Virgil Donati - Double Bass (filmed at the Grain Store)

Virgil's first video that I know of filmed live at the Grain Store in Melbourne 1986.
Back in the old Loose Change days.... Nearly wore this video out watching it.

[@GiovaniB52]

Wow ..Virgil Donating back in the 80's . He was advanced then ..I met him a couple of times at his drum clinics cool guy ... A real drum scientist.

[@woweffet]

this is therapy for my brain.when i feel bad or stressed i listen this, then i smile=)

[@Convisis]

One of the greatest ever Australian artists.

[@dewittk9404]

The best of our time and times to come

[@01munroe]

Our time with local home grown live music has past. Will never be the same as every Tuesday night at the Grainstore ( which does not exist) The Swan hotel...... The Last Post......

[@The0987yuio]

@@01munroe the Swan hotel in freo? 😮

[@01munroe]

@@The0987yuio Referring to Swan Hotel Richmond Melbourne

[@The0987yuio]

@@01munroe lol I was gonna say! Swan hotel in freo is pretty lame! 😅

[@nemesisinvidia5792]

VIRGIL is the best drummer ever...

[@poppsy69]

+NEMESIS INVIDIA well he's pretty awesome but there is so much talent out there.

[@alpyre]

well... he's the technical pinnacle in drumming. I don't know any other drummer that can outdo him technically. So technically he is the best drummer so far.

[@anishkhadka9400]

Alper Sönmez have u ever hear thomas fucking lang.....he is technical god

[@Calebhd_]

Thomas Lang is really good and definately up there, but Virgil tops him.

[@nemesisinvidia5792]

Lang is pretty awesome but Donati is clearly the best of all.

[@jeffluker1895]

I sat right in front of his bass drum at a clinic in Tulsa in 1997. Amazing how much power he had. I had no idea he was at this level this far back!

[@queenday15]

evolution! this man is a legend! he invented the music he plays and he does it the best! god bless virgil:)

[@skrupnik]

30 years ago... He was Awesome !

[@Pedrokata]

He already sound very good at that time…Seems like he’s been improving since then. Thanks for sharing!

[@Jellybeantiger]

I went to that show all the time. Great old days. Loose Change at the Grainstore. Mark Dominy on guitar was incredible.

[@thejourneyofoneman9228]

Jellybeantiger Likewise. Have very fond memories of those days. Mark was and still is an extraordinary player. Was there for the recording as well. Man I loved climbing those old stairs to see such a kickarse band !

[@carlhemmings6241]

Me too, and in case your old LP is worn out , you can now pick up a digital version at iTunes , just search "live at the grainstore 1982"

[@michaelashman]

Yay! Me too! Incredible band great venue (I was even there for the recording) 🎸😃

[@poppsy69]

have more video of virgil but waiting for a better capture device. Some really Good footage of the days with Southern Sons and other instructional stuff...thought I would start with this and gauge the reaction.

[@Warfinger2116]

Do you have more? 😮😊

[@jazzhole8208]

​@@Warfinger2116 i'm with you mate 🙌

[@glennrochemusic]

Ha-ha! that Grainstore era was a great time for me, an aspiring drummer. Great playing. The wildly superior Sonor product of the day and a chance to see The State, The Gnomes, Loose Change, Three little basement dwellers, Valen and Southern Son's debut and subsequent gigs. No better town to grow up in and great songs to accompany a life into adulthood. Grounded, inspired, committed. Interesting, I am familiar with song 'I'm In The Middle' but it must have been Cutters material and so not on The State Elementary, GREAT ALBUM OMG. Such great songs, the emergence of Sons who I cover myself and a benchmark of quality un-equaled in the world. Thank you Virgil, Phil, Geoff, Jack and Peter. Hope all is well for you all.

[@Gman440]

Thanks for posting the video its grouse ,im a big Virg fan well done.

[@klonuskorewian3810]

Es un documento historico increible... que destreza, que maestría, cuanto feeling, cuanta mágia en cada compás. Virgil creando su propio Olimpo... el mejor de los mejores.

[@macthedrummer1]

Great drumming. I love those old Sonor`s.

[@GerardVos]

Virgil's extraordinary composition skills already showing at the end ..besides his drumming huh. i love it

[@Ouhconmerde]

The excellence

[@mars_over]

He looks like Charlie Sheen. More probably than Charlie Sheen himself.

[@philbuckle]

Well, I haven't heard that song at the start in a very long time.! The little snippet at the beginning is actually a band called "The Cutters" soon to become "The State" and then "Southern Sons". Virgil was always a monster player. He programmed all the keyboard parts as well.

[@poppsy69]

Honored that you commented Phil, check some of my other videos of you playing in the sons live on Australia Day. I have the EP from The State in my record collection, (prior to the advent of CD's) I followed you guys around the Melbourne gig scene in my youth... Huge fan of Virgil, went to a lot of his seminars and of course have copies of all his tutorial videos. What are you up to these days?

[@philbuckle]

I'm glad you put those Australia Day vids up! Great memories and one of the last performances of the band. Thanks for that! Presently I am working on a very intriguing project. Keep an eye on my channel for updates.

[@poppsy69]

Phil Buckle can’t wait! Will keep an eye out. Wish the sons could re release some of the hits and put some ‘balls’ on it, your music was always much better live... ‘we are one’ never got the traction it deserved....

[@Toto99fan]

sweeeeeeeeet! hope there's more of this to come! thanks!

