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Raleigh show!
#1
I got my ticket for the Raleigh show.  I will be in the club level... I hope they do it the same as Orlando last year.  Their loge/club felt pretty exclusive with waitress service, separate entrance, bathrooms, etc.

I figured if I am not going to get a great floor seat then I may as well go up a level and be treated like somebody.  I have been supporting these fools for 30 years now.   Big Grin
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#2
That sounds great! Wow, 30 years is a long time to be supporting them, that's awesome! I'm looking forward to my 13th year of seeing TSO in Buffalo, NY on December 15th. Enjoy the show in Raleigh!
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#3
(12-01-2018, 07:25 AM)admin Wrote: I got my ticket for the Raleigh show.  I will be in the club level... I hope they do it the same as Orlando last year.  Their loge/club felt pretty exclusive with waitress service, separate entrance, bathrooms, etc.

I figured if I am not going to get a great floor seat then I may as well go up a level and be treated like somebody.  I have been supporting these fools for 30 years now.   Big Grin

I'll be in Raleigh too...section 118 row A (about seven rows from the stage) right on the boards and a foot or two off the floor, when people stand up I can stay sitting down and NO one sitting in front of us. My usual seats in section 105 (row A) , have been blocked off this year, don't know why but I'll see when I get there. How do you get the club seats?
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#4
(12-03-2018, 03:04 AM)JustTimTheBigTBone Wrote: I'll be in Raleigh too...section 118 row A (about seven rows from the stage) right on the boards and a foot or two off the floor, when people stand up I can stay sitting down and NO one sitting in front of us. My usual seats in section 105 (row A) , have been blocked off this year, don't know why but I'll see when I get there. How do you get the club seats?

I got them from Ticketmaster, section 228.  Do you know if the club seats at PNC have that exclusive feel like I described above?
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#5
(12-05-2018, 02:00 AM)admin Wrote:
(12-03-2018, 03:04 AM)JustTimTheBigTBone Wrote: I'll be in Raleigh too...section 118 row A (about seven rows from the stage) right on the boards and a foot or two off the floor, when people stand up I can stay sitting down and NO one sitting in front of us. My usual seats in section 105 (row A) , have been blocked off this year, don't know why but I'll see when I get there. How do you get the club seats?

I got them from Ticketmaster, section 228.  Do you know if the club seats at PNC have that exclusive feel like I described above?

I really do not know. Were those seats more than the general admission prices? The club seats are awesome at PNC and they do have that "exclusive feel", yet I don't know what amenities they offer at concerts...I know they really cater to those club sections for hockey. Enjoy the show...the Raleigh crowd is a very subdued bunch when it comes to TSO and I wish the people would get into it like they do at other venues where TSO performs.
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#6
(12-05-2018, 02:15 AM)JustTimTheBigTBone Wrote: I really do not know. Were those seats more than the general admission prices? The club seats are awesome at PNC and they do have that "exclusive feel", yet I don't know what amenities they offer at concerts...I know they really cater to those club sections for hockey. Enjoy the show...the Raleigh crowd is a very subdued bunch when it comes to TSO and I wish the people would get into it like they do at other venues where TSO performs.

