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Guy LeMonnier talks TSO, Kings of Christmas, more in new interview
#18
There's a percentage of fans of every artist that longs for the days of old when things were simpler and the way it was in the beginning. Just as there are music fans who won't listen to anything that was released after they left college and calls all music after that time worthless. Part of it is the nostalgia syndrome, part of it is a feeling of loss of when you felt maybe that you had a sense of ownership, before they got big and turned their back on their roots. Every single artist on earth has this. And it's a feeling, an opinion, etc - it's not wrong or right, it's just how you feel about the thing you remember and the connections that you have or don't have. I don't usually feel that way personally, but lots of people do and that's fine (I also liked the Gary Cherone VH album, and the Genesis album with Ray Wilson, for what it's worth - I'm the minority there).

I think, and have talked at length with people inside and outside the organization, that where they are now with the production was always the plan, it's just it wouldn't fit logistically and financially wasn't viable in the first 5 years of touring. Most of the band and management grew up inspired by the largest shows of the time: Kiss, Floyd, the Who, Genesis, ELP, etc. Those shows were the biggest productions of their time and the plan was always to build up to recreate that. Savatage had that at their height as well, they didn't keep it minimal.

As the stage got bigger it became more important to keep people spread out across the stage so that people have someone in front of them for much of the show - many bands do this. Enter choreography - not to mention that even in the very early days the personalities on the stage came up with their own choreography that wasn't part of this. It just happens when you do the same thing over and over again - it's a pattern you fall into. Bigger stages, spread them out and make sure someone is right here for 80% of the show. Nearly every band has routines and patterns they fall into no matter what size the stage.

What do lasers and pyro have to do with Christmas? They're effects to help bring the show to life, to add dimension - that's what any visual art does. In this day and age I think even your most basic rock act has a hard time doing an arena sized show with 100 par-cans, a smidgen of dry ice, no video, etc.

There's a perception difference between us as fans and Paul/Jon/Al because while some may think of TSO as a Christmas band, they don't. Paul's written how many projects and done how many things in his career - Christmas related items are 3 projects amongst many. Granted, they have been arguably the most popular and what they've focused the touring around, but while this side of the fence may think it's a Christmas thing, I don't think the creative side of the fence does - it's a prog rock band that has written a ton of stuff. It's not as cut and dried for the people living it as opposed to the public that has to compartmentalize things into a box. So they're not thinking that lasers and pyro don't belong in Christmas, it's that they are a prog rock band who is focusing on a Christmas album, but the front and back ends of the show aren't Christmas.

I've heard/read numerous interviews with Paul and Al and others who have commented on the talent onstage, including new faces, etc. it's just not that easy to do typically when you've got a 5 minute press interview that's a 30,000 feet overview when you're talking to people around the country who are seeing one coast or the other, etc. It's easier to fall into a simple pattern of running through the same talking points that don't change from interview to interview for those high-level press blitzes where they're talking to 10 stations in a row.

Bart actually opened my eyes a little bit on the dancers, until that time I thought it was over-indulgent and cheesy, however after talking to him and then to Paul I realized that regardless of my thoughts on it, it was something that Paul was passionate about and it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. But the stage is big and if I don't want to see it, I can look at 10 other things and it's like it's not there (although it doesn't bother me like it once did).

I saw them in 2000 and every year since so I've seen the theater shows and they were great. Were they better than the arena? It all depends on what you're looking for. At the end of the day, the reason the show is there is the music - without that everything is icing. There may be more icing now, but it doesn't mean the cupcake is worse. It's still an awesome cupcake with great toppings. The only thing I miss is a bit more freedom for Chris to chat during the introductions - however on the flip side, would I rather hear Chris tell bad jokes or hear more music and I'm going to go with music every time.

Again, with any band you can say "I'd like to see the small show days" - but while it would be fun to see Rush in a theater, I'd rather see the full scale production that they've evolved to, I'd rather see Floyd with the gigantic circle...I wouldn't want to see Floyd in a theater without that. But that's just me and my tastes. I think you fit the production to the room that you're playing. Production is a further extension of the experience. If you're further back you absolutely lose the intimacy with the performers, but we're lucky enough with TSO that if you have $70, or at most $90, you can get any seat in the house that you want because their ticketing is that easy compared with other bands). Get up front if you want intimacy. Get the balcony if you want the full enchilada. Get in the middle if you want a mix of the two.

And maybe I'm spoiled because I'm on the east coast and they seem a bit looser when it comes to interaction with the crowd and putting on a high-energy show or maybe they've excelled at perfecting a balance between hitting cue marks and still interacting, but while Frank did an excellent job on the FL multi-cam from this year, I was surprised at the lack of energy onstage and the divide between the band and lackluster audience. Obviously a video isn't going to represent what was going down in the building, but the vibe of "Sparks" was anything but sparks. It was almost like a music video without a crowd, I'm not sure if anyone onstage even looked in the crowds' direction from the stage. It was a highlight for me this past tour and really thought it was a show stopper, but that wasn't the case in that clip.

Bp
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RE: Guy LeMonnier talks TSO, Kings of Christmas, more in new interview - by squintyt4e - 02-12-2015, 03:05 AM

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