Kamelots latest USA Performances

[LarryD]

I was at the Boston show a couple of weeks ago ...... I cannot comment on Khan's performance because I couldn't hear it. The sound was one of the worst I've ever heard at a club, or anywhere. I read a post above where someone said they canned their sound guy ? Well, Edguy sounded much better than Kamelot, although I have to say that the sound system at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA was horrid. All you could hear for the first half of the show were the guitar and the drums, nothing else. Khan was clearly singing, but you could not hear him. No keyboards, no bass. About the 3rd song in, you could start to hear Khan singing something, but never the words clearly, only the guitar was still present.

Midway thru the show was no better - and the sound stayed about the same, never being able to hear Khan clearly, you just knew someone was singing up there. I watched him during the high notes, and just from seeing him, he didn't appear to be having any trouble at this show. I have seen him off a couple of times, but I've seen him on more.

I had brought a friend to the show to try to introduce him to Kamelot music, and I ended up having to play the live show in the car on the way home so he could finally hear what they sounded like. Terrible show all the way around.

 

[Jibrille]

I was at the Boston show a couple of weeks ago ...... I cannot comment on Khan's performance because I couldn't hear it. The sound was one of the worst I've ever heard at a club, or anywhere. I read a post above where someone said they canned their sound guy ? Well, Edguy sounded much better than Kamelot, although I have to say that the sound system at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA was horrid. All you could hear for the first half of the show were the guitar and the drums, nothing else. Khan was clearly singing, but you could not hear him. No keyboards, no bass. About the 3rd song in, you could start to hear Khan singing something, but never the words clearly, only the guitar was still present.

That really sucks. I saw The Gathering there several years ago and they sounded awesome then, along with all the opening bands. Glad Brian and a friend didn't decide to head over to that show since I couldn't make it on a weekday.
I recall the place being pretty small, especially compared to Palladium. Was it a packed house?

 

[Danny McDoom]

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...

Kamelot used the venues sound guy in Atlanta.
They may have picked up one...
Or started monitoring their sound more strictly...

Regaurdless here THEY were flawless, the sound guy on the other hand... not so much.

 

[7thSaviour]

I thought that RK was a bit of a prima donna at the Masquerade. I liked their "new" keyboard player. All in all, I thought Kamelot's set was decent, although they relied too much upon their most recent albums instead of their time-honored classic material. I was there to see the opening bands in the first place, to be honest.

 

[lady_space]

His performances and ProgPower V and VI were decent, but his high range wasn't there for either performance.

I think that's not his strength, and I don't seem to be alone. It's easier in the studio to get "that note" right than it is live. Personally, I'd rather hear someone stick with their strengths than try to push themselves to do something on record they often can't replicate live.

I think a lot of the types of bands we all listen to go in too much for having "those notes" in there and push their singers to do that but in the end it's a self-defeating practice in my point of view. That said, it seems to work for the majority, so I guess who can really blame them?

I am surprised that in a forum where so many people consider themselves "serious music fans" there has not been *more* criticism actually.

 

[No Username]

TEETS??????????



What is that?

Teets was the name of the lead singer for the opening act Alexandria in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

[Jasonic]

OrbWeaver and Met - Al,
I admit to not being as big of a Kamelot fan as you guys.
I am not familiar with their entire catalog, so maybe I simply didn't know one way or another if a note was missed.

Still though, why walk out on a band you like?

It's not like it was a disastrous performance where the whole band was loaded, and all hope was gone.

I understand you are critical. I am as well (as evident by us being banned on the same forum! ha!)

 

[Photino Decay]

Hmm... I've seen a battle of the bands at the Middle East and it sounded great. Not sure why people blame it on the sound system that the levels are totally wrong. BB King's, as usual, sounded like crap, but Khan definitely did put in a good performance that you could notice if you listened REALLY carefully and tried to filter out the muddy, booming bass and kick that always dominate that shithole. And Tobi did have a good time, even if he didn't have time to play our little "anal sex" game, only having an opener's time slot this time, hehe.