Yes, they were normal price. $75 or so... The PNC website does not do a great job of explaining what the club level seats are for concerts so hopefully I get lucky. Loge/Club is the only place to be for a little service.
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#7
The crowd was subdued for sure.  Some random show notes:
  • Trying to park was brutal with a terrible traffic jam.  Because it took so long to park, we missed most of the first song.  The tickets said showtime was 7:30 and they started at 7:30 sharp.  This was different than what I was used to at Nassau Coliseum in NY where they would start at 8:15.  
  • I think Night Enchanted is a terrible show opener.  It seems flat.  Bands usually open a show with a higher energy number. 
  • During the singer intros, Chris Caffery's voice sounded weird like his tongue was numb or he had a cold. 
  • O Holy Night was great.  That's always one of the show highlights for me.  
  • The club level seats were better than the typical seats but the experience in Orlando was much nicer.  At PNC, they give you a leather seat with more room side to side and a ledge to put your crap.  The floors on the concourse are carpeted but there was no waitress service or exclusive elevator though.   I was not able to read the seat numbers so I sat anywhere in the row and luckily, I had almost the whole row to myself for the whole show. 
  • It was great to see Zachary Stevens and his velvet voice is ageless.  Chance was one of the show highlights for me even though I normally don't care much for the song.  The song does well with the TSO treatment.  I was hoping to see a Savatage S flash on the screens but no such luck.  
  • The burning TSO logo on the far end of the floor was a cool touch. 
  • By the end of the show, I was on Lazer Overload and my eyes were bothering me which has never happened before.  I must be betting old.
  • I was not impressed with a couple of the female singers this time around.  They sounded flat.  I really found myself missing Jennifer Cella and Daryl Pediford.  
  • Kayla Reeves nailed her song though!  It is a weird song though and it felt out of place.  In general, song selection and show flow seemed odd to me... 
  • Paul O'Neill got a nice mention from Chris before Kayla's song.  
  • Bob Kinkel was not there and they had another keyboard player who was introduced as the musical director. What happened to Bob? Did I miss something with all the lineup changes?
  • Chris had the nerve to utter the word "Savatage" during the singer intros when introducing Zachary.  A couple of weak cheers from the crowd.   TSO needs to do more to make sure their fans know the history of what they are seeing.  The TSO story would make an amazing Behind the Scenes or movie.  
  • Chris did not do the intro with a hometown sports jersey.  I thought he always did that... ?
  • They did NOT do The Mountain but replaced it with some other similar song.  This was a disappointment to me since The Mountain is a nod to Criss Oliva-era Savatage and it comes across great live with all the fire and heavy metal effects.  I thought Chris liked to carry the Savatage torch... 
  • Wish Liszt was another highlight.  Very heavy live with lots of guitar heroics, hair swinging and cheesy choreography. 
  • I have seen them live so many times it was blah and predictable to me but I always think of the people who are seeing it for the first time.  They must be amazed at the spectacle.
  • My friends were sitting in the very last row, upstairs, center stage.  They said they were actually great seats since you can see everything that is going on.  
  • No mention of a meet-and-greet, new album, live DVD or non Christmas tour.  
    And so the wait begins for next year...
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#8
(12-14-2018, 02:28 AM)admin Wrote: The crowd was subdued for sure.  Some random show notes:
  • Trying to park was brutal with a terrible traffic jam.  Because it took so long to park, we missed most of the first song.  The tickets said showtime was 7:30 and they started at 7:30 sharp.  This was different than what I was used to at Nassau Coliseum in NY where they would start at 8:15.  
  • I think Night Enchanted is a terrible show opener.  It seems flat.  Bands usually open a show with a higher energy number. 
  • During the singer intros, Chris Caffery's voice sounded weird like his tongue was numb or he had a cold. 
  • O Holy Night was great.  That's always one of the show highlights for me.  
  • The club level seats were better than the typical seats but the experience in Orlando was much nicer.  At PNC, they give you a leather seat with more room side to side and a ledge to put your crap.  The floors on the concourse are carpeted but there was no waitress service or exclusive elevator though.   I was not able to read the seat numbers so I sat anywhere in the row and luckily, I had almost the whole row to myself for the whole show. 
  • It was great to see Zachary Stevens and his velvet voice is ageless.  Chance was one of the show highlights for me even though I normally don't care much for the song.  The song does well with the TSO treatment.  I was hoping to see a Savatage S flash on the screens but no such luck.  
  • The burning TSO logo on the far end of the floor was a cool touch. 
  • By the end of the show, I was on Lazer Overload and my eyes were bothering me which has never happened before.  I must be betting old.
  • I was not impressed with a couple of the female singers this time around.  They sounded flat.  I really found myself missing Jennifer Cella and Daryl Pediford.  
  • Kayla Reeves nailed her song though!  It is a weird song though and it felt out of place.  In general, song selection and show flow seemed odd to me... 
  • Paul O'Neill got a nice mention from Chris before Kayla's song.  
  • Bob Kinkel was not there and they had another keyboard player who was introduced as the musical director.  What happened to Bob?  Did I miss something with all the lineup changes?
  • Chris had the nerve to utter the word "Savatage" during the singer intros when introducing Zachary.  A couple of weak cheers from the crowd.   TSO needs to do more to make sure their fans know the history of what they are seeing.  The TSO story would make an amazing Behind the Scenes or movie.  
  • Chris did not do the intro with a hometown sports jersey.  I thought he always did that... ?
  • They did NOT do The Mountain but replaced it with some other similar song.  This was a disappointment to me since The Mountain is a nod to Criss Oliva-era Savatage and it comes across great live with all the fire and heavy metal effects.  I thought Chris liked to carry the Savatage torch... 
  • Wish Liszt was another highlight.  Very heavy live with lots of guitar heroics, hair swinging and cheesy choreography. 
  • I have seen them live so many times it was blah and predictable to me but I always think of the people who are seeing it for the first time.  They must be amazed at the spectacle.
  • My friends were sitting in the very last row, upstairs, center stage.  They said they were actually great seats since you can see everything that is going on.  
  • No mention of a meet-and-greet, new album, live DVD or non Christmas tour.  
    And so the wait begins for next year...

