Epica + Kamelot in IL 9/30- who's going?

[Diabolik]

I'm glad this show is out in the burbs and I honestly wish more of them would play out this way. The city is certainly a shorter drive for me than Mokena but I'd rather drive a little farther and not have to deal with parking, city traffic ect...although parking at the HOB and the Vic is a breeze and pretty reasonable....

As far as the openers, get there early to see both of them. You guys won't be let down, they fit perfect on this bill and are probably a couple of the best metal acts Chicago has to offer right now along with Ion Vein and Twelfth Gate (speaking of which Scott now sings in Mindwarp Chamber).

sorry to say!!!!! the openers were complete crap!!!! as I figured. It was a great turnout for the show though. I have one question....Epica!!! Why do a cover song when you only have less than 50 minutes to play?

I like the Pearl Room but I hate driving that far out from the city to see shows.

 

[rockyracoon]

Holy fucking shit!!!!!! WOW!!! Epica basically dominated their slot. Talk about a band who has catapulted themselves into premier status. There were soooooo many people there unfamiliar with Epica who's jaws were on the the floor. And oh yeah, apparantly Kamelot was there too!!! Unreal!!! Khan was fucking ON!!! What a shocker. Man those guys slay! No doubt I will be making drive to Minn. for Swordlord's show.

On another note, what a great turnout! Excellent crowd and you could really tell that both Epica and Kamelot were quite surprised as well. About time Chicago delivers.

 

[Haunted Eclipse]

Holy fucking shit!!!!!! WOW!!! Epica basically dominated their slot. Talk about a band who has catapulted themselves into premier status. There were soooooo many people there unfamiliar with Epica who's jaws were on the the floor. And oh yeah, apparantly Kamelot was there too!!! Unreal!!! Khan was fucking ON!!! What a shocker. Man those guys slay! No doubt I will be making drive to Minn. for Swordlord's show.

On another note, what a great turnout! Excellent crowd and you could really tell that both Epica and Kamelot were quite surprised as well. About time Chicago delivers.

You said it!. I love the "unfamiliars" reactions to Kamelot and Epica. I heard a few people actually say they never heard of Epica or Kamelot but heard it was a metal show so they thought they would check it out.

Cleansing the minds of the brainwashed masses one show at a time!

 

[Diabolik]

I was really surprised to at the turnout. I turned around to see how crowded it was during Epica and saw rows upon rows of people watching the show plus ths people in the balconey too. It was great to see this kind of turnout for a show that far out in the burbs with not much advertising. I have to disagree with Epica's set though. They were totally on until the end of the set...lots of bad song choices in my book. They should have closed with "Phantom Agony", I understand about set times and stuff but they should have cut the cover and played an original. They closed the set with just an OK song and left me kinda feeling that I missed something. They were fantastic live. Everything that I expected. I really didnt thing they expected much from the crowd at first but you could tell like three songs in that they realized the crowd was really into them and they started going more nuts. It is funny when bands dont really now where they are...I love the "Hey Chicago!!!" I wanted to yell "you are in freakin Mokena!!" When I saw Angra in Aurora, I was talking to the bass player and he said that he thought that Chicago had taller buildings...I told him that he was an hour away form the city.

 

[skyrefuge]

For a slightly different take on it (x-posted from PMX:2).....

=====================

It took me a long time to find the damn Pearl Room (in freakin' Mokena, IL), since it turns out it's not really on LaGrange Rd., as the LaGrange Rd. address might lead you to believe. But it worked out for the best, because I got there right when I wanted to, about five minutes before Epica started. Yeah yeah, sorry for not "supporting the scene" by skipping the local openers, but there aren't a whole lot of *signed* prog/power bands that I think are worthy of support, so I really have a hard time rousing any interest for the unsigned ones.

The venue is nice. Well, it's not really nice, it's mostly just a warehouse entirely devoid of character, but at least it has a decent stage and some lights and the sound isn't the worst in the world. Turnout was good, a few hundred I guess, with the main area and surrounding balcony packed pretty tight for both bands.

