YTSEJAM Digest 4235 Today's Topics: 1) new E-mail address for me by Kevin Madden 2) Re: YTSESTUFF by Lisa Marie 3) Why hasn't DS written anything yet by email_address_removed 4) Opposite Earth - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger 5) Foreseen - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger 6) Mercury Rising - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger 7) Ion Vein - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger 8) Wardog - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger 9) Soundscape - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger 10) Aztec Jade - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger 11) Syris - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger 12) Without Warning - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger 13) Gothic Knights - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger 14) Event - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger 15) Mastermind - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger 16) Winter's Bane - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger 17) Joe Stump - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) by Joe Kruger ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:00:59 -0400 From: Kevin Madden To: email_address_removed Subject: new E-mail address for me Message-ID: I am now reachable at: email_address_removed or email_address_removed thanks for listening! Kevin Madden Detroit Red Wings 1996-97, 1997-98 Stanley Cup Champions ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 14:13:35 -0700 From: Lisa Marie To: email_address_removed Subject: Re: YTSESTUFF Message-ID: Trevor W. Hoit wrote: > > > Infamous!? *sniffle*sniffle* :'o{ > > Sheesh, ya start one catfight on the jam, and suddenly you're > > infamous. > > Infamous can be a good thing. What kind of people do YOU hang out with?! > BTW, I got that Spock's Live 2cd. It kicks ass for only $19. > Fast shipping, too. It's even better if you were actually at that show! ..and no, that's not me screaming at the beginning. ;op Lisa Marie "Jessie" email_address_removed http://home.pacbell.net/ytsegirl ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:14:22 EDT From: email_address_removed To: email_address_removed Subject: Why hasn't DS written anything yet Message-ID: > Does anyone know why Derek hasn't written anything yet, I'm sure he's quite capable, and from hearing his work outside of DT, I've been even more impressed w/ his talents. Just curious (good thing I'm not a cat) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:24:08 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Opposite Earth - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: I know that this is not normally how people "come out" of lurking mode on the ytsejam, but I thought it better to review each of these bands separately so that threads could be kept by band. I hope no one calls me Damon, Jr. :-) It was a shame that someone had to play first and break the delayed start of show miasma. The audience had not yet settled into watching the bands play. The show was scheduled to start at 12:00 noon; the doors opened at around 5:00 PM. I think a lot of people were sort of annoyed and restless and a lot of people were still going crazy at the CD vendor tables finding stuff at ease that seemed so out of reach before. It was apparent immediately that the sound system at Powermad was vastly improved from last year's show when these guys started playing. There was a good separation of instruments and a very clear stereo sound that was completely missing last year. This band plays a fairly decent brand of power/progressive metal with sort of a 90's sound. There are enough hints of Soundgarden/Alice in Chains in their music to turn me off. Those are just my tastes, those influences may not bother other people. I didn't think these guys were all that bad. While I didn't like the bits that I heard from the latest album, their live show was much better. What is strange is that last year I hated their music. They didn't really have a "big stage presence" to get the people up and moving. Overall, it was a good (not great) show and a decent start to Powermad 1998. I think the crowd would have enjoyed them more later in the night. webpage: http://opposite-earth.com/ Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:24:26 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Foreseen - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: Purely power metal. Not my stuff, so I can't really judge them. I left to get something to eat about 3 minutes into their show. I seem to remember them playing early on the second day last year. They also seemed worse last year. They play sort of in your face style trashy power metal, and the singer has somehow managed to utilize the word "f**k" just about every way imaginable. They had sort of an 80's glam metal image that carried over into their music to some degree. Like I said, about 3 minutes was all I could handle. On Saturday someone associated with (or in - I don't know) the band came up to our table and threw down some Foreseen CDs and proceeded to swear at us and tell us to buy this great stuff. We politely declined and told him that it really wasn't our style. He went semi-postal and went away sort of agitated. Given his mental state upon arriving at our table, I can't really say whether he really experienced any mood change. Later, this same freak did several humorous moshing