U.S. Tour?

[beowulf1969]

I must admit my concern and puzzlement over the fact that there is no news of a full-fledged US tour. I understand that for Snowfall, the tour was "canceled" due to other obligations Ray had with Fates. As that does not seem to be an issue this time around, there seems to be a plethora of nothingness and updates on tour info.

Anyone have any clues? Is it in the planning stages? Not gonna happen at all? This is killing me.
At least, release a "bootleg" recording of one of the few shows they actually performed in Europe or Cali.

 

[AsoTamaki]

Yeah, I hope I don't have to wait until next year's ProgPower to see them.

At least, release a "bootleg" recording of one of the few shows they actually performed in Europe or Cali.

There are great quality videos online of almost every song performed. Sean Andrews posted this one on his channel so I'll link it here:

 

[beowulf1969]

Excellent!! Thanks for the info! I know Bernie was going to try to get a couple more clips from the previous "tour" for Snowfall from a buddy of his. But at least we have these clips.

 

[beowulf1969]

I just went to YouTube. The posting of B&WW is absolutely incredible. In the words of Jodie Foster, "no words... there are no words". Just amazing. Actually sent chills all the way down my spine. The ending is just so powerful. Songwriting at its finest.

I can only hope and pray they are working on US dates that will include Dallas.

 

[Prog is King]

Please don't forget the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

[nvandyk]

Please don't forget the San Francisco Bay Area.

Well folks, here's the God's honest truth. We've got four factors working against us:

1. We need more people to show up. We've reached a point where we need to get paid a reasonable amount of money to play a show, and if people don't show up, promoters won't get behind this. We draw reasonably well in LA. If people want to see us in other cities, we need to make sure a couple of hundred people are going to show up otherwise it's not viable. So spread the word!

2. It's very hard to pull off economically. Getting six people (assuming we have no crew) to the East Coast and getting them from point a to b to c to d to e for five measly shows isn't cheap. See #1, above.

3. I've got a limited amount of time I can take off from my "day job" and I spent two weeks of that for the Europe tour. I can't just take six weeks off and dedicate that to a tour. Now, there are ways around this -- we've done it before. But it's an issue that does complicate things.

4. Ray is going to be working on Fates material in 2012, so there will be limited opportunities for us to perform live.

ALL of this said, I'm still working on some stuff. We are open to playing shows out west -- I'd love to do a Bay Area show as that were I'm from -- and are hoping to do a couple more shows next year around Progpower if possible (see item #2 above). We'll see!

Thank you all for your interest and support! Hope you are liking the new record!

 

[Condemnation]

@Nick

It sucks to hear that you're struggling to perform live because of too few people showing up. I live in Sweden, so I can't really help you. But you're one of the few bands that I absolutely love, that I would spend my hard earned money on. If you ever, though I doubt it, perform in Sweden I will be there!

Kind of side note... how horrible is this world, when great, emotional, heartfelt and beautiful music can't be spread to the world in a live setting, and Britney Spears have no problems getting people to her shows??

 

[beowulf1969]

Good point, Condemnation.

Nick, I am always spreading the word about Redemption. In fact, I just told the cashier at my Kroger store about you.
I know I have my wish list, and would love to see you guys in Texas. It made my heart sink to see the few heads on the YouTube clips from the Europe shows. I guess part of me was hoping for you guys to be able to tour with another act (that always helps to spread the word; I found you at the DT show in Dallas in '07) that would allow you more than a paltry 45 minutes.
It also kills me to know how this economy is affecting everyone. Most concerts are ridiculously expensive (someone's gotta pay for Britney's 27 costume changes!). As I grow older, the bands I love don't tour as much; don't even release albums as often. I used to average 15-20 concerts a year (back in the day I worked in music retail management, so I sort of had an "in" with the labels). Now its maybe 1 or 2. Sometimes even my wallet is a bit deflated: I missed DT here in Dallas last week. That hurt, too. It seems that the vast majority of bands I end up really liking and listening to for any extended amount of time doesn't have the audience it is due. Labels have their own agenda: Money. It never seems to be what is actually considered "good", worthy music. Songs become popular as long as the label wants it to be popular. Everything else falls to the wayside. Redemption is most definitely worthy. Rarely is there music out there with such lyrical validity and true gut-wrenching emotion, and not just singing about what they did last Friday night.
Okay, okay. Didn't mean to get out the soapbox. I'll step down.

Were any of the shows recorded (outside of the cellphone recordings on YouTube), whether it be strictly audio or video as well? From what I've heard and seen on YouTube, you all were in fine form! Ray sounded top-notch. Nick, I was more than impressed with your singing at the end of B&WW (still hoping for root tracks!). I know bands like Rush (used to) put out a live album every 3 or 4 records. I think you have an opportunity to release a wonderful live release of some of the more "intimate" shows, considering the Frozen album was after (what I consider to be two albums) three Redemption albums. Well, another 2 have been released since then, and almost 5 years. Just what I've seen (again, crappy vids from YouTube), its kinda cool hearing Ray chat with the crowd. Just a thought. Another wish.

Okay, I'll shut up now. But let it be known that I am already drooling for the next Redemption album! I realize I must wait a while. But that won't stop me from wishing.
Good luck in the near future with getting Redemption the worldwide recognition you guys truly deserve, and being able to see more of your fans around the world.

 

[beowulf1969]

Check out Bernie's postings on YouTube. Great footage!!