So then, Epica. They're a band with an amazing talent. They have a good-looking frontwoman, accessible melodic songs, some longhairs with good headbanging stage presence, and even a guy who screams and growls for some variety. And despite all those things stacked against them in their goal to be the most boring live band ever, they still mange to pull it off! It takes some serious skill and dedication to completely squander all those advantages, so kudos to them!

I don't really know how they do it, but I think one trick that helps them is the requirement to play all their songs along with the computer that provides half their sound. There was a big thread about this (the use of pre-recorded material) at the PPUSA forum, and now I understand why. Though for me, I'm not bothered by the fact that they're "faking it"; the real problem is that they have to play every song along to a click-track, and it completely sucks any groove and life out of the music. I was headbanging more at the Cursive show this week than I was for Epica...Epica barely inspired me to tap my foot from time to time.

Though I don't think all the blame can fall on the click-track, because even their cover of "Crystal Mountain", which was (presumably?) played free, failed to completely rouse me from the stupor they had put me in. And that's perhaps my favorite Death song. So I'm thinking the guys themselves must just have no groove in their blood.

Do any guitar players out there know if "Crystal Mountain" is like the easiest Death song to play? Because Death seems like an odd choice for Epica to cover, since their guitar players do absolutely nothing during their normal songs. Really, I think *I* could have gone up their and subbed in for one of the guitarists, and no one would have noticed. All they really need (and all you really hear) is bass, drums, orchestrations, and the vocal; having one guitarist is unneccesary, and having two is just silly. Although maybe that's *why* they do a cover from a guitar-focused band, because the guitarists are like "shit, let us at least do *something* in this entire set!"

This was the second time I'd seen Epica, so I was giving them the chance that the first time (at ProgPower Europe) they just had an off night, or all the banter in Dutch kept me from getting into it. But nope, I guess they're just flat-out bad. And Simone's stage moves feel even more rehearsed the second time around. Maybe the problem was that she didn't have her fan that blows her hair around....does it only run on 220V or something?

Ok, so then Kamelot. Despite a valiant effort by the World's Boringest Drummer, Casey Grillo, to top Epica in boringness, the charisma and energy of the rest of the guys in the band (ok, mostly just Khan) prevented that from happening. Not that it was the world's greatest set or anything, but it was good, and at least kept me from feeling ripped off.

I had web page for Kamelot in 1996 (I probably hosted their first illegally downloaded music!), and although I took a break for Epica/Karma, I came back on board for The Black Halo, which is a pretty great album. Unfortunately for me, they didn't even play anything as far back as The 4th Legacy, much less throwing me a bone like "Crossing Two Rivers" or something. Oh well.

The highlight of the band used to be Youngblood's midtempo, melodic guitar lines, but now the highlight is pretty much just Khan. And while I made the mistake of listening to Conception's Flow just before the the concert, he still was able to deliver with Kamelot. Not sure if the change of shirts was necessary, but the big black robe for "March of Mephisto" was kinda cool. Made me think of a video from way back in the Conception days when he was a weirdo wearing a skirt. He sang well throughout, and surprisingly was even better after he took out his in-ear-monitor halfway through the set. I've never seen a guy more out-of-breath between songs, but all his pained facial contortions must take a lot of energy.

Oddly, they had this poor girl in a wedding dress come out three times, to sing a single line in each song. I sure hope she has something else to do on this tour! Then Simone from Epica came out wearing her underwear (and showing her thong) for her duet with Khan, which was pretty embarassing. He's up there looking like he's pouring his soul into every word, and she's responding with her goofy head-waggle and exaggerrated eye movements. It's like watching Marlon Brando working with Lucille Ball.

Then we got the dreaded keyboard and drum solos. The keyboard one was actually pretty worthwhile. I won't talk about the drum solo, since I think even a drum solo from Gene Hoglan would suck ass, so... Closing with "March of Mephisto" was pretty sweet, although they should have brought the Epica dude out to do the Shagrath parts, instead of having Youngblood fake it.

