Any Fates Warning Concert Reviews?

[Still Remains]

Just checking to see if anyone has seen any early USA dates on the Fates tour? Attendance, sound, merch, setlists, etc. Thanks.

 

[euleria]

Just checking to see if anyone has seen any early USA dates on the Fates tour? Attendance, sound, merch, setlists, etc. Thanks.

A few folk mentioned Fates in the best show you've seen in 2013 thread, but otherwise I haven't seen detailed reviews.

Setlist.fm has setlists for shows on the current tour. http://www.setlist.fm/setlists/fates-warning-bd69146.html They're pretty consistent from night to night, with a few changes here and there. No "And Yet It Moves", sadly, and no "Ivory Gates" either, so far as I recall.

I'm totally stoked for next week in Reading PA -- taking my 13 y.o. to his first rock concert, and getting to see FW for the 3rd time myself.

 

[ironmaiden01]

Saw them last night in Louisville Ky. I can answer those questions and give you an honest review. This is coming from a long time fan who considers Paralells one of the best 10 albums ever recorded.
Show was at a fairly small club. Kinda cool spot. Attendance was 100-115 people and that may be at its peak and stretching just a bit. You had no problem standing front of stage nearly arms reach from Ray Alder. As for merch, there were just 3 or 4 t-shirts. Nothing else. All were sold out from the get go except for the one white model. All can be had at the website so the sign said.
Sound was not terrible but not great. 6.5 on scale of 1-10. P A speakers consisted of two pair of JBL dual 15s or 18s. Each guitarist had just a half stack (Mesa Boogie).
Setlist was pretty much like whats listed at the setlist.fm site. However the encore was one song only and didnt include eye to eye, which they didnt play.
Jim Matheos and Joey Vera were the stars. Both absolutely crushed it. Frank Arresti was missed big time. Touring guitarist who took his spot was medicore at best. Didnt have the ability to nail the parts or even come close. He appeared overmatched, even uncomfortable with this band.
Ray Alder (as much as I love him) was just OK. He skipped the high notes everytime. He played it safe and didnt even try to hit the higher notes from Eleventh Hour, Point of View, Through Different Eyes etc. Of course they are reasonably high notes but not crazy high or even Steve Perry high. Should be very do-able from most decent singers with a little range. Don't get me wrong. He was ok. Tone was good and mostly in key. Just nothing stellar.
I'm familiar with the drummer mostly from his work in Halford. In that band, he was a monster. The drumming in that band was much faster pace, incorporating alot of fast double bass. In this band he is just ok. Even appeared to me to have timing issues a couple times.
All in all, if you really really like Fates Warning youll enjoy the intimate show in a small club. If you are just a mild fan or less, you may be dissapointed or even bored as the band was very unergetic. Joey Vera was the only one who hardly moved on stage or showed any type of energy. Ray Alder barely cracked a smile and looked eager to have the show completed.
Because I am a long time fan and consider FW pioneers in prog metal I will rate this concert a 7.

 

[Azrael LenGraden]

Saw them last night in Louisville Ky. I can answer those questions and give you an honest review. This is coming from a long time fan who considers Paralells one of the best 10 albums ever recorded.
Show was at a fairly small club. Kinda cool spot. Attendance was 100-115 people and that may be at its peak and stretching just a bit. You had no problem standing front of stage nearly arms reach from Ray Alder. As for merch, there were just 3 or 4 t-shirts. Nothing else. All were sold out from the get go except for the one white model. All can be had at the website so the sign said.
Sound was not terrible but not great. 6.5 on scale of 1-10. P A speakers consisted of two pair of JBL dual 15s or 18s. Each guitarist had just a half stack (Mesa Boogie).
Setlist was pretty much like whats listed at the setlist.fm site. However the encore was one song only and didnt include eye to eye, which they didnt play.
Jim Matheos and Joey Vera were the stars. Both absolutely crushed it. Frank Arresti was missed big time. Touring guitarist who took his spot was medicore at best. Didnt have the ability to nail the parts or even come close. He appeared overmatched, even uncomfortable with this band.
Ray Alder (as much as I love him) was just OK. He skipped the high notes everytime. He played it safe and didnt even try to hit the higher notes from Eleventh Hour, Point of View, Through Different Eyes etc. Of course they are reasonably high notes but not crazy high or even Steve Perry high. Should be very do-able from most decent singers with a little range. Don't get me wrong. He was ok. Tone was good and mostly in key. Just nothing stellar.
I'm familiar with the drummer mostly from his work in Halford. In that band, he was a monster. The drumming in that band was much faster pace, incorporating alot of fast double bass. In this band he is just ok. Even appeared to me to have timing issues a couple times.
All in all, if you really really like Fates Warning youll enjoy the intimate show in a small club. If you are just a mild fan or less, you may be dissapointed or even bored as the band was very unergetic. Joey Vera was the only one who hardly moved on stage or showed any type of energy. Ray Alder barely cracked a smile and looked eager to have the show completed.
Because I am a long time fan and consider FW pioneers in prog metal I will rate this concert a 7.

