During the forty years Tama built their drum legacy, many great artists play and have played the brand's drums. From Neil Peart, Stewart Copeland (39 years) to 'Tama-Lifer' Mike Portnoy. Younger generation drummers like George "Spanky" McCurdy and Matthew Garstka, are all still inspired by the sound and feel of Tama's shells. Drummerszone attended the event and recorded the artists. Prepare to be amazed by a dozen videos of the evening.

Tama's 40th Anniversary Event took place at the Pacific Ballroom at the Hilton in Anaheim. With 28,542 square feet, it can hold up to 3,500 people. It took only minutes to have the room packed with people wanting to be part of the show. With seven drum sets on stage, for seven different bands, two wide screens covering the main wall left and right from the stage and with several cameras covering the performances, Tama didn't hold back on anything to let this evening be an unforgettable one.

The artists performing were even more impressive. Better yet, from young to old, all have set their marks in music history. In order of appearance, from the legendary Billy Cobham, Lenny White, Simon Phillips, Charlie Benante and Mike Portnoy, to the younger George "Spanky" McCurdy and Matthew Garstka, all drummers blew the crowd off their feet with stunning performances, incredible grooves and musicality of the highest level possible.

Simon Phillips on Twitter:

"Last night was the amazing Tama 40th Anniversary party and it truly was amazing. Wonderful to see Billy Cobham and his band followed by Lenny White and his band and a true honor to play with Protocol ll! All the players were fantastic and more importantly it seemed that everyone was having the best time!!! Thank you once again Hoshino for masterminding this mind blowing event!! And thanks to all the hard working crew that made this happen. - SP"

After Simon Phillips, Charlie Benante and his fellow Anthrax members played a metal-medley covering decades of metal songs, like Metallica's One, Caught In A Mosh, Indians, Slayer's Rain in Blood and Joe Jackson’s Got the Time. After that, Mike Portnoy, together with Billy Sheehan on bass, Tony McAlpine on guitar and Derrick Sherinian on keyboards, raged the stage for 15 minutes with the most incredible drum work and bass and guitar solo's. He closed with a speech saying he is a true Tama-lifer while showing the brand's logo tattooed on his arm.

Mike Portnoy on twitter:

"Tonight's Tama 40th Anniversary show was the greatest drum event I've ever seen...what a 1st class celebration! I was honored to be involved."

Lady Gaga's George "Spanky" McCurdy and Matthew Garstka showed once again they belong to the true new promises in the industry. With only 32 years old, George McCurdy is a straight hit machine. He played with Kanye, Diddy, The Backstreet Boys, Jill Scott, Queen Latifah, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and many others. In 2013, he released his dvd Off Time/On Time on Hudson Music. Matthew Garstka closed the sets on the main stage with Animals As Leaders. Literally everyone in the audience went nuts when the progressive metallers showed their incredible technical skills.

Another highlight of the evening was the speech of Yoshi Hoshino, president of the Hoshino Gakki Company. In the video you will see why! Before that, there were serveral official moments. Joe Lammond, president and CEO of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) handed Yoshi a plaquette with: "NAMM recognizes Tama for your 40 years of excellent service in the music products industry." Brock Kaericher, Bob Yerbi and Chris Hart from Remo honored Tama and Yoshi Hoshino with a special 40th anniversary drumhead.

The grand finale of the evening was the drumoff that everyone was expecting. Five drum sets were set up across the Pacific Ballroom, waiting all evening to be played. Ronald Bruner Jr. kicked off with a spectacular drum solo, followed by more drum violence by John Blackwell, long time Tama endorsee Rayford Griffin, Blake Richardson and Billy Rymer. Between all the changeovers during the evening, many videos were shown on the screens next to the stage. They covered the full 40 years of Tama history alternated with video messages from Tama endorsers like Lars Ulrich, Troy Luccketta and Bill Bruford. Stewart Copeland gave one of his typical Copeland-speeches, stating he loves Tama more then his wife(s), and remaining to do so after 39 years of playing Tama.

To summarize the evening: Tama hosted one of the most memorable events during NAMM ever. An evening filled with one highlight after another and surely not to be forgotten soon. Watch the videos and photos here and on the artist pages linked to this article. In the words of Yoshi Hoshino:

We keep rocking!