Meet Kyle Noone, the Edward Sharpe fan who joined the band on drums at #xpnfest - WXPN | Vinyl At Heart
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All photos by Kate Harrold | www.kateharrold.com

When Kyle Noone arrived at the XPoNential Music Festival on Friday evening, he was simply excited to see one of his favorite bands – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Little did the 13-year-old Cherry Hill drummer know, he’d be performing with them by the end of the night.

It all came about because singer / frontman Alex Ebert was losing his voice. So rather than talk between songs, he asked members of the crowd if they had any stories to tell. He got to Noone as the band began the opening vamp of “Home,” and the excited fan told Ebert “Honey is good for your voice” and “I’m your number-one fan, I bought your album the second it came out on iTunes, and I know all your songs on drums.”

“You play drums?” singer Jade Castrinos asked. “You should come and play some drums.”

Noone says he was in shock when he landed on stage.

“I was trying to look calm but on the inside I was happier than I have ever been in my life,” he tells us over email. “I was very nervous about messing up.” But he held it down, sitting behind Orpheo McCord’s drumkit and keeping the beat going on “Home,” launching into an explosive drum solo (you can see it at about the 3:11 mark of the video below) that had Ebert on his knees doing a “we’re not worthy” bow.

Noone has been playing drums for three years, since he was in 5th grade. He says he practices at least two hours a day, and plays in a band, The Meantime, which he started with four friends that he met through School of Rock Cherry Hill. (They have a gig coming up at Citizens’ Bank Park on September 28th for the Charlie’s Fight night, actually!)

He’s been an Edward Sharpe fan for about the same amount of time. “I think every record has something different,” he says. “But I like their newest album the most, because songs like ‘Remember to Remember’ have a great vibe to them that puts me in a good mood.”

After playing full kit during home, Noone was set up with a marching bass drum and tambourine for the closing “Om Nashi Me.” The show wrapped up, and Noone was gifted with a set of McCord’s drumsticks.

“When I got off the stage I couldn’t stop smiling,” Noone says. “On my walk to the car, I got recognized by at least 20 people. Out of car doors I heard ‘yeah Kyle!’ And ‘You killed it Kyle!’ I was so happy, it was definitely an experience I will never forget.”

Watch another video of Noone playing drums on “Home” below, and see photos (and listen to an archive of the entire set) here.

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