Video: Polyphia Drummer’s In-Ear Monitors Fail Mid-Song, Drum Tech Taps Beat On His Leg for Remainder of Show
For any band, having your sound go to shit mid-show is a big problem. For a band as technical and unhinged as Polyphia, it’s a nightmare. The Texas instrumental rock act’s shtick is entirely based on adventurous and unorthodox rhythms and chord progressions; to hobble their tech during a gig is to fundamentally dampen what makes them so impressive. But that’s why you have good people working for you, as learned by Polyphia drummer Clay Aeschliman during the band’s So What! Festival set, when his in-ear monitors went dead — and his drum tech tapped out a metronome beat on his leg for the remainder of the show
As you’ll see in the video below by the Tiktok of Belmont’s Jason Tyler, Polyphia were in the middle of their So What! set when Aeschliman turned to his tech and said, “I can’t hear shit!” So what did his drum tech do? Got a spare stick, crouched next to the kit, and tapped out a steady beat along Clay’s calf. And guess what? It worked. The tech kept up the beat for the remainder of the band’s set, and Polyphia made it through the gig.
Check out the video below, and get tickets to see Polyphia on their upcoming tour dates later this summeR:
July 28 – Houston, Texas @ House of Blues
July 29 – New Orleans, La. @ House of Blues
July 30 – Atlanta, Ga. @ The Masquerade (Heaven)
Aug. 2 – Charlotte, N.C. @ The Underground
Aug. 3 – Baltimore, Md. @ Rams Head Live!
Aug. 4 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Union Transfer
Aug. 5 – Boston, Mass. @ Paradise Rock Club
Aug. 6 – New York, N.Y. @ Irving Plaza
Aug. 8 – New Haven, Ct. @ Toad’s Place
Aug. 9 – Montreal, Quebec @ Club Soda
Aug. 10 – Toronto, Ontario @ Opera House
Aug. 11 – Detroit, Mich. @ The Majestic
Aug. 12 – Chicago, Ill. @ Concord Music Hall
Aug. 14 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ Fine Line
Aug. 15 – Des Moines, Iowa @ Wooly’s
Aug. 16 – Lawrence, Kan. @ The Granada Theatre
Aug. 18 – Denver, Colo. @ Gothic Theatre
Aug. 19 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ The Depot
Aug. 20 – Boise, Idaho @ Knitting Factory
Aug. 22 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ Imperial
Aug. 23 – Portland, Ore. @ Hawthorne [tickets]
Aug. 24 – Seattle, Wash. @ Neptune Theatre [tickets]
Aug. 26 – San Francisco, Calif. @ The Regency Ballroom [tickets]
Aug. 27 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Fonda Theatre [tickets]
Aug. 28 – Pomona, Calif. @ The Glasshouse
Aug. 31 – Phoenix, Ariz. @ Marquee Theatre
Sept. 2 – Fort Worth, Texas @ Ridglea Theatre
Sept. 3 – Austin, Texas @ Come and Take It Live
