Stage presence can make or break you. You can be playing the most amazing fills or grooves, but if you have a deer-in-the-headlights look the effect gets a bit lost. If you’re going to tear it up, really tear it up! Get into it! There’s nothing more fun than watching a drummer that really grooves when they groove.
First, I’d like to examine Meg White’s presence.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li3Sqqf3Ki0)
She doesn’t just hit the drums, she’s beating them. Notice that she doesn’t just use wrist-strokes here…No, she’s using arm for those strokes. Sometimes above her head.
Her playing isn’t too complicated, but she’s filling the stage with sound. This is an especially important role, as there are only two people in the White Stripes. The notes she plays on the floor tom & bass drive the verses, and when she brings the crash cymbals in, you can feel it. It all comes together.