Great detailed review!!!

 

[Jasonic]

I was at the tour kick off in Joliet, IL on Friday.
It was my first time seeing Fates, and I was VERY happy.
I thought the band sounded great.
I agree that the touring guitarist was mediocre at best.
He didn't seem very confident, but did his best.

As a bassist myself, I always love seeing Vera live.
First saw him with Seven Witches, then at PP with Saint, and now with Fates. Such a versitile bassist, who successfully switches between picking and fingering. (yeah, not as dirty as it sounds!)

The setlist was pretty much what I expected.
Only (realistic) complaint was the absence of NO EXIT material.

To add insult to injury, they are selling a NO EXIT shirt on this tour!

When I saw that I was thinking maybe they would play something, but no.

Don't miss this tour!

 

[AngraRULES]

Does anyone (other than Tenth Dreamer Deceiver as I already know his opinion, lol) have anything to say about Halcyon Way? I am curious as to how the Fates crowd is reacting to them.

 

[Jasonic]

Does anyone (other than Tenth Dreamer Deceiver as I already know his opinion, lol) have anything to say about Halcyon Way? I am curious as to how the Fates crowd is reacting to them.

Gotta be honest. The Joliet crowd was very lukewarm to them......

If you want honest feedback, I will give it, but if you are going to get defensive, then don't ask!!!

Anyhow, here is my honest feedback on HW.
They need to pick a sound and stick with it.
Their first song started with harsh vocals that didn't match the music at all.
Then every other song seemed to be a different style.
Thrash, to heavy, to power, and even a poppy style.
Their "look" certainly expresses that they are influenced by many styles, which is great.

Trust me, I am into a lot of different styles of metal and beyond as well.

I think many had trouble connecting with what they were going for.

Honestly, the only reason I watched their set was indeed because they are one of your bands, so I wanted to give them a fair shot.

Are they a bad band? No, not at all. They all have talent.
Just need to narrow down the sound / style they want to go for.

 

[AngraRULES]

Gotta be honest. The Joliet crowd was very lukewarm to them......

If you want honest feedback, I will give it, but if you are going to get defensive, then don't ask!!!

Anyhow, here is my honest feedback on HW.
They need to pick a sound and stick with it.
Their first song started with harsh vocals that didn't match the music at all.
Then every other song seemed to be a different style.
Thrash, to heavy, to power, and even a poppy style.
Their "look" certainly expresses that they are influenced by many styles, which is great.

Trust me, I am into a lot of different styles of metal and beyond as well.

I think many had trouble connecting with what they were going for.

Honestly, the only reason I watched their set was indeed because they are one of your bands, so I wanted to give them a fair shot.

Are they a bad band? No, not at all. They all have talent.
Just need to narrow down the sound / style they want to go for.

I won't get defensive at all. In fact, you can ask the band... I am HUGE critic of Halcyon Way.

I was just honestly curious as to how the crowd is reacting to them. They have Fates' influence, but sound nothing like them.

Btw, check your PM.

 

[Jasonic]

Ok, cool!
Here is another take on it though.