Admin, how long has it been since you've gone to see TSO??? I only ask because Bob Kinkel has been gone from the group since 2009. That was his last show when Vitalij Kuprij did the second half of the set. Then in 2010 he switched to the west coast and Derek Wieland switched to Keyboard 1 on the east coast. Also, I'm surprised you were not happy with the switch back to Night Enchanted considering they pretty much ran "Time and Distance" into the ground as an opener. They did "Who I am" two years ago, which was nice considering we only heard it once in 2011. Then it quickly vanished back to T & D.
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#9
(12-14-2018, 02:59 AM)sundance7490 Wrote: Admin, how long has it been since you've gone to see TSO??? I only ask because Bob Kinkel has been gone from the group since 2009. That was his last show when Vitalij Kuprij did the second half of the set. Then in 2010 he switched to the west coast and Derek Wieland switched to Keyboard 1 on the east coast. Also, I'm surprised you were not happy with the switch back to Night Enchanted considering they pretty much ran "Time and Distance" into the ground as an opener. They did "Who I am" two years ago, which was nice considering we only heard it once in 2011. Then it quickly vanished back to T & D.

It has been 3 years. Wow, I had no idea Kinkel left so long ago. What's the back story on that one?
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#10
(12-14-2018, 07:19 AM)admin Wrote:
(12-14-2018, 02:59 AM)sundance7490 Wrote: Admin, how long has it been since you've gone to see TSO??? I only ask because Bob Kinkel has been gone from the group since 2009. That was his last show when Vitalij Kuprij did the second half of the set. Then in 2010 he switched to the west coast and Derek Wieland switched to Keyboard 1 on the east coast. Also, I'm surprised you were not happy with the switch back to Night Enchanted considering they pretty much ran "Time and Distance" into the ground as an opener. They did "Who I am" two years ago, which was nice considering we only heard it once in 2011. Then it quickly vanished back to T & D.

It has been 3 years.  Wow, I had no idea Kinkel left so long ago.  What's the back story on that one?

Bob has never gone on public record on the reason for his departure.  I did an in-depth interview with him back in 2013 and we talked about it.  The answer that he was okay with putting out there was "It's complicated".

This is the interview, if you're interested - we touched on a lot: http://www.musicandartinterviews.com/201...inkel.html
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