and eating demonstrations to the delight of the crowd and the dismay of the venue's security. He was ejected from the place for slamming into people. Five minutes later he was down at the corner bar yelling at another guy from our group for looking at him funny. This Saturday performance entertained me more than their Friday performance. webpage: http://www.pcola.gulf.net/~corsair/foreseen.htm Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:24:37 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Mercury Rising - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: This is a good band. They play sort of a ultra-technical early Fates Warning sounding style of power metal music. The singer, Clarence Osborne, has strange vocal stylings sounding out of key at times, but I think that is his style. He sort of reminds me of a cross between John Arch and Warrel Dane and looks a good deal like Ray Alder. Many people can't handle his voice, but I like it. He has no problems doing live what he does on the albums. They feature two excellent guitarists. The guitarists are different from the first album to the second and I think that last year one of the guitarists even a different guy. Despite this sort of revolving door thing, they play very tightly, and they are probably the most appealing part of the band to most people. The bass guitarist looks sort of spastic and dorky but is a complete monster. This band played the most complex music at Powermad at pulled it off with no problems whatsoever. The crowd favorite by this band was "Minute Man" which is also my personal favorite. This was a great show and a great performance. Very powerful and very entertaining. I was sure that it would be the highlight of the night until Ion Vein came along. webpages: http://www.dominionrecords.com/mrbr.htm http://www.noiserecords.com/artist/ametal/bands/mercury/mercury.html Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:24:49 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Ion Vein - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: This band wins my award for the greatest Powermad discovery this year. There were other bands that kicked serious booty, but I'd heard very little about these guys. They play an excellent form of melodic progressive metal with a singer who, to me, is a dead ringer tonally for Midnight of Crimson Glory. He is a very well controlled tenor. They feature dual guitars with some keyboards. I don't think they have figured out how to do the keyboards live just yet. I got a demo tape from them and it just smokes. They will have a CD out in October sold thru their web site. They said that they think that they really prefer to remain independent. They are all a bunch of really cool guys and great musicians. Their live show was excellent. They were the first band for which the audience demanded an encore. The left side guitarist was mistaken by many people as Michael Romeo; there was an uncanny physical resemblance. I think I refered to them shortly after their show as "Midnight Maiden". Keep your eyes and ears open for these guys. It is for bands like this that everyone should go to Powermad. An outstanding set by a great band and a great bunch of down-to-earth musicians. I would rank them second overall of all the Powermad bands. webpage: http://www.ionvein.com/ Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:25:04 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Wardog - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: Purely power metal. Not my stuff, so I can't really judge them. Very aggressive, very loud, and definitely had the foulest mouths of any band at Powermad. I didn't really like them at all. I thought they were Dofka and were the last band of the evening, so I left. Very few of the bands got introductions and were stuck introducing themselves. I don't remember hearing these guys say who they were. I think they have a CD out on Metal Blade that I will have to remember to avoid now. webpage: http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/users/bruss/Metal/groups/Ward.html http://www.ubl.com/ubl/cards/021/8/35.html Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:25:36 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Soundscape - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: These guys were my big discovery from last year, and I was really looking forward to hearing their new stuff and seeing them again. They play sort of a very light progressive hard rock/borderline metal. On their last album, "Discovery", they were very light sounding more like progressive rock than metal. When I saw them last year they were much heavier live than on their CD. This year they played a lot of material from their soon-to-be-released next album, "Grave New World", which seemed even heavier yet. As individual musicians they are all very good. The lead singer, Thorne (his real name is something like Rob Volkswagontesticle or something embarassing like that - that's a joke) also plays keyboards. Vocally, he reminds me of a higher pitched version of Tommy Shaw mixed with a number of cheesy 80-metal singers. He has no problems going way high. I like his voice. His keyboard playing is excellent also. The guitarist, Todd Rose rules the guitar. I was one of the people saying that Petrucci has nothing on him. He has a very relaxed and nonchalant playing style with more of a rock approach and tone. It was really hard to hear his greatness on the CD. The bassist and drummer