Attention all drummers,

I’m a 17 year old drummer touring with a band and I encountered a disgraceful act of injustice at Melbourne airport, namely Tiger Airways terminal (first mistake).

After already getting a blasting for being late for check in (waited an hour and a half in line), I began to move into the security check area. I was just about to walk through when a security guard questioned me about my drum key, he first asked me if I was a drummer, I reply yes, he then went on to ask about my sticks and if I had them on me (which I did). I said yes, because I’m playing this weekend. The guard said, and I quote, “ I’m sorry sir but your not allowed to carry drumsticks on to any aircraft as they are classed as weapons”. I simply said are you f****** kidding me (as you do). He then began to explain how a drumstick was a weapon; he explained, “ If you take off the nylon tip and snap the stick down the middle, you can stab someone with it”.

The first thing I thought out loud was I would give anyone $100 who could take the nylon tip of a stick, and then continue to snap a 2b stick smack bang down the centre. He shrugged his shoulder and went on to tell me that they would be confiscated immediately. At this stage my management and band were all having a crack. The contents of my stick bag was: 7 pairs of Promark 2bn ( 20 bucks a pop), a set of mallets and a $90 pair of marching sticks. The funny thing was he was going to let me take my mallets, which have a wooden stick and a Pom on the end. He was adamant that they weren’t classed a weapon, because they had a fluffy thing on the end.

The other funny thing was that a woman before brought 2 bottles of wine on, and I’m sure in any good bar fight, one would choose a bottle over a drumstick. So I handed the sticks over, reluctantly. The other guards had fun tapping away with them, but I couldn’t see the fun side.

So before I get to carried away the message from one drummer to the others is don’t trust the security at airports, just check in your sticks. It may seem an inconvenience at the time but it will keep your weekend a paying one.

Declan O’Neill
(The Ploughboys)