First Confirmed Dates for JOP/CIIC/Manticora U.S. tour

Yippee38 said:
We called the venue the day before to ask when the show started. They said, "Sometime between 8 and 9." WTF?
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heh...good to know I was right! I was talking about the show with a friend beforehand and somehow mentioned that I didn't know when it would really start, and she said "why don't you just call the venue?" I said "ha...anyone who answers the phone there certainly isn't going to know and/or care!" So yeah, it was a trip back in time; that's what all late-90s underground-ish metal shows were like, whether Jackhammer's, Riley's, Smiler Coogan's, or J.J. Kelley's, etc. I was actually surprised that you could buy advance tickets for this one, because even that was a rarity back in the day. I remember the cover charge for Iced Earth (or maybe Nevermore?) was once $3. $3! And I'm talking like 1997, not 1957.

I got there around 9, and I would have held off even later, but I realized that since it was a sports bar, they'd have TVs, so I'd be able to catch the end of the White Sox game which I couldn't do sitting at home.

Circle II Circle was ok. Obviously the venue they were playing in colored my impressions, but they looked like a bar band, not an internationally touring band that has played Wacken. Though the lead guitarist does have that awesome Peter Tagtgren/Warrel Dane haggard look to him. I was also impressed by the frequent harmony vocals provided by the bass player; that's something I don't see enough of these days. The greatness of the Savatage songs they did at the end mostly served to highlight the relative weakness of the CIIC songs.

Then Jon Oliva came out and showed that the atmosphere of the venue could easily be overcome. His sound was more forceful, the band looked more pro, and the whole thing suddenly felt more like an "event". He was funny, engaging and relaxed as usual, and, speaking of old-school Chicago metal, he got perhaps the loudest cheer of the night by talking about the long-gone Thirsty Whale. If I was shown photos of the two main forces in the band (Oliva and guitarist Matt LaPorte), I would guess that they would be most famous as a couple of sad-sacks who defended themselves from a goofy lawsuit on an episode of "Judge Judy". Never would I guess that they could play such great music! So of course the Savatage stuff was the highlight (with "Edge of Thorns"->"Chance"->"Somewhere in Time"->"Believe" being one of the best 4-song sequences you'll ever see), but even the JOP stuff was good too, with "Firefly", a song I probably heard once before, as a particular standout. And when Zak Stevens came out for his songs, he looked and even sounded way better than he did with CIIC. And I'm pretty amazed at how great Jon's voice still is. I thought that the trend of asking him to dedicate songs to people he doesn't even know was a bit lame, but in the case of the guy whose father had died, it had the nice side-effect of making him play the song ("When the Crowds are Gone") more seriously. Because while all his goofing around is generally fun, many Savatage songs do have deep emotional power to them, so it was nice to see the actions match the words, at least for a bit. Overall it still didn't touch that 1998 Savatage show (still one of my all-time favorites), when they were still a "big", major-label band, but it was pretty great.

I did what I consider to be a fairly accurate count-estimate, and there is no way there were 200 people there. More like 100, 120 max. That's about the exact number I was expecting, but actually it felt more "full" in there than the numbers imply, due to the setup of the room. When Jon said that they would like to come back to the same venue ("next time on a Friday!") and thanked the owner for paying them a bunch of money, I thought I heard a note of implied sympathy in there for the fact that the owner was totally taking a bath on this one. But just like those bar shows of yore, the per-capita crowd noise was excellent, way beyond what you'll ever get at a larger show, if that counts for anything.

Neil
 
Yippee38 said:
Well I can remember seeing them at HoB and the place was about 1/2 full, or at The Metro when the place was packed (3-400?).
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I don't remember if that 1998 show at the Metro was sold out or not, but it was definitely well-filled. And "packed" at the Metro is around 1000. Then 2001 at House of Blues (w/ Fates Warning), maybe 4-500? Then they seriously downgraded to Riley's Rockhouse later in 2001 (w/ Nevermore), which was again well-filled, but "packed" there was something like 250?

Neil
 
MetalSpice said:
Zak: "I'm just Goofy"
**imitates Goofy**

Ha Ha!
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Actually, I think it was "Droopy."

skyrefuge said:
I don't remember if that 1998 show at the Metro was sold out or not, but it was definitely well-filled. And "packed" at the Metro is around 1000. Then 2001 at House of Blues (w/ Fates Warning), maybe 4-500? Then they seriously downgraded to Riley's Rockhouse later in 2001 (w/ Nevermore), which was again well-filled, but "packed" there was something like 250?

Neil
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I was taking a wild guess. I'll defer to your numbers though.
 
