Alright, we don't all have to jump on the bandwagon and tell the lone dissenter what we think. He's upset and unhappy, said his bit, let him go. But, dude, if you registered in this forum just to complain, you're in the wrong place. There are many people here involved in the music industry in many ways as well older, long-time music fans that have more of an appreciation for what goes on besides the obvious in any tour. Your better off on Blabbermouth for a personal vent.
I was just about ready to give the guy my $.02 on the whole matter as well. I mean, come-on, the guy signed up an account to this forum specifically so he can rant off about it, like as though he was expecting some kind of pity party here. Obviously, he found out real quick there is no sympathy from this crowd! I do agree that everybody pretty much said what was needed to say and we should just let it be.
However, I want to clarify to those that replied to that dude thinking he is coming to ProgPower. The fact that he mentioned "Buying a VIP Meet & Greet" ticket right there tells me he is not coming to ProgPower and going one of the other shows. As 'J-man' correctly pointed out, those "VIP Meet & Greets" is basically paying the extra money to be able to run through the equivalent of one of those "signing tables" that we have here at ProgPower. However, in the case of Kamelot, you do get a nice t-shirt, a signed poster and a few other goodies, which if you went and bought anyway, would've made up the difference of the cost of the "VIP" ticket vs one of the regular admission tickets. Unfortunately, the Jaxx Kamelot date is the same Saturday as ProgPower itself, thus not able to go. If I was going, I may have sprung for the 'VIP' ticket in this case as I'd like to have that T-shirt and poster as well. Anyway, back to ProgPower. The only way you "Buy a VIP" at ProgPower itself is if you become a sponsor. I imagine and hope that anybody that is willing to lay out the money for ProgPower sponsorship would be far more understanding of what actually goes on and not come off so selfishly about this whole thing as this dude was.
Yes, I am also sorely disappointed that there will be no Roy Khan. However, as was already pointed out time-and-again, we would be in a much bigger hurt if Kamelot just said "fuck it!" and cancelled everything. Postponing the tour will also wreck just as much havoc, especially in this short of notice. The only other option is if somehow they managed to force Roy to continue anyway. But as was pointed out as well, if that was the case and he somehow managed to get up enough to go on, we will most likely end up with sub-par performances at best, and I don't even want to think of the worst case scenario.
A man's health and well being is just not worth it.
As disappointed as I was in not getting to see Roy again (and I remember having spent quite a bit of time behind Jaxx after a recent show just shooting the shit with him as well), but I am actually stoked to see how Michael from CM will do. This will be very interesting indeed. I am very glad to see Kamelot to decide that the "show must go on" and find a suitable replacement on such short notice. From my own experiences with Circus Maximus, I honestly think Michael could very easily pull it off. I am actually excited to see this, since I've already seen Kamelot some 5 times (and enjoyed every one of them). Thus, it will be really cool to see something "different" and truly unique for once with these guys.
Despite AMBR's admonishment, I do want to make one direct comment to that "Andr" dude (or whatever his name was).
Look dude, what you do with your own money and time is your right. I do feel for you as I am also a big fan of Roy. But think about what you are saying for a second. I can guarantee you are not likely to get any of that money back that you already spent for this, except maybe the hotel. Good luck on the airline and I know for a fact you will not get a refund on the show ticket itself. I honestly think you should just go ahead and go to this anyway. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you will see. But hey, you do what you want as you are the one who has to live with the decision.
For me, I am still going to this ProgPower thing, which is where I will be seeing Kamelot, this year, despite there also being a show at Jaxx in Springfield, VA, which is only about 40 miles from my place. And I can guarantee that I laid out WAY more money than you did for this, especially as I am one of the sponsors for ProgPower. After seeing this, it make me respect Kamelot as a band that much more. I wish other bands could take a page from this (thankfully, other bands, such as Epica, has. As much as I like Simon Simons, I still very much enjoyed the Epica shows with her replacement (forget off the top of my head what her name was).
With that, I said what I wanted to say here and done with this - take or leave it.
