[@Dlanddrum]

This was so cool. Thanks Paul and Nick!

[@Assimilator702]

Paul is a great interviewer! I loved the detail oriented questions.

[@LWDrumz]

That's great Nick!! I was always a fan of Mr. Big and it's great that you are playing with them now!!

[@mikew8622]

Nick's sticks are great! Got a couple pairs and feel good all around.

[@johannjohann6523]

Two great guys in rock and music.

[@frankspikes7858]

Both of these guys are cool. I really enjoy hearing, and watching them play.

[@willymccabe6602]

A guitar player just did the best interview of a drummer I've ever heard. 😂 What a great video!!!!

[@micahnewby3482]

Great content as usual, great conversation. Great Job Nick for landing this gig. So Awesome!!

[@mikevanderhule]

That was great! Great job Nick! Love what you're doing. Good interviewing Paul, great questions. Nick, don't forget, Yamaha has drums EVERYWHERE! I've always have Yamaha drums to play no matter how remote the country. And they always sound great, no matter what model.

[@gatherstudio5219]

You both Rock!

[@mightydook]

Nick rules!

[@ToddGoldsmith-x1o]

Really always appreciate all the great drumming gear information from Nick on the Sweetwater channel and his playing! Especially on the new DWe drums. A Mr. BIG Congrats on holding the drum chair down for another really great drummer and super nice guy, Mr. Pat Torpey who is greatly missed by all. Lucky enough to see Mr. BIG open for Rush on the Presto Tour.......both bands were great......and I got quite the drumming lesson from Mr. Torpey and Mr. Peart.

[@IononesRoomfulofDrums]

❤ Love this! Nick with Paul Gilbert wow🤩

[@VirtualLiveShow]

Excellent interview, much respect!

[@brunooliveira6975]

Had a chance to see Eric Martin alone in Brazil and have to say that NDV is right about the consistency. It felt perfect! With all the limitations and, a very small venue, a band he probably never played with before, the guy gave a show for the ages. Even my wife, who didn't know any Mr. Big was thrilled by how good he was.

[@julianandreaswiggins5756]

That’s a gorgeous Dw setup!! I love Dw Drums💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘

[@PabloJ1968]

Happy Birthday sir!

[@robgracia509]

humble guys love this

[@justinreynolds3935]

Paul is awesome man. Why he got so far in life. He's just a down to earth no ego dude. Nick is the same. Ever since he joined the SW crew it really opened up doors for him. He's been around for a long time. I remeber he was one of the reasons I got a mapex saturn kit. He was an early mapex endorser. Kinda sad he's using DW now but I get it. They are very very available. Pearl too. I personally think Yamaha is the number one backline kit. Stage custom and the recording custom. Used those kits soo many times as backline.

[@Pure_KodiakWILD_Power]

I was excited to see a kit video, and then you get the added bonus of Paul Gilbert asking questions 😄

[@alexhiltondrums]

New Mr. Big Concert DVD please! Nick is a monster drummer!

[@kmiloxix]

Really cool video, thanks 👍🏼 ... Looking forward to Mr Big touring in South America ✈️🎉🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@philgaudion5452]

so good! Great interview!!

[@roloduarte3100]

Great interview.

[@evankeal]

Nice vocal mic and stand/support design!

[@eliseohersan7390]

Nick D'virgilio es de mis bateristas favoritos, me encanta su manera de tocar la bateria, tambien la emocion y potencia que utiliza al momento de tocar, saludos desde México 🥁🇲🇽

[@jonashellborg8320]

So nice to see Nicks rock setup for Mr Big, and nice of Paul to interview Nick! I loved that question of bass frequencies affecting drums, you indeed don’t know if your drums sound right until the whole band is playing. :-) Very curious about your sticks, Nick!

[@ealingschoolofdrums3692]

At last ! A useful KZbin video, from a Top pro. Thanks for the insight :)

[@FrederickIngraham-yq4sz]

Nick for president

[@pal4597]

Good questions Paul. 😊

[@alfiend331]

I've been a Paul Gilbert fan for ages (especially dig his solo stuff where he sings). And now, thanks to this final tour, I'm a Nick D'Virgilio fan, too. Gotta do some research and find out more about his previous work. I've certainly seen a ton of Sweetwater videos he's in.

[@kyrsid]

huge shoes to fill in. well done. 🙂

[@leeasbury7273]

Nick! Mr. BIG! Awesome I'm a guitarist first and drummer 2nd too, Paul.

[@Arbigale]

Pat T (🕊️) would be proud🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@alexalja]

I was thinking about upgrade my eliminators pedal but Nick D’Virgilio, a great professional drummer who works at Sweetwater, still uses it. My wife wants to save this money but you guys know that snare and will agree with me. Cheers Nick!

[@danoneill130]

Pearl Eliminator pedals are 100% it! I had a couple DW 5000 pedals from the early 2000’s til 2016. Got the Pearl Redline Belt version….never looking back. Silent, smooth, way durable, and quick.

[@nickpruett8022]

Very cool, excellent drummer for that gig. He seems like an all around genuine dude too. Hard to come behind Pat Torpey, Mr. Virgilio does it right.