There were MANY people in the crowd who I usually do not see at shows. Lots of older metal fans who only see the bands they want to see and don't keep up on newer bands.

I know there are plenty of other Chicago area folks on this board who are there, so maybe they saw things differently.

 

[TwizstedJesus]

I was at the Cleveland show at The Agora Ballroom last night.

Merch was, Black hoodie with the Darkness in A Different Light logo on front and tour dates on back for $40. White tee with the same, and a tee with the "No Exit" album cover on the front and the words "No Exit" on back, and a black tee with a different logo on it all were $20 each.All were in stock; heaps of boxes of them! No cd's, which, when the merch guy was asked, he said it was too much of a hassle dragging cd's around the country for limited sales.

The setlist is up on setlist.fm right now. It is missing "Wish" from FWX, which they played somewhere in the middle of the set. Fates came out to loud cheers from the 200 or so in attendance and proceeded to rip our faces off for 2 hours. I don't know what transpired at the Kentucky show, but I found none of the statements to be true. The setlist was nearly perfect, with a good mix of each album starting at "Inside Out" and peppering the set with one or two from Perfect Symmetry and Parallels. This is Fates Warning circa 2013, not 1993, so you know where their heads are at. The only song that was awkward was "Wish" which sounded different due to the drum parts. Interesting but they need to tighten this one up if they are going to keep it in the set.

Ray was a ball of energy from song one, bouncing up and down, pumping his fists, high fiving fans whenever he was near the front, etc. He had a smile on his face whenever he wasn't singing and thanked the fans a hundred times. He did not hit many of the high notes and stuck to his mid-range, but he was dead on perfect all night long. Ray sounded better than I've ever heard him, and I've been to 6 shows over the years.

Joey Vera was Joey, making faces during the whole set and totally killing it! If you've seen Joey live, you know what I mean.

Jim Matheos and the fill in guy stage right were in perfect unison throughout. No, they are not very active on stage, but Jim wandered into the middle of the stage at least a dozen times. The guitar tones were crunchy and a good replication of the Fates sound, and I had no problems with Michael Abdow. His solo's were good, not great, but he was in sync with Jim most of the night. He fit in better on this tour than Bernie Versailles and Shaun Michaud from previous tours. He's not Frank Aresti, but he filled in fine, and appeared to be comfortable. He seemed to follow Joey's lead and they had a good stage repertoire together.

Bobby Jarzombek brings something different to the table with Fates. He's more aggressive than Mark Zonder, but with just as much finesse. He missed a cue once and lost his timing for a split second, but otherwise was just as good as advertised. He played the parts he needs to play, and while more aggressive, his style blends perfectly. I always thought that Zonder would be impossible to replace, but Jarzombek is as close as it comes, sounding more in sync than Portnoy did and much better than Nick D'Virgilio stylistically.

As a huge Fates Warning fan since 1985, I'm obviously fond of this band, but the Kentucky review sounded almost like a smear job to me. I've been there throughout the years and Fates has always been a solid band live, just never visually stimulating or ultra aggressive in their live shows. They were at points both last night in Cleveland. The heavier songs work well live, the moody more introspective pieces like 11th Hour and Still Remains were played perfectly, being Fates concert staples for years. On a scale of 1-10 I give this show a 9.5, comparable to the 8.5 at ProgPower, 7.0 to the Pittsburgh show on the "Inside Out" tour and the 6.0 on the Savatage tour years ago. They've matured into a very good live band over the years, and last night's show is probably one of the top 3 shows I have ever seen, and is the top show of 2013. Yes, even better than Myrath @ ProgPowerUSA.

 

[TwizstedJesus]

Halycon Way has improved since I saw them last at ProgPowerUSA in 2008??? When I saw them in 2008 I thought that they were boring and the material was not that good. Last night they were much better, still nowhere near headlining quality, but they will carve out a nice little niche for themselves with time. The set list leans more towards the 2nd and 3rd discs from what I recall, and I did not have a problem staying for the entire set.

