While Heaven Wept...

[eppst1]

I was wondering what everyone thought of WHW. I saw them mentioned a couple times in the cheer/jeer thread.

Yay? Nay?

I thought they were amazing live. I was so happy to finally be able to catch their live set and wasn't disappointed in the slightest. I was a little worried their slower, lest intense style of music wouldn't go over well. I was standing up front and wasn't able to gauge the crowd reaction but I've heard mostly very glowing reviews of their set.

 

[Sir Exar Kun]

WHW is one of those bands that I've tried to get into on CD, and it's been a mixed bag for me. I love Rain's vocals, and that is what led me to purchase these to begin with. The only real "doomy" band I enjoy is Solitude Aeturnus, and the common theme is that (again) I love the vocals here.

I thought seeing WHW live might help me enjoy them more, but honestly..... It didn't. I loved hearing Rain sing live, but I sat there looking down on the stage, and just couldn't really get into the music, as there seemed to be very little going on, even moreso given the number of players on the stage. There were several points where BOTH keyboardists were doing absolutely nothing for extended periods of time.

I dunno. Despite the singing, this just wasn't my cup of tea. They sounded good, they certainly had the fan support up front, and I'm glad they seemed to go over well, but apparently just not my kind of thing......

 

[OrbWeaver]

I loved their set, but of course, I'm a bit biased, given that I was one of their sponsors.

 

[JenniferLynn]

I thought seeing WHW live might help me enjoy them more, but honestly..... It didn't. I loved hearing Rain sing live, but I sat there looking down on the stage, and just couldn't really get into the music, as there seemed to be very little going on, even moreso given the number of players on the stage. There were several points where BOTH keyboardists were doing absolutely nothing for extended periods of time.

I totally agree.. I hadn't heard their music but after a few songs I thought for 7 folks onstage, you'd think there'd be more going on musically. They weren't bad, just didn't get me screaming for more...

 

[TribunalRecords]

Loved them! Bummed my message to Rain didn't make it in time for my request of Wander.

 

[eaeolian]

Despite the fact that most of them live near me, I had never seen them. I like pretty much all of their material on disc. They exceeded my expectations live, especially Rain, who was crushingly good. Brilliant set.

 

[ratanda]

I missed the majority of their set due to bad traffic on I-75 N But what I did see was EXCELLENT. Great great great band. The performance was so powerful, so lush. One of the bands I was most looking foward to, and they did not disappoint whatsoever. Well, except for not bringing any merch with them But that's a minor detail compared to the show.

 

[KingsGene]

Big, big sound.

 

[seh750]

I really love WHW's music on CD, although I have to be in a certain mood. I found it's much better to listen to WHW than Megadeth while driving, keeps me calmer.

Live, they sounded a bit different. Seemed like the guitars were more present and the keyboards took a back seat, so a bit heavier sounding. Not a bad thing, just different. I'm a keyboard player so I tend to listen for those parts.

It also seemed to me like Rain was struggling a bit with his upper register. There were some vocal passages that he sang lower than I remember on CD. But truth be told, if his voice wasn't 100% that day then singing the bits lower rather than reaching high and missing sounds a heck of a lot better in my book.

WHW wasn't my favorite of the fest, but I enjoyed their set very much.

 

[Fizrider]

Rain performs with unbridled emotion. It seems every lyric brings out a memory for him that he experiences anew. I'd be stunned if he could leave the stage unassisted after a set - he leaves nothing behind.

I looked forward to their set, and I was STILL pleasantly surprised.

 

[Akumu]

They only played one tune from their newest one, which I thought was kinda weird. Other than that, I really enjoyed them! They were SUPER-nice, too.

 

[johan68]

I thought they were awesome.

 

[Coldfire Mouse]

One of my favorite sets. Scott had them on his must see list since we know Michelle, Trevor and Scott from Brave and go see their shows. Now to get WHW to play live up here! Yo Blevins...can ya do something about that? seriously....tag team with that Division band or something

 

[AngraRULES]

Fantastic set. I would have liked to seen Unplenitude, but it was still one of my faves of the year.

 

[jem777az]

I always found their music really boring on CD and I felt the same way when I saw them on Saturday. Maybe if there was more energy onstage I would have felt differently but that was not the case.

 

[shreddy]

They're a solid band but they really werent my thing, clearly a lot of people enjoyed them so thats awesome for the band and the fans.

I wanted to hear more from the 2 keyboardists, the one had a v-synth and I was hoping to hear some expressive wave morphed patches / leads or huge symphonic wall of sound from the 2 of them combined. Having 2 guitars and 2 keyboards could open up for some huge orchestrations and layers.

 

[TheLongshot]

One of my favorite sets. Scott had them on his must see list since we know Michelle, Trevor and Scott from Brave and go see their shows. Now to get WHW to play live up here! Yo Blevins...can ya do something about that? seriously....tag team with that Division band or something

Given that I spent a decent amount of time around Blevins and Tom last weekend, he seems to be working on it.

Blevins: if that BBQ idea becomes reality, I want in.

 

[SkiBumMSP]

Despite the fact that most of them live near me, I had never seen them. I like pretty much all of their material on disc. They exceeded my expectations live, especially Rain, who was crushingly good. Brilliant set.

Tell me about it! Hell, part of the band lives right here in Fredericksburg, but go figure it took a ProgPower before I actually got to see them live.

As for the set, I really enjoyed it. May not have been as exciting as something like Therion, but still a good solid set.

And as also been mentioned, a really nice bunch of guys that obviously love what they are doing here.

 

[OrbWeaver]

They only played one tune from their newest one, which I thought was kinda weird. Other than that, I really enjoyed them! They were SUPER-nice, too.

Most of them have their minds in the gutter at all times, too.

 

[dtfanatic]

I thought they were awesome.

Yes indeed.