 

[OrbWeaver]

OrbWeaver and Met - Al,
I admit to not being as big of a Kamelot fan as you guys.
I am not familiar with their entire catalog, so maybe I simply didn't know one way or another if a note was missed.

Still though, why walk out on a band you like?

It's not like it was a disastrous performance where the whole band was loaded, and all hope was gone.

I understand you are critical. I am as well (as evident by us being banned on the same forum! ha!)

I really, REALLY thought Al was just being hyper-critical of Khan's "off" performances that Al has seen, given that I know Al loves him some flawless singers.

So I was NOT expecting Khan to sound nearly as bad as he did. I'm STILL sad at how horrible his voice was that night, and remember, I thought Al was exaggerating! I felt horrible for Khan, and I felt horrible for myself. I don't like to admit that a singer I adore sounds bad. But that night, he was bad. But I'm not going to defend his vocals as sounding good when it was clear to me that he was struggeling the entire time.

And to top it off, the guy was having a major off night, and what does he do? He downs a shot on stage! Brilliant. Just brilliant.

Also, to clarify: I did not walk out. Nor did Al. Our friend, however, did. And if ANYONE was stupid, it was me for sticking around when I was clearly disappointed. It's stupid to subject yourself to something that you are not enjoying, and that's what I did. I guess I was hoping that magically, by "March of Mephisto" Khan's voice would come back.

I would also like to mention that the first time I saw Kamelot, two years ago, Khan was spot on. I couldn't have been happier. But this last time was quite the let-down.

And as for our bannings, it's because the one who banned us can dish it out, but can't take what he dishes out.

 

[Wandrail]

I really, REALLY thought Al was just being hyper-critical of Khan's "off" performances that Al has seen, given that I know Al loves him some flawless singers.

So I was NOT expecting Khan to sound nearly as bad as he did. I'm STILL sad at how horrible his voice was that night, and remember, I thought Al was exaggerating! I felt horrible for Khan, and I felt horrible for myself. I don't like to admit that a singer I adore sounds bad. But that night, he was bad. But I'm not going to defend his vocals as sounding good when it was clear to me that he was struggeling the entire time.

And to top it off, the guy was having a major off night, and what does he do? He downs a shot on stage! Brilliant. Just brilliant.

Also, to clarify: I did not walk out. Nor did Al. Our friend, however, did. And if ANYONE was stupid, it was me for sticking around when I was clearly disappointed. It's stupid to subject yourself to something that you are not enjoying, and that's what I did. I guess I was hoping that magically, by "March of Mephisto" Khan's voice would come back.

I would also like to mention that the first time I saw Kamelot, two years ago, Khan was spot on. I couldn't have been happier. But this last time was quite the let-down.

And as for our bannings, it's because the one who banned us can dish it out, but can't take what he dishes out.

Damn, that's too bad. Although if I knew I was having an off night I would probably have started drinking, too. I have to say though that I don't understand expecting "flawless" performances out of a rock vocalist considering it is not a strict, measured art like operatic singing. You do expect the vocalist is hitting notes correctly and that the sound of the voice is good - but beyond that, this is rock and roll...you're moving around, maybe you get short of breath, maybe you do some of the lines a bit differently, whatever. Then again, its all a matter of opinion. De gustibus non est disputandum.

 

[Kong]

For singers it is all about sleep, sleep, and more sleep! We solved that issue years ago
by sticking Oliva into a hotel room as soon as we arrive in the next city and shipping his
ass off to bed until an hour before showtime. They might want to try and cater to Khans overall well
being a bit more...8-10 hours minimum of great sleep is certainly necessary. And rolling around
on the bus probably isn't working out well for him.

Another issue on the bus is virus's. If they don't keep that bus cold and someone gets sick...the bus
will become a rolling test-tube of germs and everyone will get sick. We don't allow the heat
turned on at all (our Euro crew hates it...hehehe). In fact, we have the air conditioning on no matter what.
If your cold, put on an extra pair of socks or a shirt. It might seem crazy, but we know this system has worked
for us 100% of the time. Making sure your singer is healthy and rested is your #1 priority!