 

[TwizstedJesus]

 

[TwizstedJesus]

 

[TwizstedJesus]

 

[TENTH DREAMER DECEIVER]

Does anyone (other than Tenth Dreamer Deceiver as I already know his opinion, lol) have anything to say about Halcyon Way? I am curious as to how the Fates crowd is reacting to them.

Hey! I'm their tenth biggest fan.

 

[March Hare]

Detroit show was poorly attended in a huge club. Like 100 people in a place that holds over 2,000. But FW none the less kicked ass.

 

[Rick Pierpont]

Saw them last night in Louisville Ky. I can answer those questions and give you an honest review. This is coming from a long time fan who considers Paralells one of the best 10 albums ever recorded.
Show was at a fairly small club. Kinda cool spot. Attendance was 100-115 people and that may be at its peak and stretching just a bit. You had no problem standing front of stage nearly arms reach from Ray Alder. As for merch, there were just 3 or 4 t-shirts. Nothing else. All were sold out from the get go except for the one white model. All can be had at the website so the sign said.
Sound was not terrible but not great. 6.5 on scale of 1-10. P A speakers consisted of two pair of JBL dual 15s or 18s. Each guitarist had just a half stack (Mesa Boogie).
Setlist was pretty much like whats listed at the setlist.fm site. However the encore was one song only and didnt include eye to eye, which they didnt play.
Jim Matheos and Joey Vera were the stars. Both absolutely crushed it. Frank Arresti was missed big time. Touring guitarist who took his spot was medicore at best. Didnt have the ability to nail the parts or even come close. He appeared overmatched, even uncomfortable with this band.
Ray Alder (as much as I love him) was just OK. He skipped the high notes everytime. He played it safe and didnt even try to hit the higher notes from Eleventh Hour, Point of View, Through Different Eyes etc. Of course they are reasonably high notes but not crazy high or even Steve Perry high. Should be very do-able from most decent singers with a little range. Don't get me wrong. He was ok. Tone was good and mostly in key. Just nothing stellar.
I'm familiar with the drummer mostly from his work in Halford. In that band, he was a monster. The drumming in that band was much faster pace, incorporating alot of fast double bass. In this band he is just ok. Even appeared to me to have timing issues a couple times.
All in all, if you really really like Fates Warning youll enjoy the intimate show in a small club. If you are just a mild fan or less, you may be dissapointed or even bored as the band was very unergetic. Joey Vera was the only one who hardly moved on stage or showed any type of energy. Ray Alder barely cracked a smile and looked eager to have the show completed.
Because I am a long time fan and consider FW pioneers in prog metal I will rate this concert a 7.

Thanks for the review! That really sucks to hear about the other guitarist. :-( I have covered so much Fates Warning (Arch and Alder eras) in the past that I could EASILY have filled in - and most definitely would not have been uncomfortable. Sucks that Frank isn't there. I plan on seeing them next week at Empire.

 

[SkiBumMSP]

Sucks that Frank isn't there. I plan on seeing them next week at Empire.

Dude, that would be SICK if you could fill in for them.

Anyway, looks like I'll be seeing you there, as I also plan on going.

 

[Rick Pierpont]

Dude, that would be SICK if you could fill in for them.

Anyway, looks like I'll be seeing you there, as I also plan on going.

Holy sh*t!! That would be like a dream come true! They were my favorite band in the late 80s and early 90s. Over the years I have covered a fair amount of Fates and even transcribed (by hand - before computers) solos off of Perfect Symmetry. This album is also in my top 10 desert disks (Images and Words leading that pack). So yeah, I'd be pretty stoked!

And I can't imagine it would be bad press for Odin's Court if I did something like that. lol!

No doubt, man! I want to see about getting Matt and possibly Dimetrius (since he is also a HUGE FW fan) to go as well. I have to get in touch with Michele from Brave about getting tickets (as you should too, if you haven't already) real soon!

 

[dtfanatic]

Perfect Symmetry is in my top 10 too. I wish they'd play more songs from it live. I love all Fates stuff (well maybe not X and Disconnected as much), but PS is far and away their best album.