Tag Archives: savatage

Features, Interviews

Music Luminaries Share Their New Year’s Metal Resolutions for 2012: Part 6

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new year's music resolutions

“And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain” That was how Frank Sinatra sang it right? Well, while I don’t mean it in exactly the same dramatic sense that Frank did we are at the official end of 2011. How was it for you? Did you enjoy it? Did you hate it beyond all reproach? All in all I hope that some good came your way as opposed to bad and if not, the time is almost here to start one more time all over again. It’s also time for me to continue sharing some of the music worlds New Year’s Metal (or Musical) Resolutions for 2012 with you. This feature has been great fun and I already want to do this again next year (unless lottery winnings find me living on some remote island with no Internet access). Dig in my friends.

John Comprix (guitars for Beyond Fear/Ringworm/Tim “Ripper” Owens): My New Year’s Metal Reso is too complete some personal solo stuff I’m doing and go to the shooting range more. I like to blow shit up! And of course write and play more Metal than a human body can withstand.

Marcela Bovio (lead vocals for Stream Of Passion): My New Year’s Musical Resolutions for 2012 are to keep improving my vocal skills, and to take my songwriting skills to another level!

Paul Ablaze (vocals for Blackguard): My Metal Resolution; Well I suppose the obvious resolution would be to write an even better follow up to our last record “Firefight”. We’re currently starting to get ideas down and I’m excited to see what direction we go. On a more personal note I’m currently learning piano and would resolve to be somewhat proficient in it one day LOL.
Continue reading Music Luminaries Share Their New Year’s Metal Resolutions for 2012: Part 6 →

Features, In Memoriam

R.I.P. Guitarist Matt LaPorte (Jon Oliva’s Pain)

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I was saddened to hear the news yesterday about the passing of guitarist Matthew LaPorte who played lead guitar in Jon Oliva’s Pain. Having enjoyed the music of Savatage for many years I always liked what Oliva had been doing with Pain as this was essentially the closest that fans were ever going to come to this sound in today’s music world. As a guitarist LaPorte was a great fit in the lineup and did real justice to the songs that had originally been done by the late great Criss Oliva. He was forty years old at the time of his passing.

Guitarist Matt LaPorte Onstage (2005)

Jon Oliva’s Pain didn’t make it to NYC all that much but the one time that they played in Brooklyn, NY at a club called Brooklyn Music Terminal, my friends and I were there to support the Mountain King and his at the time new band. They had just released the “Tage Mahal” album and were doing a short tour with Chris Caffery and Tim Ripper Owens’ band Beyond Fear. The show was amazing, but the venue was an abysmal place that was not missed at all when it closed its doors. They returned a couple of years ago to a place in Yonkers but that was it to my knowledge. There is a ton of Jon Oliva’s Pain footage on YouTube.com which you can enjoy Matt’s playing in. He was a really gifted axe-slinger and we send condolences out to his family and friends at this time.

Features, PiercingMetal Says

PiercingMetal’s “Best Of Decade”: 2000-2009: The Concerts

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As I’ve previously noted, we’ve always aimed to deliver a year end “Best Of” list and with the end of the decade just having happened, it’s time to continue our thoughts about what was the “Best Of The Decade” from 2000-2009 – I’ve already doled out the Music and Video picks and now it’s time to get into the live concerts that we found the most enjoyable over the past ten years.

I was not really planning on doing a decade spanning concert “best of” but many of the readers of the site had sent me emails after the list posted inquiring about those events which I thought were the biggest highlights to me. Based on the interest, I figured that it was better to append the article to also feature this information of be stuck answering emails over and over. I’ve been fortunate as a writer and photographer to get to enjoy a large number of shows and I hope that you enjoy the list I came up with.

Van Halen @ Madison Square Garden (Warner Music Group): The Brothers Van Halen reunited with David Lee Roth made this one of the highlights of my decade. Yes Michael Anthony was no longer a part of the band but I could live with that since it gave me back Dave. The hits were non-stop at the show and I think I watched it five feet above the floor where my seat was. Everyone in NYC was dancing the night away that’s for sure.

