Day 1 at the NAMM show in LA team couldn't have gone better for me & the DUBE team.

We met some of the leading drummers in the world including Poogie Bell, Steve Smith , Peter Lockhart and my new friend Craig Blundell who all tried out the DUBE.

All very exciting for me to interact with them and talk about where they can help take the DUBE too.

Mike Dolbear is a very well known drum teacher amongst elite drummers and percussionists and has been a MASSIVE help in hooking the DUBE UP with a calibre of drummer we could have never gotten close to, so THANK YOU so much Mike!

We also had people up in the aisles dancing to the beats of the Dube, with other drums and percussionist stall holders joining into what we were playing. All in all I am incredibly happy with our first taste of the world's distribution of musical instruments show NAMM LA!!
Dion   

We were up and at 'em from 9.30am ready for the masses and all their questions about the DUBE that needed answering.

We met the BEASTIE BOYS drummer, Alfredo Ortis and also James Gadson, Nelson Rios and Verdine White from Earth Wind And Fire. I chatted with the boss of DW Drums Don Lombardi, who is gonna try and help the DUBE along in the USA - making sure that I get the right people on board.

We had lots more interest and photos taken throughout the day, plus quite a few distributors finding the concept of a wooden square cube that gives out such an amazing sound very intriguing . Having met Stevie Wonder the night before I honestly thought it couldn't get any better, I was so so wrong! Stevie Wonder was walking around all the halls late in the afternoon towards the end of the show when it wasn't so busy.

After visiting several booths he walked by our stand with the same bodyguards he had with him the night before, including the same guy that said to my brother a blatant 'NO!' to having a picture with Stevie Wonder, who caught my eye and mouthed "we will come back"! At that stage I was thinking no way is Stevie Wonder gonna be playing My invention, surely not . Again, I was wrong.

Stevie Wonder left the stand across the way and headed straight over to the DUBE display where he was going to be met by 4 people smiling like big children who had just got what they wanted for Christmas. He arrived on our stand and instantly started playing the Dube like he had played it all his life, moving from DUBE to DUBE through the sizes and smiled all the time he was with us.

You will see from the pictures that there were a lot of people following him around just to try and get a glimpse, but we got a lot more than that - more than we could have ever imagined. As he left I give him a DUBE of his own which he seemed to be pleased about. To have the likes of Mr Stevie Wonder playing a DUBE had been a dream but now it's reality and we have the proof. We were all floating on air for some time after and in someways haven't come down yet.

As we packed up our stand after that amazing experience the only topic on our lips was the man himself and rightly so! Can't thank him enough, that legend has made our trip to LA well worth it on its own. So for that experience to come along with all the other amazing contacts and connections we've made, it's already feeling like mission accomplished half way through!
Dion   

We arrived at about 9.35am to get straight to it again. We had a lot of interest from the far east today who seem to want to help distribute or just go straight ahead and nick the idea!

Again today the Dube accompanied Steve Oliver (a great guitarist) with his own percussionist playing it. What we found was having watched him play twice now - when he has finished his set, there has been more questions about the DUBE than anything else!

The DUBE stand guestlist today, again impressive including Stevie Wonder, Tommy Lee, Thomas Lang and loads more.

Quick thank yous to Karl Brazil, without whom I would have never met Mike Dolbear. And thanks to Mike, without whom I would be having a very different NAMM experience that's for sure! He has just been so helpful in so many ways, the people that man has introduced me to is just simply outrageous!

Don Lombardi is the Boss of a drum company called DW who I met yesterday in his private DW area where he said "I will pop over tomorrow". He stood by his word and I'm pleased to say he really liked the look and sound of the DUBE.

I also got to watch my friend Craig Blundell absolutely tear a drum kit apart with just shear speed and passion. I had the great pleasure of welcoming Thomas Lang onto my stand as he just sauntered over with his wife for a catch up chat and give me his design ideas for his personalised DUBE which he will be getting very soon.

All in all my 3rd day at the NAMM show 2012 has been hugely successful, 3 down 1 to go - Bring it on!
Dion   

Well that's it my first NAMM Show in LA over, it was a great experience! It was open to the public today so lots of jam sessions with people who love percussion as well as loads of drummers who have played with the best there is in the music world. I met a drummer called Omar Hakim who used to play with "Weather Report", one of my all time favourite bands! He was charming, had the time to chat, just the way you hope the people that you admire would be.

We also had a visit from the Escovedo family who are Sheila E's Family, very down to earth people humble and friendly with time on their hands to chat and have a bit of a jam session too.

There were lots of people on the last day who were dressed up in their own free spirited way, WOW you should have seen some of the sights! It was very, very noisy on Sunday because I think the sound police dropped their guard a little so people could demo their product properly without the officials/stewards walking by, looking at the sound monitor that they carry round and wincing at how noisy they think you are!

Anyway it's over now till next year, it has been very hard work, lots of new faces in the DUBE photo album, loads more contacts and potential buyers, distributors and people who love the DUBE and want to help take it forward! LA experience over!

Dion   

P.S. Must say a big thank you to Dan, Stan and Margo, they looked out for us, great people. Thank you from the DUBE Team!