Big Drum Thump

Michael Lee died last week of then-unknown causes, but Blabbermouth is now reporting that the 39-year-old drummer suffered a fatal seizure. A funeral service for Lee will be held on December 3 at 10:45 a.m. in Darlington, England. Cards and flowers can be sent to the following address:

John Meynell Funeral Service
150 North Road
Darlington
County Durham, DL1 2EJ
United Kingdom

Munetaka Higuchi, the drummer for ’80s metal band Loudness, died today at a hospital in Osaka, Japan. He had been battling liver cancer since April of this year. Sadly, Higuchi was only 49 years old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNon8-hwvgo

Wake, thumpers, from your turkey comas, and click in this direction to win a drum set courtesy of DRUM! magazine, Gretsch, Sabian, Gibraltar, and Evans. The prize you’re clicking for is a Gretsch Catalina Mod outfitted in an exclusive G-Tube graphic finish. If you win the 4-piece kit, you’ll also take home a complete set of heads, cymbals, and hardware. That almost makes up for it being called the “Totally Tubular Giveaway.”

at the official Led Zeppelin YouTube channel. The band (or rather its management minions) have uploaded a buttload of bootleg and rare videos, including some shot on spectacularly grainy 8mm. Start off with this performance of “Achilles Last Stand” from a concert in Seattle in 1977:

[via Music Radar]

Everyone knows that the pedals on gaming drum kits suck severe ass in terms of playability, but one dude has filed a class action lawsuit claiming that the Rock Band stompers are shoddily made and “deprive [customers] of the value and enjoyment of their purchases.” Harmonix and MTV, the producers of the game, have released the following statement in response to the suit:

Harmonix and MTV Games are dedicated to consumers having an outstanding experience with our products. When used as directed, our drum pedals are designed to provide years of enjoyment. In addition, at the launch of Rock Band we offered consumers an extended opportunity return defective or broken hardware for any reason whatsoever—no questions asked. This litigation is opportunistic and baseless.

While our experience with Rock Band has been generally positive, we definitely think the pedal is on the worrisome side of fragile. Have you had any problems? Let us know in the comments.

Yeah, okay, it’s true: BDT loves Top Chef. And now we’re no longer ashamed to admit it because the Foo Fighters love the show too. The band appeared on this evening’s episode, a Thanksgiving special where the competing chefs divided into two teams to whip up a holiday feast for the Foos. Dave, of course, got a lot of face time and did most of the talking, but Taylor busted out with some heretofore hidden culinary wisdom as well:

I love the mac and cheese with the bacon bits.

I don’t like pumpkin foam.

The mashed potatoes were slightly al dente—meaning not cooked all the way.

I just don’t like figs and stuff in stuffing.

That crumble is outrageous.