were both excellent also. A great way to start the second day.Another great performance and another great bunch of guys; very talented and very humble. I enjoyed this years performance even more. webpage: http://www.angelthorne.com/scape1.html Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:25:58 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Aztec Jade - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: This was a great set. I really enjoy their latest CD, Frame of Mind, with its great combination of hooks and progression. They play sort of a basic but lighter dt-influenced style of progressive metal with extreme emphasis of melody over technicality. They don't really go out of their way to display any monster chops if that is what moves you. Visually, the band looks nothing like a stereotypical metal band. The lead singer, Leon Ozug has a fantastic voice. He was definitely the vocal king of the day. I think that more than a few people may have been worried when he came out wearing a backwards baseball hat. He is an exceptionally good tenor. The band itself doesn't really stand out since they are not about musicianship demonstrations as much as they are about great songs. These guys were definitely the highlight of the day for me. Their music is probably not as technical as many others, but it is put together and presented very well. They also seemed to be the most marketing-aware band at the place with a well-put-together booth with tshirts, CDs, videos, and promotional materials. webpage: http://www.klink.net/~aztecweb/ Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:26:07 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Syris - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: Purely power metal; they sounded a lot like Armored Saint to me and others. Not my stuff, so I can't really judge them. Their set was adequately entertaining that I didn't really feel the need to leave though. Energetic and entertaining. Somewhere during or before this band performed the amps were cranked to 11. I felt my arm hairs moving the rest of the night. I think I saw a motorcycle being wheeled around the hall during their set, but I don't think they could get it onto the stage. (I could be wrong though, it may have been a different band with the motorcycle). The Ion Vein guy introduced the band (they are both from Chicago) and said that they would rip our heads off. He was right. Luckily, I was able to reattach mine for the rest of the evening. It really wasn't my thing, but I think the real metal heads would have loved them. This was the band that got the crazed mosher the most excited. He was jumping all around the place like a mad man crashing into people. I think was a slightly surprised and disappointed that more of the crowd did not want to participate in his nihilistic mayhem. I have to admit that I was busting up laughing at him. My table mates were fearing that my enjoyment of his hysteria was going to result in some sort of non-dance related retaliation directed at us. webpage: http://members.xoom.com/Syris_Unseen/ Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:26:17 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Without Warning - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: They played progressive metal mixed with a "modern" sound that I didn't care for. The singer was sort of a screamer and the guitarist had a sort of grungy tone. He was good, but I just didn't like his style. His playing reminded me of the singer/lead player of Big Wreck. They were very tight and all excellent musicians, but I just couldn't get into them at all. This is probably the only band whose style matched my tastes that I really didn't like all weekend. I think that they are fairly popular as a local band on Long Island. I also heard someone saying that they will be opening for Symphony X on a tour, so they will probably appeal to a number of prog metal fans. Just not me. The crazed mosher continued his lively performance during this band providing me with even greater entertainment. I don't know which was more humorous, watching him stuff an entire slice of pizza into his cavernous mouth in one bite or watching him try to mosh through the time changes by the band. I don't know if it was his drunken stupor and the difficulty of the music to mosh to that caused him to finally crash into enough people to finally get dragged out kicking and screaming like a three-year old child at a playground. webpage: http://www.without-warning.com/ Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:26:42 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Gothic Knights - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: Purely power metal, shrieking and fist-shaking Satanic metal, sort of a violent combination of WASP, Manowar, and King Diamond. Not my stuff, so I can't really judge them. I left to get something to eat about 5 minutes into their show. Satan, Satan he's our guy if you don't worship him, f**k you and die. Needless to say, this kind of stuff is not appealing to me. I left with two buddies who were liking them about as much as I was to get something to eat. The most excellent pizza/sub place in the shopping center had been wiped out of food for the second straight night (I think they were happy with Powermad). We went to the bar on the corner and were surprised to see Aztec Jade's enjoyment of the bar's music. The guitarist got up and "danced" with a friend during some horrible country