Iron Maiden @ Madison Square Garden (EMI Music): This show was for the “Brave New World” CD that many loved for bringing back Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith into the fold. I loved it for its amazing level of energy and how it showed just how good Maiden was and the fact that it had Rob Halford as the opener and Queensryche. OK I admit that I didn’t feel the Ryche were all that good that night and were rather slow after the Halford set. It was fantastic seeing Rob’s then new band in action of course as he was still years away from rejoining Judas Priest.

The Gathering @ The Knitting Factory (The End Records): I was a casual fan of The Gathering and my buddies who went to the show with me were much more into them, but seeing them in this smaller space was fantastic. Very moody and atmospheric stuff and done well in the live sense. Anneke sang like a siren and one of the openers was an unknown group called Unexpect. I’ve been a supporter of theirs since that night and feel that this appearance gave me a heads up on a terrific band many years before the rest of the folks would catch on.

HIM @ The Bowery Ballroom (Universal Music): While working at one of the investment banks from hell I scanned a video for HIM which was “Join Me In Death” and I was hooked and did my best to find a couple of the bands albums. Their first show on US soil in NYC would be at The Bowery Ballroom and the two nights were close to sold out. We caught the first show I believe but its been awhile and in any case it was amazing to see HIM in such an intimate room. Going forward we would watch the band play larger places each time and having all of the shows sell out well in advance.

Kamelot @ B.B. King Blues Club (SPV Records): I am referring to the first time that I ever caught Kamelot performing at B.B. King Blues Club and not one of the other four times. I was very new to the band and how they did things but it was a smoking show and one that made many fans for the guys who would rally to their cause in the future. They continue to impress the masses and we love them for it.
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Events, Reviews

Trans-Siberian Orchestra @ Izod Center (12/12/2009)

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Logo - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Artist: Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Venue: Izod Center (East Rutherford, NJ)
Opener: n/a
Date: 12/12/2009
Label: Lava Records

As I walked into the Izod Center for this years Trans-Siberian Orchestra show, I had to say that I felt that the time had flown by quickly from when I was doing it the last time around. I also mused to myself how this was actually going to be my tenth year supporting the group having seen them every year since 2000. That was their second tour and I had only missed the first go round of it because it came and went faster than anyone could have imagined. As a music journalist, this evening’s appearance would be my seventh show which would be documented for the masses at large and while I greatly enjoy what they do, the schedule that I keep does not permit me to be one of those fans that hit a number of shows each season. Instead of following the band around to different cities as some are apt to do, I find myself satisfied with the one show every year and this has been a tradition of mine since 2002 when I felt that this should be one of my yearly agenda items. In 2009 the TSO as they are lovingly referred to by their fans have become a massive undertaking with two separate companies hitting the cities across the nation and now a full five albums under their belt. Five you say? Well, yes I do because we found the group releasing their long awaited second non-Holiday CD “Nightcastle” only a few weeks ago. That was sure to offer up some difference to the fans tonight and here are some highlights of the performance if you somehow managed to miss out.
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Features, PiercingMetal Says

PiercingMetal Spotlights: Chris Caffery from Savatage & TSO

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Re-presenting the first ever PiercingMetal.com “Artist Of The Month” which now goes by the moniker of “PiercingMetal Artist Focus” and delivers our grand debut choice which was Mr. Chris Caffery from Savatage, and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  At the time of our initial website launch, we had opted to make Chris our choice based on having met him a number of times and his having been the very first interview ever done as a new to the music world journalist.  At the time he had just began the final preparations on his own solo CD “Faces” and since that time has released many more.

Click HERE to run the query and enjoy all of the articles written about Chris or where he makes an appearance that are currently posted on PiercingMetal.com. Check out Chris’ solo work via Amazon.com. There is some really awesome stuff to be found.

Official Website: www.chriscaffery.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChrisCafferyMusic

Image - Spotlights