Kamelots latest USA Performances

[OrbWeaver]

He was aweful in Chicago. And it pains me to say that, but it was true. The first time I saw him in Chicago-sorry, Mokena- he was spot on, and I had a great time at my first Kamelot concert. But this second time was incredibly disappointing.

Met-Al tells me that out of the six times he's seen Kamelot, Khan has only been on twice. Those are not good odds. One of our friends even left before Kamelot's set was half over, he was so disappointed.

 

[_eva_]

I've seen them a couple of times live in a venue in Antwerp which has a very good sound, and Khan has always been great. The last time, he was a bit struggling with his breath, but I thought then that that was because it was extremely hot in the venue (I could see the sweat running of his face). He also never appeared drunk...

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

I saw them last week in N.Y.C. and it seemed Khan struggled a bit. It doesn't bother me because I expect just about anyone to struggle somewhat when touring occurs.

 

[JenniferLynn]

Saw them at Jaxx - both Edguy and Kamelot were just flat out AMAAAAZING!!!!

Khan sounded great to me... and it kicked total ass hearing 3 songs live that I NEVER thought I'd hear - Pendulous Fall, Eden Echo and Epilogue!!!!

Both Tobi and Khan are two of my fave vocalists and they totally did it for me last Thursday...

 

[Jasonic]

Met-Al tells me that out of the six times he's seen Kamelot, Khan has only been on twice. Those are not good odds. One of our friends even left before Kamelot's set was half over, he was so disappointed.

Sorry, but that's just plain stupid.
It's not like the guy was forgetting lyrics or cracking his voice every song or anything THAT bad.

Why walk out? It was a very high energy performance that the crowd seemed to love.

 

[Wandrail]

I wasn't quite clear with my wording... I didn't mean to imply he sounded *bad*, but I didn't think he sounded what I would call *great*. I have only seen them twice before, both at PP (and then of course the Conception gig).

And I agree 100% about when he sounds strained. Honestly, I had never noticed it much before, but my lovely husband now has me listening to things a bit differently. He's almost ruined my enjoyment of some Steve Hogarth stuff. Well, okay, that's an exaggeration but I do notice things more in the past couple of years.

Shaye

Heheh, I hear you. Khan's voice starts getting "pinched" and thin as he gets higher. I have some book on heavy metal singing that he is interviewed in (Pro Secrets of Heavy Rock Singing or something corny like that) where he says as much. Generally speaking though, there aren't many songs where he sings high enough for it to be a problem and i've never heard him sound 'bad.' It will never sound like a studio recording when you hear a band live, but the great thing about Khan is that what makes him great on an album are the characteristics and quality of his voice, not any studio magic. And that's what I heard at the show, the man's voice.

I've heard bad and mediocre voices - I have a mediocre voice! - Khan to me has a blessed set of pipes. Not because he can wail and blow the doors off a place like Lande or Allen, but because his voice has so many subtle characteristics and can bring out different emotions than most metal singers. I mean, imagine some more typical, high pitched, wide vibrato having metal singer doing the Kamelot songs you know and love. Fast songs like Center of the Universe would lose that dramatic, emotional energy and don't even mention the subtler songs like are on Ghost Opera...not too many metal singers have the kind of voice to suit stuff like The Human Stain or Love You to Death.

The show was mediocre bordering on lame to me, but Khan's voice was great because...it sounded like Khan.

 

[SkiBumMSP]

Saw them at Jaxx - both Edguy and Kamelot were just flat out AMAAAAZING!!!!

Khan sounded great to me... and it kicked total ass hearing 3 songs live that I NEVER thought I'd hear - Pendulous Fall, Eden Echo and Epilogue!!!!

Both Tobi and Khan are two of my fave vocalists and they totally did it for me last Thursday...

Took the words right out of my mouth! I thought ALL the bands that played that night did a really awesome job, although bummed that Operatika pulled out. I was actually looking forward to seeing them as well. Friggan Blood Corps was a real surprise for me! I tried to find them after their set to see if they had any albums for sale, but came up empty. Same with the Time Lord as well. This is the 4th time I've seen Kamelot there, as well as this being the third time I've seen Edguy there as well, and they both put on as strong of a performance as I can remember from the previous times. Hell, some of the guys from Edguy came out after the show and they even remembered me from the last time I saw them there!

Overall, it was indeed another awesome night of metal last Thursday (and of course, who can forget about the previous Friday as well!)

 

[AirGuitarLoonhouse]

I also was at the Mokena show. I thought Kahn had a few songs where he sounded sick or something on the high notes, though he hit high notes fine on many other songs. I saw Kamelot on the first US leg of this tour and he was perfect in some of the same songs on that tour.

I too have heard that he is fickle about the air etc, and I did see him drinking water throughout the Mokena show this Sat. So I believe he takes care of his voice.

I tend to agree with prior posts that the change in temp and constant touring caused a few songs to be off. It is actually quite common on tours with vocalists singing the range like Kahn.

 

[sh0kr0k]

Heard the Minnesota show was a homerun all around!

 

[AMBR]

I still heard your whisper. :Smug:
I am sooo jealous of you, and everyone who saw Edguy!!

Heh, sorry. Was a great show for both bands, imo.

I didn't get the photos Christina managed to grab. We weren't in the pit and I guess she has bigger elbows, or something, than I do. Never got too close. By Kamelot, I had about given up, so only a few of Roy. He seemed very focused and energized to me. Guess he's running hot and cold.

 

[OrbWeaver]

Sorry, but that's just plain stupid.
It's not like the guy was forgetting lyrics or cracking his voice every song or anything THAT bad.