All in all, not a complete waste of time, but now I'm *really* looking forward to seeing Estradasphere next week so I can cleanse my palate of this tightly-controlled and sanitized "live" music stuff...

Neil

 

[skyrefuge]

I believe there is a fairly large window of opportunity in Chicago for someone(s) with the proper financial backing to come in and establish a premier small-midsize concert venue.

Eh? But I thought that was the House of Blues? You're saying there's room for *another* HoB? That doesn't really make sense, and basically, there is already another HoB: the Metro. Just because you missed an opening band there once doesn't mean it sucks. The exact same thing has happened at HoB too. It's simply a challenge that comes with doing all-ages shows in the city limits. I've been to over 20 shows at the Metro, and the only slightly-bad experience I ever had was waiting outside for over an hour before Gotan Project, and that's the band's fault, not the venue.

 

[The Fiddler]

...The venue is nice. Well, it's not really nice, it's mostly just a warehouse entirely devoid of character...

...So then, Epica. They're a band with an amazing talent. ... And despite all those things stacked against them in their goal to be the most boring live band ever, they still mange to pull it off!

...I was headbanging more at the Cursive show this week than I was for Epica...Epica barely inspired me to tap my foot from time to time.

...So I'm thinking the guys themselves must just have no groove in their blood.

...Really, I think *I* could have gone up their and subbed in for one of the guitarists, and no one would have noticed.

...But nope, I guess they're just flat-out bad. And Simone's stage moves feel even more rehearsed the second time around. Maybe the problem was that she didn't have her fan that blows her hair around....does it only run on 220V or something?

...Ok, so then Kamelot. Despite a valiant effort by the World's Boringest Drummer, Casey Grillo, to top Epica in boringness, the charisma and energy of the rest of the guys in the band (ok, mostly just Khan) prevented that from happening. Not that it was the world's greatest set or anything, but it was good, and at least kept me from feeling ripped off.

...I've never seen a guy more out-of-breath between songs, but all his pained facial contortions must take a lot of energy.

...Then we got the dreaded keyboard and drum solos. The keyboard one was actually pretty worthwhile. I won't talk about the drum solo, since I think even a drum solo from Gene Hoglan would suck ass, so...

Neil

Fuckhead Troll,

Go back to drinking grapefruit juice and sucking lemons. Or tried to get laid more often - I'm sure you can easily find someone way hotter than Simone willing to suck your pathetic sad sack. uke: uke: uke:

 

[Mountain King]

sorry to say!!!!! the openers were complete crap!!!! as I figured. It was a great turnout for the show though. I have one question....Epica!!! Why do a cover song when you only have less than 50 minutes to play?

I like the Pearl Room but I hate driving that far out from the city to see shows.

Really....what was crap about them? Sacred Dawn I can see somebody saying this too, I do like them but they aren't as accesable, but Mindwarp Chamber smoked.

 

[skyrefuge]

Fuckhead Troll,

Go back to drinking grapefruit juice and sucking lemons. Or tried to get laid more often - I'm sure you can easily find someone way hotter than Simone willing to suck your pathetic sad sack. uke: uke: uke:

heh...my opinion differs from yours. So what? I can't imagine this is the first time that's ever happened to you. It's really a pretty common thing, and if you hurl insults at people every time you read something you disagree with, you're gonna wear yourself out real fast!

Admittely, I might not have x-posted this here had the previous reviews not been so incongruous with what I experienced, but that hardly brings it to the level of "fuckhead trolling". The thoughts within are my honest opinions. And c'mon, isn't a lot more interesting to read a review like mine that mentions both positive and negative things, than one that's just universally glowing?