dreck like Boot Scoot Boogie. Then, as if that weren't bad enough, they sat quietly at the bar five minutes later when the DJ played Red Barchetta by Rush. It was funny. At least they looked like bigger idiots doing their rendition of country dancing than most country dancers...I think ;-) webpage: http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/users/bruss/Metal/groups/GoKn.html Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:26:34 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Event - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: These guys just didn't click for me. I had heard that they had never performed live before. I don't know if that is true, but they definitely had some technical problems during their performance. They were more of a prog rock/fusion band but they had plenty of heaviness live. There were all exceptional musicians and the singer had a good voice, but their music didn't grab me at all. I wouldn't want to judge their music by this particular performance. I guess I'm still willing to give them another chance, I'd has to call this particular performance a non-Event. webpage: http://www.mysticfishook.com/ Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:26:56 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Mastermind - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: I had seen these guys open for Fish (of Marillion) in Columbus on his last tour. I was actually the only person in the building that night going to just see Mastermind. Fish fans were unable (or unwilling) to appreciate the greatness of this band; not subtle enough for them I guess. I sort of did a pre-show hype to my friends members about these guys. They lived up to my hype. They are as heavy as hell and all incredible on their instruments. Visually they presented a very conflicting image - sort of a Grateful Dead combined with Vixen look. They play a unique style of heavy progressive rock influenced by ELP in their early days just plain, heavy, power rock now. Bill Berends is a guitar wizard switching between a MIDI processed sound and just straight Gibson (?) sound. Rich Berends was the drumming god of Powermad, now if I can just get his name right when I yell Hi to him before the show, I'll be in good shape. I was sort of surprised by the female vocalist and still haven't landed on one side of the fence or the other about her. She had a very Grace Slick-like aggressive/melodic soprano voice that is way smoother than Bill's. And I think she provided a visual appeal to a lot of the crowd there who had not been as intensely studying the band prior to her entrance onto the stage. They put on a great show and won over a lot of new fans for sure. webpage: http://www.k2nesoft.com/mastermind/ Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:27:11 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Winter's Bane - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: Purely power metal, in the Megadeth/Pantera style. Not my stuff, so I can't really judge them. Their set seemed to go on forever to me. One of the guys in my party thought that I was really digging them since I was doing an occassional head mosh and fist thrust. I think it is safe to say that my displayed appreciation of them might have been cynical mockery all done in good clean fun. This is the band that previously featured Tim "Ripper" Owens now of Judas Priest. There was a rumor that Ripper was going to perform with them, but it didn't happen. I'm not sure it would made much of a difference to me though. While I intensely disliked the Mustaine/Anselmo type vocals, I thought that the music itself was slightly less than average also. One of the highlights of this set was the dancing cup. There was this cup that was sitting upside down on the floor in a small pool of yellow, alcohol-tinged fluid which I was hoping was spilled beer and not something else. The cup was sliding across the floor from the loudness of the band. A good demonstration in the physics of sound waves combined with a bad demonstration of loud but weak power metal. After the band left the stage, someone pointed out that the music being played in the hall was Winter's Bane with Tim Owens. It was only a slight improvement. webpage: http://www.wintersbane.com Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:27:22 -0400 From: Joe Kruger To: email_address_removed Subject: Joe Stump - Powermad 1998 concert review (NDTC) Message-ID: This guy was definitely the fastest guitarist at Powermad and probably the fastest guitarist in the world. I own a couple of his albums that I bought back in the guitar virtuoso phase. His style is the basic ultra-fast shred guitar heaving influence by Paganini, Blackmore, and Malmsteen. Like most people felt though, the guitar antics were fun to watch for a few minutes, but the songs themselves were little more than exhibitions and exercises. Seeing him perform them all so nonchalantly made me think that he spent his childhood locked up in some closet practicing. He was definitely one of the humblest people there and was about the only performer to get an official introduction. I got a guitar pick, whoopee! webpage: http://www.joestump.com/ http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/4587/ Joe email_address_removed Check out http://www.mindcage.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for great prog metal discussion!!! ------------------------------ End of YTSEJAM Digest 4235 **************************