Why walk out? It was a very high energy performance that the crowd seemed to love.

His voice cracked on almost every song, Jason. He struggled on all of them, and appeared to be pain, vocally. At one point it was obvious he was not happy with his performance. *I* almost walked out, and I love Kamelot! I'm a Roy Khan fangirl. At this point Khan either needs a few days off between shows to let his voice recoup, or he needs to stick to being a studio musician.

It's not stupid to walk out when an artist does not deliver. While the rest of Kamelot was spot-on, Khan's delivery was an epic failure. I'm NOT happy to say this, but as I said in another thread, my vocal cords ached in sympathy with his the whole night. And energy doesn't really matter much without the vocal performance to back it up. You need BOTH, or the set is either disappointing (without the solid vocals) or boring (without the energy).


And for those of you wondering about Khan's constant sweating: Look at how many layers of clothing he wears on stage. The man needs to worry less about looking cool, and worry more about being comfortable on stage. A long coat + a long sleeve shirt + an undershirt + hot stage lights = a bad idea.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

I didn't see any reason to walk out of the Kamelot show ... it was a decent enough performance, but not one of Khan's best performances. I don't think it was for a lack of effort or anything .. just simply a night he wasn't able to finish strong. I thought he was on for the 1st half, and then started to tail off down the stretch, and ended without much voice left.

Britt

 

[JenniferLynn]

Took the words right out of my mouth! I thought ALL the bands that played that night did a really awesome job, although bummed that Operatika pulled out. I was actually looking forward to seeing them as well. Friggan Blood Corps was a real surprise for me! I tried to find them after their set to see if they had any albums for sale, but came up empty. Same with the Time Lord as well. This is the 4th time I've seen Kamelot there, as well as this being the third time I've seen Edguy there as well, and they both put on as strong of a performance as I can remember from the previous times. Hell, some of the guys from Edguy came out after the show and they even remembered me from the last time I saw them there!

Overall, it was indeed another awesome night of metal last Thursday (and of course, who can forget about the previous Friday as well!)

I saw you while we all stood in line.. I screamed 'Steve!!' a few times - I wasn't giving up my spot tho!!! It was awesome getting to see them so up close, once they let us in

 

[Riceloft]

It was pretty hot in the venue at Cleveland. Khan took off the long coat after the 2nd or 3rd song.

Again, his voice sounded great that night.

 

[No Username]

You know I honestly think he just has a sensitive voice. I don't know. Maybe he is just not fit for all the jet lag and traveling, and it's always coming the hardest on the singer. Especially coming from Norway, to Florida, to going up North, those are massive weather changes. And I always get sick when I'm having little sleep and traveling, too. And let me reassure everyone that he was fantastic during the second Florida show, here in Ft. Lauderdale. VERY GOOD. He always starts the tours out great and ends up getting sick or doing something - this happens a lot and he is notorious for it. He is a great singer, unfortunately his voice doesn't last on tour and it is such a shame, but I guess I can't be mad at him for it, it's more of a natural thing.

ow, and by the way I just want to say how ENVIOUS I am (of course) of any state above Georgia for getting Edguy to support. I flew to Hartford to see their show last September and when I walked in I found out they had canceled. And not only do they never come anywhere close to here, but they decided to skip the South East - even as support for Kamelot. </endrant>

What, you did not like TEETS?

 

[yardleybates]

Met-Al tells me that out of the six times he's seen Kamelot, Khan has only been on twice. Those are not good odds.

Love you both, but gotta say, Met-Al doesn't like most singers' performances He's a pretty critical fellow.

 

[kvona1]

Wow....really surprised to hear some of the reviews....I've seen Kamelot 5 times and have always thought Khan sounded great. However, I will say that I caught them opening night of this leg in St. Petersburg, FL and the overall sound and mix of the band was horrendous..IMO Khans vocals were great but he was buried in the mix..saw them 2 years ago at the same venue(which I realize is not known for its sound) and they sounded great.

 

[Wandrail]

Love you both, but gotta say, Met-Al doesn't like most singers' performances He's a pretty critical fellow.

I don't know any of these folks, but I get an inkling that there are some unrealistic ideas as to what a live vocal performance is compared to an album...

 

[JenniferLynn]

As far as Kamelot's "horrendous" sound at the beginning of this tour - I heard after the Boston show I believe - whichever was the 3rd stop - Kamelot canned their sound guy and used Edguy's soundman for the remainder of the dates because of it...

 

[Met-Al]

I have to side with Orbweaver here. Actually, I have seen Khan perform live six times (once with Conception and five times with Kamelot), and yes, I was only really impressed with two of those performances. His performances and ProgPower V and VI were decent, but his high range wasn't there for either performance. He was downright horrible the last two times I saw him at the Pearl Room. He was constantly going out of key, he had to pull the microphone over to the side numerous times to avoid the high notes (a common practice among singers when they're having an off day), and he was terribly short-winded. I hate to say these things about a singer who has deeply influenced me, but I have to be honest.

As for my critical nature, I realize that I've grown more picky about live performances as I get older. However, as a performer, I believe that when singing is your profession, you should be doing everything in your power to ensure that your voice is in its best possible shape for every show. If I hadn't seen Khan as many times as I had, I would simply excuse his last performance in Mokena as a sick night. Unless he's just ridiculously prone to getting sick on tour, he's not taking care of himself. All I know is that Orbweaver and I were certainly not the only ones in the audience who thought that Khan was terrible that night. I spoke to eight other people who thought the same exact thing. Seeing as how I only spoke to eight people other than Orbweaver that night, those odds are pretty bad.


Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert