Pearl Drums 2023 “High End Reimagined” Release Event Report

The days are getting warm enough to make you sweat during the daytime, and I think many of you have already taken out your summer clothes. On May 27, 2023, the sun was shining and many people were wearing summer clothes at the Pearl Drums 2023 “High End Reimagined” event. I snuck into this event to watch the unveiling of new drum sets! I’m going to share all the details about this event in this article.

The HER event was held at two locations; The main building of ESP Entertainment Tokyo and Building 14. I first went to try out the new drums at Building 14.

In the testing room, many new items that haven’t been released yet were lined up, and there were many people trying them out.
This drum kit uses the new Masters Series shells to achieve a powerful and well-balanced sound from high to low frequencies with 4-ply maple + 2-ply gumwood!
The new dark color was so stunning and eye-catching.

As for color options, there seemed to be many various new colors released as there were many colors on display ranging from bright vivid colors that look great on stage to more subdued colors.

There were also several snare drums on display for visitors to try out freely!

Several hardware products were also presented at this year’s show! This is the most popular DEMON XR Series that was co-developed with the world’s top drummer, George Kollias. This model achieves both ultimate smoothness and speed.

I was able to try both single and twin pedals, and I could tell how well the pedals were designed for high-speed playing!
The pedals not only felt so light and airy under my feet, but the footboards were so responsive that I felt as if they were glued to the soles of my feet when I lifted them, which is something that I had never experienced before...

Here is another item to be on the lookout for!
Pearl finally released a tom holder that uses a rod!
This must be a surprise to those who know what Pearl’s tom holders were like previously!
The great thing about this tom holder is that it uses Pearl’s famous GyroLock Tilter, which provides excellent stability!

Look at that movement!
You can see that this tom holder allows for much more free settings thanks to the stable locking that can be set to any position.
This is said to be the start of the next generation of tom holders!

Of course, Pearl’s electronic drum e/MERGE was also on display. This new drum set model comes with a bass drum that is one size larger and feels more similar to acoustic drums!
I can’t wait for its release!

To catch the next event, I headed to the release event held in Hall B1 of the main building.
There was a talk and demo session by guest drummers after they introduced some new products.

The event had talks in between drum sessions from guest drummers.
Apparently, the drummers were all using drum sets similar to the ones they normally use, and it was interesting to see how everyone’s personalities had shown through based on their different drum setups.

Kid’z (MY FIRST STORY)

This is the drum set that Kid’z played on. It was interesting to see how the high tom and the low tom were mounted on the tom stand.
Kid’z also used ride, China, and splash effect cymbals.

Kanade Sato

Kanade Sato is known for her melodious tom playing and her distinctive twin pedal footwork. Her drum setup uses three toms and a snare drum next to one another, which is a really cool looking setup!

Tomoo Tsuruya

I took this photo after the event!
As you probably can guess from the direction of the splash and ride cymbals, Tomoo’s performance was intense and really impressive to watch.
He entertained the audience with captivating story-telling that gave off a powerful aura. He was so cool!

At the Pearl Drums 2023 “High End Reimagined” release event, I felt the wind of change for Pearl.
The brand seems to have entered a new era with the release of the DEMON XR Series kick pedals, the tom holder with an L-rod, and drum sets with a lot more color variety!
If you ever have a chance, I highly recommend that you go to an event like this one!