I saw Jon Oliva Friday night!

[PeteLaramee]

Zach Stevens' band Circle II Circle opened up (the guy who replaced Jon in Savatage). It was great to see these guys belt out a bunch of old Savatage songs and some new stuff. Zach came out and joined Jon for a few songs too.

Although it was great to see these guys it was kind of sad seeing Jon in the condition he's in. He has to be close to 400 lbs.

Anyone else into Savatage?

 

[Wayniac]

Pete -
Been a huge fan of them for years.
I teched for them (Oliva, Caffery) on the fall 2005 tour in the US.. they are a blast.
I have also worked with Jon and Zach at Progpower several times - always fun guys, and always give 100% at every performance.
Actually - Jon looked to me (when I saw them at PP in Sept) like he had lost some weight recently.

 

[maiden_fan]

400 pounds fuck me.

I love me some savatage though, hall of the mountain king is where it is at.

 

[Gitfiddler]

i live in Fl and used to ride my bike on the road where Cris Oliva died. Kinda creeped me out. STrangely enough it's not that far from where Rhoads died.

 

[J.B.]

How did Circle II Circle sound? The drummer is one of my best friends and ex room mate.

 

[PeteLaramee]

Pete -
Been a huge fan of them for years.
I teched for them (Oliva, Caffery) on the fall 2005 tour in the US.. they are a blast.
I have also worked with Jon and Zach at Progpower several times - always fun guys, and always give 100% at every performance.
Actually - Jon looked to me (when I saw them at PP in Sept) like he had lost some weight recently.

400 pounds fuck me.

I love me some savatage though, hall of the mountain king is where it is at.

Yea he was big. Noticeably bigger than the last time I saw him which was on the Poets and Madmen tour. He was sitting down before the end of the second song. He didn't stand up again until the last song in the encore (HOTMK).

 

[PeteLaramee]

i live in Fl and used to ride my bike on the road where Cris Oliva died. Kinda creeped me out. STrangely enough it's not that far from where Rhoads died.

My parents spend their winters in st pete (pass-a-grille beach) and I've driven down that road. It is kind of creepy.

 

[PeteLaramee]

How did Circle II Circle sound? The drummer is one of my best friends and ex room mate.

I remember you saying that before. Didn't you used to play in a band with him? I think Circle sounded great. Especially Zach. For some reason he always seems to get stronger as the night goes on. circle played for an hour, there was a 40 minute break before JOP went on and Zach came out about 50 minutes into the set and he'd never sounded better.

 

[J.B.]

How did Circle II Circle sound? The drummer is one of my best friends and ex room mate.

I remember you saying that before. Didn't you used to play in a band with him? I think Circle sounded great. Especially Zach. For some reason he always seems to get stronger as the night goes on. circle played for an hour, there was a 40 minute break before JOP went on and Zach came out about 50 minutes into the set and he'd never sounded better.

Cool man. Yeah, we played together for years. We allways lived in places were we could just go down the basement and jam whenever we fealt like it. I just talked to him a couple weeks ago. He's going to come visit in a month or two (or whenever their current tour is over).

 

[eaeolian]

Pete -
Been a huge fan of them for years.
I teched for them (Oliva, Caffery) on the fall 2005 tour in the US.. they are a blast.
I have also worked with Jon and Zach at Progpower several times - always fun guys, and always give 100% at every performance.
Actually - Jon looked to me (when I saw them at PP in Sept) like he had lost some weight recently.

It's always funny how many people I know that don't know each other, but meet on message boards. I was actually hoping you'd be working, Wayne, but I forgot to drop you a line and ask, 'cause I'm lame that way..

 

[eaeolian]

How did Circle II Circle sound? The drummer is one of my best friends and ex room mate.

I remember you saying that before. Didn't you used to play in a band with him? I think Circle sounded great. Especially Zach. For some reason he always seems to get stronger as the night goes on. circle played for an hour, there was a 40 minute break before JOP went on and Zach came out about 50 minutes into the set and he'd never sounded better.

True - and it was especially amazing given that all he did was slam beers and talk during that time period. Recordings never do him justice - he's one of the best live singers I've ever seen.