[@bradscudds]

Awesome band - before "Loose Change" it was called "Changes" with John Barrett on everything woodwind, and Mark Domini on Guitar, Steve Hadley on Bass and can't think of the Keyboard players name. They used to play in a tiny place in a laneway around the corner from the Grainstore ..... called Number 19 I think??? Wow, that was the 1st time I heard them play Cruise Missile .... phenomenal musos !!!!!

[@poppsy69]

Did you ever see Hans Valen?

[@Toto99fan]

poppsy69 my dad was the lead singer for Hans Valen. :) I've got some old tapes of them in the early 90s. Virgil was unbelievable, even then!

[@poppsy69]

oh you should convert them and upload to youtube. I can convert them for you if you cant.

[@poppsy69]

what was your dad's name?

[@Toto99fan]

poppsy69 Peter Goldsworthy. he sang in a lot of bands in those days. :)

[@Bangyourbirdnumb]

Mullet powered magic.

[@JamGardenStudio]

to me, this looks and sounds great as is...regardless, awesome old virgil footage. i've never seen this.

[@marklowe7431]

Been looking for their album on vinyl for years and just found one in perfect nick. Amazing. Couldn't believe it. Paid for it first then told the dude behind the counter how rare this is. He didn't look cool.

[@elektroskeptic481]

What are even titles of their albums? Is the track he's playing here on one of them?

[@udomatthiasdrums5322]

still love your work!!

[@caratcranker5874]

I saw Loose Change a few times at the Grain store back then, Mark Domini used to shred Steve Morse like a son of a Bi,,,, Cruise Missile to start with. Also remember Hans Valen with Jack Jones [Irwin Thomas] on guitar, these guys stood out from ALL the wanna be hot guitarists in Melbourne. Jo Cool used to kick ass at covering guitarists songs, like Vai, Satriani, Rhoads, etc, etc, etc, . Another unknown guitarist of the time, who could EASILY cut it with Mark Domini, was Robert Anderson, my guitar teacher, he is still teaching in Bendigo now a days.

[@BobLoeber]

Wow!!! Just friggin WOW,!!

[@poppsy69]

thanks i'll check it out

[@DevaPermanaDrums]

So clean!!!!

[@taylormitchellbrown1997]

So retro!!

[@morgenthaler]

@guangosdude Yes, but as most other drummers he has been with a range of different companies. He went from Sonor to Remo to Premier to Pearl. (I am the moderator of his website :))

[@niftyization]

Awesome. I have the original LP that they sold from one Loose Change concert with all who attended listed on the inside sleave. Steve Vai and others as well. It's also on ITunes remastered in 2008 fyi if you weren't aware.

[@georgenascimento6944]

Charlie Sheen Hot Shots! Part Deux

[@willwagnerwaguinho]

❤

[@gabebabe1]

Love this. Prefer Virgin's sound then over now - fuller, warmer and not so thwacky. Hi end hearing loss from the years of playing?

[@gogo2957]

GREAT SNARE

[@wildanS]

In the old days he totally looked like Charlie Sheen.

[@poppsy69]

me too!

[@tankmax46]

Charlie Sheen with a mullet.

[@morgenthaler]

@Slipstream0001 I think they did in the following years, before he went to Remo Drums.

[@luukmeijwaard872]

he played premier on the midern drummer festival of 97, i guess he swtiched companies a lot

[@Hhhlll7778]

I prefer this old style of Virgil

[@Stu.6]

The fonz

[@SuperJazzhead]

Those drums sound amazing, what Sonor is that?

[@Hhhlll7778]

Yeah its a bit shame that some of his new fans or critics havent heard his playing from this era

[@sanchezzz1]

If only Buddy Rich could se him now..

[@guangosdude]

@morgenthaler Wait a second.. Virgil is with Pearl Drums

[@ThoughtCrime7]

How do you get that good? That man musta had time on his feet.

[@poppsy69]

@the12345joker since uploading this, I have purchased a better capture device (haupauge hd pvr) and the result is ten times better than this...

[@ballistix01]

LMAO. & lotsa Aqua-Net. "Winning!"

[@poppsy69]

@the12345joker I also lost my first copy and bought another

[@queenday15]

same old virgil mind

[@schwedy5782]

haha the fräschn...

[@kayned47]

Depends on how and what u mean by best. Does he have the best hands? In my opinion I'd say weckls r slightly better. I'd say Lang has slightly better feet but when it comes to both I'd say donati gets it. He's the busiest of most drummers and plays the most complex patterns of most drummers out there. It's hard to say blah blah is the best. It's an opinion. Makesfor a great conversation

[@josedavidguevarahernadez1680]

could you give me the name of the beginning song?

[@poppsy69]

Jose David Guevara Hernadez in the end credits of the video, the middle performed by the cutters, written by Phil buckle. (Southern sons)

[@PriscillaAlbert]

Um no Angel

[@Slipstream0001]

Why didn't Sonor sponsor him?

[@yngwie66]

Any Loose Change footage??

[@onimaxiis1]

Even in 80s Virgil played much better than Mike Portnoy in 90s😂

[@euclidesbarbosa2269]

Is Charlie sheen on drums?

[@poppsy69]

technically he is brilliant but has lost this old "feel" that he used to have.

[@PeterDeLuca-rz3dv]

Agreed. I know your comment is 10 years old now but we have an entire decade of his playing since then. I used to really enjoy him a lot but I prefer his older stuff now. Can’t really stand his monotonous technique and music he writes these days.