Anyone who attended the 2017 LDS may have noticed the slightly slimmer product floor than previous years. This combined with there being fewer ‘heavyweight’ names on the artist line-up this year put a glimmer of doubt in the back of my mind on the drive up. Stepping out of the elevator soon put my doubts to rest…

The product floor was well attended this year, only the occasional bald patch showing, companies ranging from the usual big names to independent drum builders came together to give a refreshing variety of products and innovations. It was great to see a few products I’d seen online in the flesh: Yamaha’s new lightweight hardware really is just that (something that’s a little difficult to try online!), ACD Drums had their Darwin series pedal on display, a seriously high-tech pedal, and it was great to get my own ears on some Impression cymbals.

That said, it was almost more exciting to see some ideas from companies I’d never seen or heard of before: Pan Amor presented showcased their spectacular craftsmanship in their pan drums, GigPig had a pair of their very unique ‘box kits’ to try, and Zebra Drums displayed a stunning “Free Floating” kit, featuring rather snazzy spring loaded tom mounting brackets. A personal favourite of mine from the show, both sleek and functional!

Although the performance line-up this year wasn’t as star-studded as previous shows, slots the Drum Dog team attended were still something really rather memorable. The range of artists performing gave something for everyone, from Ash Soan’s tasteful shuffles to Eddy Throwers frenzied hard hitting fills.

It really covered it all, all the gear for the drum nerd inside all of us, world class performances to inspire the creative side, and a great catch up and hang with drummer and music friends alike from over the UK. Despite the UK drum show scene now being split between UK drum show and London drum show, LDS continues to be a well attended show, with some big names wandering around just to enjoy the show.