 

[eaeolian]

Zach Stevens' band Circle II Circle opened up (the guy who replaced Jon in Savatage). It was great to see these guys belt out a bunch of old Savatage songs and some new stuff. Zach came out and joined Jon for a few songs too.

We do, of course, appreciate both you and Jeff being there in time to see us (albeit barely). I enjoyed the heck out of the show, and the most stunning thing of the evening was Matt LaPorte nailing the Criss Oliva tone with a Vox Toneport and a 1x12 Behringer amp.

No, I'm not kidding - and he had that tone NAILED.

 

[Wayniac]

quote]

It's always funny how many people I know that don't know each other, but meet on message boards. I was actually hoping you'd be working, Wayne, but I forgot to drop you a line and ask, 'cause I'm lame that way..

Hahah - whassup man? I was approached to do this tour.. but let;s just say things didn't work out (not sure if you heard about my hand/wrist injury)
Yep - agreed - LaPorte has Criss nailed ! He had the tone nailed with a little Vamp on the '05 tour as well ... and another rig with a POD and Mosvalve poweramp at the WoMD show

 

[PeteLaramee]

Zach Stevens' band Circle II Circle opened up (the guy who replaced Jon in Savatage). It was great to see these guys belt out a bunch of old Savatage songs and some new stuff. Zach came out and joined Jon for a few songs too.

We do, of course, appreciate both you and Jeff being there in time to see us (albeit barely). I enjoyed the heck out of the show, and the most stunning thing of the evening was Matt LaPorte nailing the Criss Oliva tone with a Vox Toneport and a 1x12 Behringer amp.

No, I'm not kidding - and he had that tone NAILED.

Hey man, I know we didn't catch your whole set, but I thought you guys sounded great. James is such an improvement over EJ and Steve M. I thought your recto sounded tight and beefy. That's one of those amps I never like playing, but guys like you can make it sound good.

 

[Gitfiddler]

i live in Fl and used to ride my bike on the road where Cris Oliva died. Kinda creeped me out. STrangely enough it's not that far from where Rhoads died.

My parents spend their winters in st pete (pass-a-grille beach) and I've driven down that road. It is kind of creepy.

for some reason, i think they live(d) in the dunedin area (n. clearwater)

 

[eaeolian]

quote]

It's always funny how many people I know that don't know each other, but meet on message boards. I was actually hoping you'd be working, Wayne, but I forgot to drop you a line and ask, 'cause I'm lame that way..

Hahah - whassup man? I was approached to do this tour.. but let;s just say things didn't work out (not sure if you heard about my hand/wrist injury)

I did not - sorry to hear that, though. Bad prognosis, or just a temporary setback?

 

[eaeolian]

Hey man, I know we didn't catch your whole set, but I thought you guys sounded great. James is such an improvement over EJ and Steve M. I thought your recto sounded tight and beefy. That's one of those amps I never like playing, but guys like you can make it sound good.

Thanks, bro. I like having James in the band - not only do we not play everything at 3x album speed, but I can borrow his guitar stuff, too!

Getting my Triple to sound right has been an adventure, but I'm finally happy - I keep thinking about buying a Stiletto, and then I take the Triple to rehearsal and just forget about it...

 

[Wayniac]

{quote="Wayniac"]

Hahah - whassup man? I was approached to do this tour.. but let;s just say things didn't work out (not sure if you heard about my hand/wrist injury)

I did not - sorry to hear that, though. Bad prognosis, or just a temporary setback?[/quote]

It happened in June - split a sheath around a tendon on my frethand ( ) - still rehabbing. Affected wrist positioning, last 2 fingers on my hand, and the ability to rotate the hand into fretting position. Thought I may have been done with playing and teching... but it's getting there.
SOOOOO - needless to say - lifting backline for this tour (and Edguy/Kamelot) was out of the question...

 

[PeteLaramee]

i live in Fl and used to ride my bike on the road where Cris Oliva died. Kinda creeped me out. STrangely enough it's not that far from where Rhoads died.

My parents spend their winters in st pete (pass-a-grille beach) and I've driven down that road. It is kind of creepy.

for some reason, i think they live(d) in the dunedin area (n. clearwater)

yes, I do believe it was near Clearwater.

 

[Marshall Law]

power of the night album rocks, the fountain of you, is one of my fave's