Scott Devours has teased in a new Facebook post that The Who had him on standby to be new drummer if Zak Starkey wasn’t rehired after his recent firing. Devours plays in Daltrey’s solo band. He wrote on Facebook:
Now that the dust has settled…
Given the unreal amount of attention, the rumor mill, the hearsay, the countless theories, comments, and the liberties the press took in the “world of The Who” this week, I feel it’s time to clarify a few things; or at least the ones that affected, included or mentioned myself.
Topic One:
Zak’s sacking and de-sacking from The Who.
On this particular topic I have nothing to add directly. In my opinion, that whole story got blown completely out of proportion and I think it should remain between Pete, Rog & Zak. Everything else is just chatter and only serves to complicate things.
Now, what I can comment on is when the rumor mill mentioned myself..
Anyone who knows me and frankly almost any drummer or musician can understand that even the thought of sitting behind the greatest live band of all time literally sends shivers down the spine. The handful of times I had the honor of covering for Zak (in 2013) was other worldly. Simply put, there really are no words to crystallize the experience, so I’ll let your collective imaginations fill in the gaps.
Playing with Rog & Pete is the highest high and the greatest honor any drummer can experience. At least in my world, there is nothing higher than that. So I could sit back & lie by pretending I would never want that experience again, but that wouldn’t be true and would appear disingenuous. I mean, who the hell wouldn’t want to experience that?
Where it gets delicate and quite complicated is having two conflicting sets of emotions about the same topic and trying to make room for both to be true at the same time. You see, I can say that of course my heart exploded with emotions when I read the same headlines everyone else did, but at the exact same time I can feel sadness reading about Zak’s situation, especially how it played out in the public arena.
So, now let me declare a few things for the record….
The shadow that Keith Moon left is as large as the Universe itself. I have never heard one soul even come close to what Moon created. He was literally the most original talent to ever hit a drum, period. And in the list of drummers to have had the honor of reinterpreting the most genius catalog of classic songs ever written, Zak is THE BEST. The chemistry Pete and Zak share is other worldly. I was, I am and I continue to be a HUGE fan of Zak, especially in what he brings to The Who.
So try to imagine the cognitive dissonance I experienced while reading my name mentioned during this difficult time for one of my drumming heroes. And by the way, there were no feelings of schadenfreude at all. Honestly, even though I’d LOVE to play with Rog & Pete again, I don’t want it at the expense of one of my heroes. The feelings were just so complicated. They still are actually.
Also, I want it known that I do not write any of this to prompt sympathy from anyone, for I am not a victim in this story. Part of me is proud just to be a punctuation mark in the long, incredible story that is The Who. Another part of me is also really happy that Zak is back atop his rightful throne. And yes, I had my moments where my emotions went on a little bit of a roller coaster. I definitely experienced a few days of extreme ups and downs, but as the dust settled, all is well in my world. I still get to play with Rog, Simon and his incredible band nightly. I have my beautiful wife Leslie by my side while we tour all throughout the UK, which makes me continue to feel very lucky.
In conclusion,
I only shared the above little addendum to this week’s craziness so that all the countless people, friends, family and fans reaching out to me can hear my perspective, and even though I appreciate all the kind, sympathetic words, all is well in my world. Life is good.
PS:
PETE (@officialthewho), no need to apologize, mate…..but I might take you up on that “long drink and a hug” someday, lol.
skôtttt
