I saw Sanctuary with Fates Warning in Tampa on 4/20/1990 (wow - over 20 years ago!). To this day, it is still one of the most memorable shows I've ever been to and I've told the story more than a few times. I played in a band that was heavily into prog-metal and we loved FW, so we were there only for them and after they opened the show, we almost left. Me and my buddies were standing at the back of the club, with arms folded in a typical dickhead way, as we thought that FW was the best and they shouldn't have been opening for anybody. I still remember turning to one of my friends and saying "let's just watch one song from these guys to see what they are all about". That turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made, because after that we were all pushing to the front of the stage and I just stared in amazement as they tore it up and just blew me away. Seeing a guy like Warrel with hair down to his ass, just wailing away with this incredible voice and hearing these awesome guitar rhythms really made an impression, and I even ended up buying a Sanctuary shirt (instead of a FW shirt) that I wore forever until it had holes and simply couldn't take any more washings!
The next day, I drove to a record store (remember those?) and bought Refuge Denied and Mirror Black, and I knew I had found my new favorite band. Everybody in my band was just incredibly influenced by their music and lyrics and it quickly became an obvious influence in our sound. To this day - Sanctuary/Nevermore remains my #1 favorite band, and as I told Jim after a show a few years ago - I root for them like I do my favorite football team. I applaud WD and Jim for keeping at it for so long in a tough industry, and for finding great guys to keep their vision alive with Nevermore.