I don't *think* that my opinion on Epica was soured by my lack of sex, since I enjoyed Kamelot just fine, as well as lots of other shows I've seen recently (including bands with women in them!) However, if there are any ladies out there who want to help run an experiment that tests your hypothesis, I'd certainly be willing to go see Epica again after lots and lots of sex! Purely in the interest of science, you know.

 

[KaptainKrude]

Fuckhead Troll,

Go back to drinking grapefruit juice and sucking lemons. Or tried to get laid more often - I'm sure you can easily find someone way hotter than Simone willing to suck your pathetic sad sack. uke: uke: uke:

Wow, so someone's a troll because they're even the least bit critical of a show they paid money to attend? Your suggestion that Neil trade his personal opinion for getting laid more often was also primo stuff.

Blind idol worship and fanboy-ism FTW!

 

[Yippee38]

I liked the venue. It was pretty decent. It would make a great place for Powerfest since there is a hotel and two or three restaurants across the street. The only downside is there is no seating.

I liked the Epica set. Their first two songs sounded a bit off, but after that, they sounded great. I thought the crowd response was pretty mild. It seemed like a crowd that was not at all familiar with the music. After the songs, the response was good though. Talked to Mark and Ad after the show. They're both very nice guys. Jeroen was walking around after the show wearing a BeyondEarCandy.com t-shirt.

The Kamelot set was great. The female vocalist seemed quite awkward to me too. Khan's sound good and bad. In general his voice sounded great. However, he kept doing the thing where he'd pull the microphone away from his mouth every time he was singing a high-note. He'd pull the mic away far enough that you couldn't hear him at all. It made me think he wasn't actually singing the note. He did that a PP too. I don't get it. The mix was such that when he was singing low, he was very quiet. In the mid-ranges, his vocals were perfect and clear. The band sounded great. The crowd was enthusiastic.

I had two disappointments: 1) Even though Simone sang on "The Haunting" (sounded great live), Khan did not sing on "Trois vierges". That would have been cool. 2) Mark didn't do the growlies on "March of Mephisto". He said he's done it on other shows, but not this one. The growlies on "March of Mephisto" sounded like it was done electronically. Mark could have done them better.

We saw lots of PP people. That's always cool.

 

[The Fiddler]

heh...my opinion differs from yours. So what? Admittely, I might not have x-posted this here had the previous reviews not been so incongruous with what I experienced...

I don’t have a problem with your opinion, it’s the fact that you didn’t have the spine to post your critique on either of the official band forums. I don’t see it on the Epica or Kamelot websites. Why not?

Instead, you dump on the Epica and Kamelot performances in the ProgPower forum for a show that wasn’t even played at ProgPower. Posting yor review at the PM forum wasn't enough for you, you had to x-post it here too. You should thank Glenn for allowing you to dump on these successful bands he welcomed to ProgPower USA in his official forum without deleting your post. Personally, I wouldn’t stand for it with so many more direct outlets for you to voice your opinions (i.e. directly on the band's own forums).

As you mentioned, your opinion is incongruous with the overwhelming majority of the reviews. Opinions are just that – opinions. Opinions don’t have to be fact which opens the door for deceit onto others who weren't there to make their own decision. Kahn and Youngblood were all over the stage and got down in the crowd all night and their reception was overwhelming positive as other reviewers have pointed out. Both bands were visibly happy to be playing for the Chicago crowd.

As for your claim that your review is constructive, I’d qualify your comment by saying that it is more than a little, “sarcastically constructive” (e.g. “And despite all those things stacked against them in their goal to be the most boring live band ever, they still mange to pull it off! It takes some serious skill and dedication to completely squander all those advantages, so kudos to them!” and “I've never seen a guy more out-of-breath between songs, but all his pained facial contortions must take a lot of energy.”). Nothing will discredit a review more than a sad attempt at sarcastic humor. Had you omitted it, I wouldn’t have had a problem with your post. Yipee mentioned a few things he thought were lacking from the bands in his review, but didn’t feel the need to be sarcastic. That’s the difference between having class and having your opinion respected versus having it dismissed as troll/grudge fodder, not to mention lacking the spine to present such comments directly to the source of one's frustration