Opening for JOP in Raleigh, NC is Raleigh's young metal band Praetorius. These guys have been making a lot of noise at home and are ready to branch out. This should be a promising night.

PraetoriusBanner.jpg
 
skyrefuge said:
I don't remember if that 1998 show at the Metro was sold out or not, but it was definitely well-filled. And "packed" at the Metro is around 1000. Then 2001 at House of Blues (w/ Fates Warning), maybe 4-500? Then they seriously downgraded to Riley's Rockhouse later in 2001 (w/ Nevermore), which was again well-filled, but "packed" there was something like 250?

Neil
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1998 was indeed sold out.
 
More after-show thoughts...

First, thanks to everyone involved in putting on the shows. (That's everyone)

On a personal level, Sept 30 was a great night to reminisce and to discover, right here in my own little town. How cool is that?!

To all the bands: Thanks so much for 'bringing it'. You rock!

I got to thinking a little more about the JOP set though, and it occurred to me that guys should consider working in some acoustic guitars into their nightly sets on this tour. It's not like they don't have any recorded songs without 'em. :p And I don't mean to an all acoustic set either, although those can be a breath of fresh air sometimes.

I'm talking about working in some real acoustic guitars along with the plugged-in kind.

Do you know what I'm sayin, mon?

Amplification on a massive arena scale should not be a factor in these dinky clubs/sports bars, right?

Set those suckers up on their stands and switch back and forth between electric and acoustic, like Steve Howe.

Or as Hevy Devy would say: "Play that stupid piece of shit!"

Hahahhhh

Do eet. I dare you.

:p
 
I'd like to thank everyone involved for the show last night. I couldn't make the Chicago show, so I was pretty damn happy when they announced this one.
Even with a really small turnout all of the bands put on an incredible performance.
I'm doing this at work, so I can't type too much, but once again, thanks to those that organized the tour, those that brought it here, all the crew, and of course all the bands. This was easily one of the best shows I have seen this year, and there have been a lot of really good shows.
Here's to hoping you all make it back this way soon!
 
Thanks for the feedback TC. I appreciate the kudos and I'm certain the bands do as well.


that reminds me - Q, where ya at? Speak up. :cool:
 
I've been checking out Manticora in preparation and they're really cool - dark and heavy and intense without being a death metal band. (Which is a good thing for me) Getting pretty psyched here...
 
Detroit - in the running for the BEST show I have ever been to. I never thought I would get to hear all those classics live. Furthermore it helps too that I'm a big fan of JOP's albums too. It was my first exposure to Manticora, and color me converted! I wonder if I should have been surprised or not to see that Zak/CIIC had a bigger crowd watching and better response than Jon Oliva.
 
Cleveland...Awesome!!!

Manticora was solid. I was not familiar with any of the recent material (Black Circus),but they converted me.
Circle II Circle was as always,great! Zakk is an awesome showman,always has been,always will be. I was surprised that we got as little new material as we did, but "Turns To Me" from Wake of Magellen was a nice surprise.

Jon Oliva...need I say more?Sirens,Warriors,Gutter Ballet,When The Crowds Are Gone,Hounds,Tonight He Grins Again,If I Go Away,Somewhere In Time,Believe,Maniacal Renderings,Firefly,Adding The Cost,Walk Upon the Water,Look At The World (I think),followed by Edge of Thorns and Chance with Zak,followed by Hall of The Mountain King and one other which for the life of me I can't remember right now...all in all an awesome show!
 
Heaven and Hell Records’ Praetorius has had to pull out of the opening slot of the last stop of the Global Warning Tour feat. Jon Olivia’s Pain, Circle II Circle, and Manticora. The band regret having to do this and were looking very forward to sharing the stage with a heavy metal legend such as Mr. Olivia.
Taking Praetorius’ place to open the final night of this solid tour is Raleigh’s power metallers Hellrazor. Being fans of Savatage the guys are overjoyed to have this opportunity.
Fans of Iced Earth, Grave Digger, Armored Saint and other such kick ass power metal might want to check out Hellrazor debut ‘In the Wild’ on H&H Records. Set for mid-October release (previously scheduled for September).
And if you are in the Raleigh, N.C. area tune into WKNC 88.1 on Friday night Oct. 10th (10:00 - 12:00 pm) when Hellrazor will be in the studio to promote the release of ‘In the Wild’ and the Global Warming show on Sat. Oct. 11th

HellrazorBanner1.jpg

**http://www.myspace.com/hellrazornc**
 
As I said in the other thread. Hellrazor is good stuff. Hopefully people will check them out.
 
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