Our monitor tech is out with Kamelot now and if they fired there original FOH soundman, they
should have moved Donald to mix FOH.....he's real good!

Good luck to Kamelot on the rest of the tour!

 

[Bear]

Well Kahn's vocal woes continued last night. He mentioned he had a cold and could not hit any high notes and struggled mightily all night long.That was by far the worst performance from him I have seen, but he was a trooper and did the best he good. The band was tight and I thought a pretty decent performance all around but definitely not the best time I have seen Kamelot. I think Glen Barry is missed as well.

Bear

 

[Imagikafan]

Well Kahn's vocal woes continued last night. He mentioned he had a cold and could not hit any high notes and struggled mightily all night long.That was by far the worst performance from him I have seen, but he was a trooper and did the best he good. The band was tight and I thought a pretty decent performance all around but definitely not the best time I have seen Kamelot. I think Glen Barry is missed as well.

Bear

Agreed. Roy really struggled last night. It was great to see you again, bro.

 

[yardleybates]

It's stupid to subject yourself to something that you are not enjoying,

Now, be careful there lady. Remember Therion? Met-Al tolerated the show, but hated the whole thing. You, however had as much of a blast as Yip and I did. You wouldn't have wanted him to walk out would you?

 

[Jasonic]

All are valid points.
I guess it depends on your perspective.
I don't get to go to as many shows as I did 5 to 10 years ago, so for the most part, I stay the entire show.

I just think if you are a fan of a band, why would you walk out? Please don't think I was calling any one person stupid. Just I think the idea of walking out on a band you are into is stupid. I could see if you weren't a fan of the band or something.

Anyhow, as others confirmed in recent posts, sounds like Kahn has been struggling.

 

[OrbWeaver]

Now, be careful there lady. Remember Therion? Met-Al tolerated the show, but hated the whole thing. You, however had as much of a blast as Yip and I did. You wouldn't have wanted him to walk out would you?

That was a different situation. He was there becuase HE took ME. He knew it was something *I* enjoyed. In short, it was a favor to me. Our friend was not at Kamelot as a favor to anyone, but just as a fan of Kamelot. Just like Al and I were there because we wanted to see Kamelot and Edguy. In the case of Therion, Al knew he wasn't a fan, but took me to be a Good Boyfriend (TM).

 

[spag]

Saw Kamelot and Edguy in LA last night. Edguy rocked. I would love to have had a longer set from them. Was just barely an hour.

Kahn was hurting. He came out, said he had a monster cold, what can he do? Yes, it was disappointing in the sense that he couldn't sing like he can sing. It was also painful to watch, as you can tell he was trying so fucking hard, but just couldn't get it out. I really feel for the guy, he was still an amazing performer, and puts more emotion into his singing sick than any five I can think of put together. The band rocked, and it certainly wasn't anything I was going to leave early over. I guess if this was my first time seeing them, I'd probably be disappointed, but was still a good night.

Only thing that really sucked was driving the last 60 miles of my 120 mile trip home in dense fog.

 

[kittybeast]

Kudos to Khan for not canceling on us in L.A. he tried and gave it his all and for that we give him big !! Hell of a show in spite of the fact he was under the weather!! the only bad thing for us was the AC was off and it was like a sauna in the Key Club but it sure sweated out those margaritas quickly!!

It was like a CA progpower reunion... lots of us there, Me, Pabla, Marvina,Bill (Hudson, made it in from Minneapolis just before the rainbow closed) Drew, Leah (vegas), Jonathan and some guy in PP9 shirt that isn't on the forums and evidently spag...hey dude!!

I am excited and hope they'll be back in Sept. Tobias said they would....:Smokin:

 

[spag]

Yeah, we were upstairs and only ran into one person there who was a PP weenie. I suck with names.

 

[Pellaz]

the only bad thing for us was the AC was off and it was like a sauna in the Key Club but it sure sweated out those margaritas quickly!!

Of course the A/C was off. Khan normally requires that it be switched off during his gigs. (We, umm, couldn't help but notice in the sweatbath that was the Masquerade here.....)

Other singers do the same, since the colder, drier air affects their vocal cords.