I do enjoy the fact though that as much as you were bored by Epica in year's past, and again last night, they still managed to get your cash. Kamelot barely managed not to rip you off, but kudos to Epica for doing so!!! I hope Simone goes out and buys a new thong with it.:Smokin: :Smokin: :Smokin:

 

[Jasonic]

I want to go back a second to the discussion on people who missed Evergrey opening for Iced Earth.
You have to remember something.
A show is never canceled due to an opening band not being able to make it. A promoter's obligation to the crowd is to provide the headliner.
Now I know you guys are thinking , "Bullshit!! We all go to shows sometimes for one of the opening bands only" While this is true from a fan's standpoint, it isn't from a legal business standpoint.
Any of the legal documents (IE - contracts, riders, etC) all explicitly state, "Lineup subject to change" Sometimes this is advertised, other times not.

Therefore, you won't ever get a refund because an opening band canceled, showed up late, played too early, etc...

As Diabolik said, if you are going for an opener to begin with, GET THERE EARLY!

 

[enki3600]

Beautiful, just fricken beautiful!!! I absolutely cannot wait for SwordLord's show!! By the way, what kind of camera do you use? I can get some pretty good pictures, but it's just your run of the mill handheld digital... but you can seriously see that Roy/Simone are the focal point there and are very nice and crisp in the image while the rest of the shot is a bit blurred out--ie: notice the major contrast at Roy's arm where it overcasts the guitarist. I'm just going to guess that kind of image is NOT something done in post processing?

I was hoping to death that they'd do that duet, but was hoping that both Kamelot's song and Epica's Trois Vierges would be done... I don't suppose that was the case?

Kudos to all detailed reviews, both good and bad. No trolling going on here--isn't the definition of trolling to try to start a flame war with arguments lacking the necessary backup details?

I was completely and fully blown away at Epica's PP performance, but I certainly notice some of the points skyrefuge made. Namely that some of Simone's "jigs" seemed a bit awkwardly executed... and, yes, Simone is quite fricken hot, but for the love of Metal, don't exploit the "sex sells" regime!! That's a crappy, lame hollywood/american way of doing things, please don't leak that into the music that is purely creative and talented intellect!

 

[enki3600]

I remember walking into the doors of the Metro that night hearing the words "We are all apart of ........ THE MASTERPLAN. (Tom then goes on to say) Thank you everyone for coming out..." I was so pissed. At least I caught the last 10 seconds of the Masterplan I guess.

Hey, that didn't only happen there, it happened in Minneapolis too! Evergrey, CoB, Iced Earth... at that point in time, I probably couldn't have put together a lineup I would have loved to see all at once...
venue: Quest Club
doors: 6:30
show: 7:30

we showed up about 6:45, and my first thought is "gee, the sampler music is awfully loud if I can hear it outside the building". Then once I can make out what music it is I weep because it was CoB on stage! As we make our way through the ticket/wristband course I see Tom walking out. (I wasn't sure it was him at the time, but I'm never one NOT to make an ass of myself by guessing who people are, so...) I asked in that generic way "are you guys up next?"
And he says "we've already played"
Talk about total let down

After we get into the venue, Bodom finishes the song that was playing when we showed up, and started their LAST tune of the set.

Iced Earth was on the floor before 7:30, and after their full, AWESOME set, complete with half hour Gettysburg encore, we were out on the street by 9:30. WTF?!? What fricken venue has a weekend show (that was at least 18+, maybe 21+) that is done before 10?!?

Sorry for the rant, but I felt opinionated and such

 

[Jasonic]

I can completely understand the dissappointment.
Consider it a lesson learned.

I learned the hard way too, for Halford's GODS OF METAL FESTIVAL a few years back.

I got home from work and it was a nice sunny day. I decided to take my dog for a long walk before hopping the train for the show (Knowing it was an all day show with a zillion bands).

