A few days ago I had what I'd call the ultimate Evergrey experience and I thought that there's no better place to share it than here
So here's the story...
Last Tuesday, my band NEED (www.myspace.com/needband) was supposed to open the EVERGREY gig here in Athens, Greece. That was already a big deal for me since I've been a big GREY fan since The Dark Discovery album was out back in '98 and I'd already seen them live 7 times in the past...Plus I was the one who got the Rock Hard magazine (who was partially organizing the gig) in touch with Tom back when Torn was out last year...
However things don't always go according to plan and after a HUGE promoter/venue owner schedule screw-up, our slot had to be cancelled...This was a big bummer for all of us but shit happens and life goes on...
So EVERGREY got on stage in time and a great show had started. For sure one of the best times I've seen them play, all of them were in a great shape and mood, the sound was great and they played some of their best songs one after the other...So somewhere in the middle of the encore, something completely unexpected was about to happen
(Note: During the afternoon soundcheck I asked Tom if they were gonna play one of my favourite GREY songs, Blackened Dawn Id only seen them play it once back in their first tour in 2000 with Crimson Glory & Kamelot. Ive been asking for it in every show since then and it had somehow become like an inside joke of some kind. Tom answered me that they probably wouldnt play it. Oh, well And indeed Blackened Dawn was not included in the printed setlist)
The encore began with When The Walls Go Down and Recreation Day and at that point I thought it was a good time for me to make my usual request despite what Tom had told me Tom looks at me and goes You know what, were gonna play it, only because you guys didnt get to play tonight and goes on with something like but if were gonna play it, you should come up and sing it .That was it! In 2 seconds I was up on stage and the guys played an amazing version of the song with me singing the whole song! Needless to say I was not quite sure that this was real haha! And the best part was that I would turn around and see the guys in the band and they all had these real big smiles on their faces! It was an experience to remember for my whole life! Hopefully some video will surface at some point cause I really want to see how it turned out. The truth is that after the song all the people in the club were shouting and cheering so I guess it was good after all!
Heres some pics that my good friend Kelly took from that night
My custom made setlist
And the calm AFTER the storm...
And here's some quotes from the first live reports I found on the web...
http://metal-temple.com/report.asp?id=462
"After another EVERGREY hit -under the title "Recreation Day"- something special and outside the schedule happened; Tom invited the singer of NEED Jon V on-stage to sing the song he was requesting. Actually, he said "If you want us to play "Blackened Dawn" you should sing it"; of course Jon accepted this offer and so EVERGREY left aside the setlist and hit us with the aforementioned song. I was pretty surprised with Jons very good performance and by the fact that the rest of the band supported him to the maximum! So, it was a special moment and I bet everyone enjoyed it"
http://www.rockpages.gr/detailspage.aspx?id=2674&type=3&lang=EN
"They play Recreation day; some peeps demand Blackened dawn Tom is thinking about it Well, if you sing, well play it Jon, from the Greek band Need, is already on stage, attacking the mic. Its a warzone now. Mosh and pits and craziness. Sounds cool, hehe "
http://www.metalpaths.com/reports/evergrey-support-acts-athens-greece,1976
"One of the highlights was Blackened Dawn, the only track played from the first record, where the singer of Need, one of the bands that didnt play did the vocals and he really surprised all the members of the band. Way to go bro!"
So here's the story...
Last Tuesday, my band NEED (www.myspace.com/needband) was supposed to open the EVERGREY gig here in Athens, Greece. That was already a big deal for me since I've been a big GREY fan since The Dark Discovery album was out back in '98 and I'd already seen them live 7 times in the past...Plus I was the one who got the Rock Hard magazine (who was partially organizing the gig) in touch with Tom back when Torn was out last year...
However things don't always go according to plan and after a HUGE promoter/venue owner schedule screw-up, our slot had to be cancelled...This was a big bummer for all of us but shit happens and life goes on...
So EVERGREY got on stage in time and a great show had started. For sure one of the best times I've seen them play, all of them were in a great shape and mood, the sound was great and they played some of their best songs one after the other...So somewhere in the middle of the encore, something completely unexpected was about to happen
(Note: During the afternoon soundcheck I asked Tom if they were gonna play one of my favourite GREY songs, Blackened Dawn Id only seen them play it once back in their first tour in 2000 with Crimson Glory & Kamelot. Ive been asking for it in every show since then and it had somehow become like an inside joke of some kind. Tom answered me that they probably wouldnt play it. Oh, well And indeed Blackened Dawn was not included in the printed setlist)
The encore began with When The Walls Go Down and Recreation Day and at that point I thought it was a good time for me to make my usual request despite what Tom had told me Tom looks at me and goes You know what, were gonna play it, only because you guys didnt get to play tonight and goes on with something like but if were gonna play it, you should come up and sing it .That was it! In 2 seconds I was up on stage and the guys played an amazing version of the song with me singing the whole song! Needless to say I was not quite sure that this was real haha! And the best part was that I would turn around and see the guys in the band and they all had these real big smiles on their faces! It was an experience to remember for my whole life! Hopefully some video will surface at some point cause I really want to see how it turned out. The truth is that after the song all the people in the club were shouting and cheering so I guess it was good after all!
Heres some pics that my good friend Kelly took from that night
My custom made setlist
And the calm AFTER the storm...
And here's some quotes from the first live reports I found on the web...
http://metal-temple.com/report.asp?id=462
"After another EVERGREY hit -under the title "Recreation Day"- something special and outside the schedule happened; Tom invited the singer of NEED Jon V on-stage to sing the song he was requesting. Actually, he said "If you want us to play "Blackened Dawn" you should sing it"; of course Jon accepted this offer and so EVERGREY left aside the setlist and hit us with the aforementioned song. I was pretty surprised with Jons very good performance and by the fact that the rest of the band supported him to the maximum! So, it was a special moment and I bet everyone enjoyed it"
http://www.rockpages.gr/detailspage.aspx?id=2674&type=3&lang=EN
"They play Recreation day; some peeps demand Blackened dawn Tom is thinking about it Well, if you sing, well play it Jon, from the Greek band Need, is already on stage, attacking the mic. Its a warzone now. Mosh and pits and craziness. Sounds cool, hehe "
http://www.metalpaths.com/reports/evergrey-support-acts-athens-greece,1976
"One of the highlights was Blackened Dawn, the only track played from the first record, where the singer of Need, one of the bands that didnt play did the vocals and he really surprised all the members of the band. Way to go bro!"
Congratulations on what sounds to be a flawless performance! Do let us know if a video surfaces...
