10-20-2017, 10:47 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-20-2017, 10:48 AM by sundance7490.)
(10-20-2017, 08:16 AM)69RoadRunner Wrote: Well, Autumn has a chance to do Escape to Margaritaville, which will probably be a nice feature for her. Sorry she won't be on tour, but if she's happy, that's great!
I don't think we need to say any more about David. I don't know the new East bassist, but I believe he was in the backup band.
I've only seen a few West shows. I don't know why John was replaced, whether it was his choice or not. Sorry to see him go. He was a fixture with the Westies.
That's it, right?
Wow, I can't say I'm not in shock right now. John O.Reilly (I was afraid you were talking about Johnny Lee Middleton at first but heck either one to me!) really HAS been a staple for the west for the past 15 years and one of my favorites. I'm going to miss him so much. He's also one of the oldest in the entire group since he's in his mid-60's already. Possible retirement? Does anyone know if this is a permanent or just temporary thing? This is also the first major member change since Asha Mevlana became lead violinist in 2011. Blas Elias, the new drummer is great, though. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform with the Blue Man Group's Las Vegas rock band last year and they're incredible. Funny enough I met him after the show. Never in a hundred years thought I'd be seeing him yet again with TSO!
Tony Dickinson is the new bassist for the east coast. According to his website he's also worked with Jeff Scott Soto on his band's first two albums so he probably joined the group (if he was in the backup band too) through recommendation from Jeff. It's really strange to see how many changes the band is going through in just this year. The last six years have seemed so steady and consistent albeit with the show-theme changes, which were quite welcomed.