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Fates Warning, Toronto (November 20, 2013)

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    Posted: 24 Nov 2013 at 2:20pm
Fates Warning: Darkness In A Different Light Tour

Location: Virgin Mobile Mod Club, Toronto, Ontario Canada

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Opening Bands: Halcyon Way, Cauldron


I was looking forward to this show for quite some time.  I hadn't been to a metal show since 2007, so to take in one of the best prog metal bands ever coming off a very strong album with Darkness In A Different Light is as much as I could hope for.

I didn't expect any openers at the show, but we got two of them.

Halcyon Way (http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/artist/halcyon-way)

 Georgian metal band Halcyon Way was the first band up at around 8pm, and they played for about a half an hour.  Their style is mainly power-prog with the incorporation of growled vocals.   Overall, they aren't the type of metal band I'm into, but they were a solid start to the evening.  They had those uber-metal song titles like "Web of Lies" "Age of Betrayal" and "Desecration Day" that made me smile from ear to ear.  They handled their frequent tempo changes nicely, and had an aresnal of stage moves at their disposal.

 




Cauldron (http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/artist/cauldron)

 I was caught by surprise by this retro Toronto-based trio.  Seeing that the guitarist and bassist were rocking Angel Witch and The Rods t-shirts, I shouldn't have been.  Straight-ahead, old-school metal delivered in good fashion.  It felt like I was transported to 1985 (not that I can remember the year I was born in).  Once again, they aren't the type of thing I seek out these days, but I was really digging the vibe they put out there.  Reminiscent of bands like Motorhead and Anvil with a bit of an early Rush vibe.

 Like Halcyon Way, the had many of those song titles that by hearing the song name, you knew what you were getting.  I can't recall titles off-hand, but do remember them playing Black Sabbath's "Digital Bitch".  They started around 9pm, and played for around 40 minutes.




Fates Warning (http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/artist/fates-warning)

 The much-awaited headliners got their start at around 10:10.  I enjoyed the variety in their setlist, selecting songs from every album going back to Perfect Symmetry.  I was surprised they played nothing of No Exit (they often play "Quietus") considering the fact that one of the t-shirts they had at merch featured that album. 

 I was stationed at the right side of the stage, where touring guitarist Mike Abdow and bassist Joey Vera were stationed.  I would have got a more central view of the stage normally for better sound (Jim Matheos was often notably quieter than Mike), but I took the opportunity to get close to the action.  This was partly as nobody usually moshes to Fates Warning (except for one drunk fellow trying to stir one up), and I got all my moshing out of my system in my teen years.

 Performance-wise, I have no complaints.  I didn't hear too many notable errors or anything.  Ray Alder spoke fondly of the crowd despite the low turnout (I'd guess around 120 people were there), and made cracks about how cold it was outside.  He also kindly reminded us that they recorded the Parallels album in Toronto.  The whole band played great, and Mike Abdow was a great fill-in choice for them.  He fit right in image-wise and plays Frank Aresti's lead wonderfully.

 Additionally, I bought a tour hoodie to match the album t-shirt I got in a pre-order, and I unfortunately had to take off early to catch the last train out of town that night (missing only the final encore, thankfully).

 

Setlist:

Batcat (Mogwai song, used partly as an intro.

1) One Thousand Fires

2) Life In Still Water

3) One

4) A Pleasant Shade of Gray, Part III

5) Another Perfect Day

6) Down to the Wire

7) A Pleasant Shade of Gray, Part VI

8) Pieces of Me

9) I Am

10) The Eleventh Hour

11) Point of View

12) Firefly

13) Wish

14) A Pleasant Shade of Gray, Part XI

15) Through Different Eyes

16) Monument

 

Encore:

17) Still Remains

18) Eye to Eye

 










For better photos that I didn't take:

Edited by Stooge - 24 Nov 2013 at 2:26pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote J-Man Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Nov 2013 at 6:51am
Sounds like a cool show! A shame about the level of attendance, though. Ermm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stooge Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Nov 2013 at 10:02pm
Originally posted by J-Man J-Man wrote:

Sounds like a cool show! A shame about the level of attendance, though. Ermm

I heard that the show in Detroit a few days earlier only had about 80 people. Ouch
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Time Signature Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Nov 2013 at 5:09am
FW have been away for a while, and a lot of people have probably never heard of them (especially a lot of younger concert goers). If they stay active and reach out to new audiences, then I'm sure they'll have bigger audiences again.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stooge Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Nov 2013 at 8:55pm
Originally posted by Time Signature Time Signature wrote:

FW have been away for a while, and a lot of people have probably never heard of them (especially a lot of younger concert goers). If they stay active and reach out to new audiences, then I'm sure they'll have bigger audiences again.

It was definitely an older crowd (it was a 19+ show, which may account a little for the low numbers), but there were quite a number of people who were under 25.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote J-Man Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Nov 2013 at 7:02pm
Age limits could play a big factor in the attendance issues. My dad and I would have went out to see this tour, but didn't because the show was in a 21+ venue. Totally sucks for both parties! Unhappy
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Time Signature Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2013 at 7:16am
Originally posted by J-Man J-Man wrote:

Age limits could play a big factor in the attendance issues. My dad and I would have went out to see this tour, but didn't because the show was in a 21+ venue. Totally sucks for both parties! Unhappy


Yeah, that sucks.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote UMUR Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Dec 2013 at 3:29pm
The only show I have ever had trouble getting tickets to see in Denmark because of age is One Direction. I was trying to get tickets for my daughter to see those Little suggar boys, but she had to be at least 12 years of age to stand on the ground. All the regular seats were taken, so no One Direction concert for my sweet Little girl...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Time Signature Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Dec 2013 at 6:05pm
What a bummer... I thought it would be okat if one of her parents came along.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote UMUR Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Dec 2013 at 11:37pm
Yeah a bummer for her, but a relief for me LOL
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Time Signature Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Dec 2013 at 6:57am
Are you bringing her to the Carcass gig tonight, then? ;-)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Time Signature Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Feb 2014 at 5:50am
Ohhh.... Fates Warning in Copenhagen next month! I am soooo going!
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