Well, to my surprise, I walk into the House of Blues to see the back of Ralph Sheeper's bald head as he finishes saying, "Thank you Chicago".
Primal Fear hasn't been in Chicago since....
(Granted I did still see Testament, Immortal, and Halford, so all wasn't lost).

Lesson to be learned (once again for those who missed it the first time):
IF YOU ARE GOING FOR ANY BAND ASIDE FROM THE HEADLINER, GET THERE EARLY!
Also, sometimes bands show up late, etc, and the order of a gig may change.

 

[Dustro25]

Great show! I had the best time. My head, neck, and back are still in pain. Great crowd, ok venue, ok sound, overall "grade A" show.

 

[shreddy]

Wow what a night.

The bar owner told us that there were 450 pre-sold tickets for the show. I dont know what the final numbers were but I take a guess at 600 tickets in total. Other than the distance of the venue I couldnt find a problem with it ($4 can of bud is a problem). The staff at the venue was completely pro, everyone worked their hardest to get the show going. They provided even us opening bands with water, beer and pizza (most places are not that generous).

We got on stage a few minutes before 7PM, our stage mix was a bit off I couldnt hear myself the main floor could hear the keys, better than the other way around. We played 4 songs and took a chance with playing an 11 minute song in 30 min set. Its kinda risky but we feel it worked out well, the crowd response was much larger / better than we expected. I'm sure that there were some that didn't like us, that's still cool we had a great time for it being our 2nd show. We had 200 demo Cd's to hand out and they went pretty fast. I think we were out by the time Kamelot played.

Epica was killer, of course their set at PP was better but regarding their set list I didn't have a problem with it. There were songs that I really wanted to hear that they didn't do but I still had a great time. Regarding the sex sells thing, I don't think its an issue for a 22 year old attractive (very insanely attractive) to look good on stage. We in the states are way more sexually repressed than the folk in Europe, then on the other hand its ok for Britney Spears to have convey the pedophile sexy school girl image in her videos. Simone stage attire is very tasteful and doesn't look as bad as video girls from the 80s metal videos. It was cool to see so many new fans for them at the show, Epica was new to a few people there and that was great.

Kamelot was killer, the band was super tight and they also had a killer set. No older songs but the newer material still went over very well IMO. Some of Khan's vocal dynamics are harder to translate live because he sings just like the CDs where on those there is more control on levels vs a live performance. When Simone came out to sing with them it was amazing, but they should of right away played the Epica song right afterwords, oh well. Its also good to see the number of younger fans out there with good taste in music.

Too band I cant see the show again in Minnesota.

Ed

 

[skyrefuge]

it’s the fact that you didn’t have the spine to post your critique on either of the official band forums. I don’t see it on the Epica or Kamelot websites. Why not?

Because I'm not a troll! I've never been to Epica's website, and I was only at Kamelot's long enough last week (while looking for setlists) to find that you need to register to even view their forum.

Popping in to a band's own forum and making your first post there a negative review of their show is almost the pure definition of trolling, so I would *never* do that! It's a total violation of web etiquette. In contrast, I'm a (not very) active member of this forum, which is set up for open discussion of a variety of bands, and I posted it way down on page 3 of an already-existing thread.

There's no logical consistency between your first post which condemns me for being a troll, and this post, where you say your problem is really that I wasn't trollish enough. Which one do you want?

You should thank Glenn for allowing you to dump on these successful bands he welcomed to ProgPower USA in his official forum without deleting your post.

Thanks Glenn! Really though, people post negative opinions of bands here all the time, just check all the PPUSA reviews. And since Glenn's not dumb, he has no problem with that, at least if they come from an honest place. As a promoter, he already has the fanboys won over, so it's the negative comments that probably provide him with the most useful information about how to choose bands or run his festival. I'm sure he could do without any ensuing flamewars, but lucky for him I'm not the type to respond to insults in kind.

