Junior High Kids Doing an Impressive Cover of "As I Am"

[Compadre]

https://youtu.be/Rp0nRAN9qNo

My old friend's grandkids & son-in-law playing DT's "As I am".  Very impressive for a band of (mostly) youngsters! 

The kid on the skins is only 13.  Not too shabby, eh? 

Just thought I'd share!

[Nighthawkwill7]

Kid on the drums is pretty good! Couldn't hear the rest of the instruments clearly but all in all, it was a good cover!

[Ben_Jamin]

This song isn't really that hard.

[BanksD]

That was pretty cool, but I couldn't help but laugh a little when the kid started singing.

[darkshot]

That was a pretty cool vid, was this for a battle of the bands at their school?  Hopefully they didn't have to play against some kids lipsyncing Bieber or something 

[tjanuranus]

This song isn't really that hard.

Until you get to the guitar solo.

[dongringo]

That made my day. Thanks for posting it. 

[liquidtension]

I'm guessing the guitarist has been held back a couple times.

[PetFish]

The singer did the best tribute to James as he had about as much stage presence and personality... none.  I thought the drummer kicked ass.

You think the Dad did the editing?  Let's put in crowd noise everywhere!  Let's light-ray-filter the whole thing also!  What a noob.

Regardless, great to hear DT influencing kids.

[dongringo]

I don't see how anyone can say anything negative about a vid like this. They're just kids. They are obviously amateurs. The singer is obviously very young. Give them props. What if they read this thread?

[PetFish]

That's why I posted this here and not on their clip page.  Going by your tone I could reply with a Sheldon-esque over-reaction to a minute detail such as when Leonard lied to Penny about seeing her sing in a play and if she did this, this, this, this, and this she'd find out, but I won't, cuz it's so not worth it.

I did give them props for the overall effort, but maybe that wasn't clear, so good on them for performing a DT piece and trying their best.  Individually I can only praise the drummer, he seems to be playing beyond his young age.

And good on the Dad for getting the kids into Dream Theater in the first place. 

[7StringedBeast]

Over analyzing 13 year olds.... nice.

[Infinite Cactus]

It was good for 13 year olds. Although as far as over analyzing 13 year olds, they performed a song and its posted on the internet. They don't get a free pass for being kids. They get an "It's good for your age group, but it could be a hell of a lot better once you reach puberty and practice more."

[Perpetual Change]

The singer did the best tribute to James as he had about as much stage presence and personality... none.

Worst opinion here I've read in awhile.

The video is cool, but all those effects were not necessary at all. Especially the crowd noise!

[Metabog]

It was ok, but the fake crowd noise, effects and especially the makeup put me off. I think they need a bit more practice to put it bluntly, they're not THAT young. I'd probably be laughing if I was in the audience, and would need to be escorted out by concert goers, so... not sure what to say.

Give them props. What if they read this thread?

They put it, on the internet, so people will comment on it. If it was something for family and friends to see and enjoy awkwardly, then yeah, but it's on YouTube. I played worse performances probably when I was 14 with my first band, and it was nothing to brag about at all, but we didn't put them online.

I also found it a bit annoying that it doesn't mention Dream Theater ANYWHERE in the video. "Amazing kids Jam with Dad!! " is an annoying generic YouTube viewer-grabbing tactic, and there's no mention of DT in the description or tags or anywhere. Can't say anything good about that.

[MetropolisxPt1]

The Headbanging made me lol

[The Letter M]

Regardless of the quality of playing, etc. etc., I think we should all be happy that young musicians are being inspired by Dream Theater enough to want to play/perform their music!!! How many young children are so influenced by prog rock/prog metal bands these days, let alone enough to want to learn and play such music? This is a great thing and I think as fans we should be pretty happy to see the younger generation(s) carry on the spirit of Dream Theater.

-Marc.

[Adami]

Despite baring virtually no resemblance to the original, the drumming was quite awesome.


But when the singer kicked in, I just had to turn it off.

[WDADU]

I thought it was great. If they keep this up, they could be great musicians. And the drummer was definitely the highlight of video (not just because I'm a drummer as well, but also because he was ahead of his own time. A few mess-ups, but so what? Kid kicked ass). I'd like to see these cover some more tunes and watch them as they build up their chops. 

[Metabog]

I thought it was great. If they keep this up, they could be great musicians. And the drummer was definitely the highlight of video (not just because I'm a drummer as well, but also because he was ahead of his own time. A few mess-ups, but so what? Kid kicked ass). I'd like to see these cover some more tunes and watch them as they build up their chops.  

You can say that again.  

[lonestar]

The Headbanging made me lol

That and the "growl" vocals.

Hope they had fun, good stuff.

[Jamesman42]

Despite baring virtually no resemblance to the original, the drumming was quite awesome.


But when the singer kicked in, I just had to turn it off.

Same here.

[Global Laziness]

The Headbanging made me lol

That and the "growl" vocals.

Yeah, pretty much. Sweet cover although I'm pissed they left out the solo. I really wanted to see the dad rocking out with a blistering solo at a kids' talent show.

Also, the fake crowd noise was a bit much, especially the one guy at the very end. "WE! WANT! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRREE!"

[Compadre]

Honestly, I never thought I'd get so much negative feedback on 13 year olds attempting to play a DT song, regardless of how "easy" the song is to play.

I posted this more as a "look at some cool youngsters who try their best playing a Dream Theater tune."  