[@justinreynolds3935]

When I used backline the Yamaha recording and stage custom and dw kits were 99% of the stuff you got Pearl not so much but I did endorse Pearl for 2 years. All solid stuff man.

[@roybeckerman9253]

Nick and Mike Johnston…two of the best drummers.

[@vandavis000]

I love nick and i love paul gilbert and billy sheehan and eric martin. I guess i love all mr big. Rip patt torpey.

[@ThomasMetal75]

Being in a band with Paul Gilbert seems like some serious fun!

[@loO5r]

I heard the cotton ball trick first from Benny Greb - it works really really well (especially on floor toms), it costs nothing and you can adjust it exactly how you want it. A-mazing idea 🤯

[@TwoandaHater]

NVD is awesome and Paul is cool!

[@isaacsitiakalaabwenje]

😆😆😆Wow, You deserve the Praise Nick wonderful Backline.

[@jonn443]

I still use my Pearl Eliminator double pedal. Still the best pedal they released.

[@joshuajuaire8757]

Awsome

[@TheCOZ]

Thanks everyone for doing this. NDV, Paul, Jose, Sweetwater you all rock! Coulda done without the BGM though.

[@mjulio71]

No mention of Yamaha drums?! With every single backline company, first two drum brands in their list are always DW and Yamaha. I'm a Tama user now and honestly, it's ALWAYS harder to find exact choices and options than with those other two. Excellent, real life video from Nick as always.

[@calzaondrums]

Imagine being so good at drums you become MR. BIG's new drummer

[@ErikShen2907]

R.I.P. MAESTRO PAT TORPEY!!!

[@felixweber6593]

So cool... Nick being interviewed by Mr Paul Gilbert himself, nice moment of complicity between two fantastic musicians... Are you coming to Europe ?

[@JCordoba1001]

The eliminator is the goat 🐐!

[@brentharmonmusicproduction]

This went up on Nick's Birthday.

[@immersiveaudionft2203]

The throne is a great part of the set also. Porter & Davies rock.

[@chadcarrdrums]

How cool of Paul to do your rig rundown!

[@SydneyDrums]

Yamaha & Ludwig also have a lot of backline across the world 👍🏼

[@anugroho3110]

Paul Gilbert is an excellent interviewer

[@yaronbinyamini241]

Happy Birthday Master Drummer NDV! Very special day, for us too as my daughter is celebrating 8 today. I wonder, do you carry the bass reso head with you too or just stickers to put on any head provided?

[@dapdrums]

Mr. Big Big Big Train!

[@myobmyob2215]

Nick are there cocktail/ street / bop / travel ekits yet? Thanks youre the man

[@Ben-Jamminalot]

SnareWeight are the Greatest Ever! That's it ,& that's all.🥁

[@craigswensen434]

Paul asks good questions.

[@shreyasiyengar8408]

Pearl Masters in pretty much every city in India. Yamaha in the rest of Asia. They sound great and come with smaller diameter kicks drums. I always ask for a 20 inch. Got a 10 city tour in the US coming up in a couple of months. Interested to see what kind of backline I'll get. Also cymbals over kick pedal, but that's cause no backline cymbals will come close to my specific sound. And I only play one kick pedal. I'm sure it's a lot more important when you're playing double bass like Nick does.

[@rosshembling2953]

Great playing Nick 🥁👍

[@pdacayan]

Hi Nick, what bearings did you put on your old eliminators, I have the same and was thinking of replacing them with skateboard bearings

[@samdaud]

This video record at my country? Malaysia? wow!!!

[@shbmlai]

Hi from Malaysia, and this video was taken from Malaysia last October.

[@Beerbatter1962]

I don't remember Nick playing offset rack toms normally. Now, every single drum kit they showed, he had the kits setup as offset toms. Did Nick decide this was a better configuration at some point?

[@DavidLewis-i6h]

Williamson Road

[@tiubster]

You had your prototype when playing in Kuala Lumpur??!!! 🎉🎉🎉 pwweett😊

[@nathanielpersohn600]

NDV is my spirit "Animal" (SEE MUPPETS) for the drums...PG is the best for Git fiddles....

[@thomascooley4388]

Wondering why you prefer the snare weight dampeners over o-rings...

[@smjohnst]

The legendary Jose Baraquio as the drum tech?!

[@kenminerva]

Paul Gilbert could put down his guitar, doing something else and still be great at it..and inspiring too..❤❤

[@jables3377]

Doesn't Jose tech for Mike Portnoy as well?

[@DustyCouts-b7c]

Braun Mount

[@natanaelguadalupeaviles1550]

I love SABIAN brand. Its so dificult to have them shiped to PR.

[@VictorArtichoke-r1l]

O'Conner Fall

[@tomkelsey2303]

Thought Nick was a Mapex and Meinl guy. 😮

[@DrDr-pg5br]

Why does Nick always look like he just ate a handful of almonds when he is being interviewed?

[@RU-HDD-4-HVN]

That was a random comment..... but strangely I liked it?

[@andyham6094]

All that talking about the drums without one single sound demo of one single piece on that kit

[@fnv-w3n]

2:53 look how corroded those screws are. Come on back line company - maintenance.