As you mentioned, your opinion is incongruous with the overwhelming majority of the reviews. Opinions are just that – opinions. Opinions don’t have to be fact which opens the door for deceit onto others who weren't there to make their own decision.

I don't know what this means, except I think that I agree...? I sure as hell don't claim that my opinion is anything more than an opinion! If people take it as some kind of sold-gold fact, well, that's weird!

Kahn and Youngblood were all over the stage and got down in the crowd all night and their reception was overwhelming positive as other reviewers have pointed out. Both bands were visibly happy to be playing for the Chicago crowd.

Did I say otherwise? Cuz I agree!

And this is neither here nor there, but it's "Khan", dammit! I think everyone misspelling that is the main reason Muslim terrorists want to destroy America.

As for your claim that your review is constructive, I’d qualify your comment by saying that it is more than a little, “sarcastically constructive” (e.g. “And despite all those things stacked against them in their goal to be the most boring live band ever, they still mange to pull it off! It takes some serious skill and dedication to completely squander all those advantages, so kudos to them!”

I don't think I actually claimed that my review was constructive, but I get your point. But blame Epica! If they weren't so boring, I wouldn't have had the time to sit there and think of such marvelous witticisms!

But seriously, there was an important point behind my sarcasm (as there usually is): on paper, Epica is a band that I *should* enjoy in a live setting. So it was quite a mystery to me why I couldn't get into their performance, and that led me to search deeper and theorize on potential reasons. That's the point I was trying to get across.

and “I've never seen a guy more out-of-breath between songs, but all his pained facial contortions must take a lot of energy.”)

There was actually no sarcasm here. The dude does breathe hard between songs, there's nothing positive or negative to that, that's just a fact. I love to see a singer (or anyone) really get into a performance like that, and if they're so into it that it makes them out of breath, well that's awesome. Perhaps it was a failure of my writing that my negative tone towards Epica somehow bled over into Kamelot, but I thought that contrasting the performances during the duet would help show that my opinion towards Khan was genuine.

Nothing will discredit a review more than a sad attempt at sarcastic humor.

Hmm, well if that was true, then why did you even need to respond? The review could have discredited itself on its own!

That’s the difference between having class and having your opinion respected versus having it dismissed as troll/grudge fodder

I admit that there wasn't a lot of class in the review, but I think there are still people who respect my opinion nonetheless.

I like the "grudge" angle though, that's a new one! I can assure you that I have no emotional investment in Epica, they're just a band that I've seen play a couple times, nothing more. I just like to write in an entertaining style. My thong comments didn't have any angle either...I'm neither a Simone-ogler nor one who condemns such ogling, and I simply thought I'd post that info for those out there who *are* oglers so they could be on the lookout for photos.

Kamelot barely managed not to rip you off, but kudos to Epica for doing so!!!

Yeah, that was lazy writing on my part....I never actually feel ripped off going to shows because I always know that there's a chance that I won't enjoy it, and that's just a risk that I except in exchange for the opportunity to be really blown away. But I was at the end of a long essay and it was lunchtime so I wasn't thinking too clearly.

 

[skyrefuge]

but you can seriously see that Roy/Simone are the focal point there and are very nice and crisp in the image while the rest of the shot is a bit blurred out--ie: notice the major contrast at Roy's arm where it overcasts the guitarist.

Actually, Simone is a bit out of focus. And I'm sure Fiddler would be the first to admit that, since his photos are generally amazing and impeccable. But you really don't get a second try at a shot like that, and the ability to close down the apeture enough to get the depth-of-field just right would require super-human reflexes. Getting the moment as well as he did is impressive.

So that's what you need to create an image with a narrow depth-of-field: a lens with a large apeture. And that basically translates into an SLR camera (the ones with detachable lenses). Oh, and don't use the flash! That's another thing that makes most amateur shots look like crap (of course, it's also tough to get a fast enough shutter-speed to shoot without a flash if you just have a point-and-shoot)