Hell, you got to start somewhere, right?  I, for one, find it invigorating to see such enthusiasm from such young musicians attempting DT (or any prog-metal/not-too-commercial music).  It really just makes me smile (and bang my head a little!)

[lonestar]

Honestly, I never thought I'd get so much negative feedback on 13 year olds attempting to play a DT song, regardless of how "easy" the song is to play.

I posted this more as a "look at some cool youngsters who try their best playing a Dream Theater tune."  

Hell, you got to start somewhere, right?  I, for one, find it invigorating to see such enthusiasm about young musicians attempting DT (or any prog-metal/not-too-commercial music).  It really just makes me smile (and bang my head a little!)

Good to see kids brought up on real music.

[Global Laziness]

I'm hoping I didn't come across as too negative, the drummer kicked ass!

[dongringo]

Regardless of the quality of playing, etc. etc., I think we should all be happy that young musicians are being inspired by Dream Theater enough to want to play/perform their music!!! How many young children are so influenced by prog rock/prog metal bands these days, let alone enough to want to learn and play such music? This is a great thing and I think as fans we should be pretty happy to see the younger generation(s) carry on the spirit of Dream Theater.

-Marc.

Thank you!

[dongringo]

Honestly, I never thought I'd get so much negative feedback on 13 year olds attempting to play a DT song, regardless of how "easy" the song is to play.

I posted this more as a "look at some cool youngsters who try their best playing a Dream Theater tune."  

Hell, you got to start somewhere, right?  I, for one, find it invigorating to see such enthusiasm from such young musicians attempting DT (or any prog-metal/not-too-commercial music).  It really just makes me smile (and bang my head a little!)

It made  me  smile too. There are some really depressing people on this forum no doubt. Props to these kids!

[Flacracker]

Ok that was not even good for their age... Except for the drummer. The singing was... Idk... young? I couldn't help but laugh when that kid started singing. Oh and another reason that it is not good for their age is the guitarist. He is old and he still sucks. Why do you think they left out any attempt at a solo? I couldn't hear the bass so no comment on that.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

This song isn't really that hard.

Talk about missing the point.

[PetFish]

I posted this more as a "look at some cool youngsters who try their best playing a Dream Theater tune."

No, you posted it as "Junior High Kids Doing an Impressive Cover of 'As I Am'" and people don't agree.

Personally, I never said the performance was bad, the editing was.  And my compliment for a good impression of James can be viewed as a negative but that's your choice.

Don't post stuff on the Internet that you only want people to tell you how great it is.  People, especially kids, need to fall down and skin their knees once in a while but some people insist that keeping them in a protective bubble from everything is the better way to go.

Depressing people here?  Hardly.  Once again we have overly-sensitive people over-reacting to nothing.  If you're really going to be offended by small things then that's your choice but don't get mad at others for unintentionally offending you.

I'll say it once more, the props go out for doing a Dream Theater song and having the balls to play it in front of people and they are kids, but don't get mad at us for not saying it's the best thing since sliced bread from top to bottom.

[Elaitch]

It was alright; just as some of you here I'm glad to see youngsters being influenced in this way musically, Even though it wasn't that tight. But hey, what can you expect?

And from this point onward, they can only get better, amirite?

[Perpetual Change]

I posted this more as a "look at some cool youngsters who try their best playing a Dream Theater tune."

Personally, I never said the performance was bad, the editing was.  And my compliment for a good impression of James can be viewed as a negative but that's your choice.

Your comment that James has absolutely no stage presence or personality can't be construed as anything but negative. You thinking we're actually dumb enough to think you could have meant that in a positive way throws all the other claims your making into question, honestly.

[Compadre]

Not mad, offended or anything!  But seriously, do you need a hug or do you just take everything completely 100% seriously all the time?

Just thought it was really cool that they gave it a shot.  Obviously, they have a lot of work to do, but the singer is freakin' 7 years old.  ACTUALLY comparing him to JLB is a bit silly, don't ya think?

Anyways, I wish I was into DT when I was 7!  I didn't get into them until around 12 or 13 when I started playing guitar and my guitar teacher showed me the opening riffs to ACOS.  I will always remember that day, and I suppose enjoying this video was a way for me to positively reflect upon my introduction to Dream Theater.

No offense taken and I hope grains of salt can be passed around accordingly around here!  But I've always thought the honesty around this site has been one of the reasons I visit DTF time and time again.

Back to the regularly scheduled programming!!

[PetFish]

Compadre, good work promoting it, and some things didn't come across that well.  There were flaws and people pointed them out but it's no reason to get discouraged and not post stuff.  I'm sure there could have been MUCH worse things said cuz you know the Internet is full of trolls and people who abuse others for fun just to get a reaction.  But, like I said, if kids/people were told everything they do is great 24/7 then they are living in The Matrix cuz it just ain't the truth and people need to hear about what's wrong in order to grow.

I think my real issue is with the editing.  At first I was like "oh, cool, the audience is actually into it" before realizing they were just sitting there like statues and it was all fake.  The way it was put together made it feel like it was over-compensating for something.  I feel like I was sold a peach but received a lemon.

I'll admit, upon reflection, that my "compliment" on the James impression was definitely back-handed but in my head I thought it was funny cuz I've said many times before that I think James is one of the worst frontmen around.  I do hope that maybe with MP gone he'll pick it up but I'll have to wait and see.