Review & photos by Andrew Bansal
December 10th 2013, The Whisky, West Hollywood CA: Progressive metal veterans Fates Warning released their eleventh studio album ‘Darkness In A Different Light’ via InsideOut Music this year, their first since the 2004 effort ‘FWX’ and also the first to feature Bobby Jarzombek’s drumming talents. Besides, the band hadn’t done a full North American headline tour in a long time, so when they embarked upon their current journey last month, fans had a lot to look forward to. The tour finally made its way to West Hollywood and Fates Warning played at the Whisky last night, in front of an eagerly anticipative audience that expected great things from this quintet of incredibly talented musicians.
After a series of opening acts which the crowd was largely indifferent towards, and for good reason, main support act Artizan took the stage at around 9:30 PM. Unlike almost every other opener that plays here at the Whisky, this particular band invested quite a large amount of effort and money into achieving their aim of performing with Fates Warning. Based out of Jacksonville, Florida, they drove to Texas to join the Fates Warning tour for the final nine dates and partially funded this trip through an IndieGoGo campaign. It would have been a real pity if their actual performance level wasn’t up to scratch, but I’m glad to report that the band was very impressive with their American power metal style of music. Their singer was great in his vocal delivery and his band mates displayed some solid musicianship to go along with it, combining to create a clean, crisp sound that pleased most people in the audience. They came across as seasoned professionals and turned out to be the perfect warm-up for the headliner. Their strenuous drive from Florida for this tour certainly seems like a worthwhile one. I’d highly encourage fans of the genre to check out Artizan.
Visit Artizan on the web:
ArtizanMetal.com
facebook.com/ArtizanMetal
twitter.com/ArtizanMusic
At 10:50, the lights went out and the Mogwai song ‘Batcat’ was played on the PA as an intro soundtrack to the members of Fates Warning taking their respective positions on stage. The excitement level in the crowd was rising with every passing moment, and the band kicked off their set with ‘One Thousand Fires’, a tune off of the new album, starting off with the initial instrumental part sans vocalist Ray Alder, but as soon as Alder joined them the set began in full earnest. Following that tune, they dived straight into the older material, playing one gem after another and doing complete justice to each tune by presenting them exactly the way they should be. All five members brought their absolute A-game to this stage right from the get-go, and for the entirety of the 95 minutes they were up there, they never let their guard down, giving it their all for this grateful and jubilant crowd.
The band’s sound was quite exemplary, and to be completely honest I’d have to say Fates Warning’s show last night was the best sounding performance I’ve seen by a band at this venue. Jim Matheos and Michael Abow had their guitar tones dialed in fantastically well, while the ultra-powerful rhythm section of Joey Vera on bass and Bobby Jarzombek on drums was at its brilliant best. And of course, Ray Alder was performing his role as singer and frontman to perfection, delivering the goods on every song. I’ve seen plenty of progressive metal bands in my journalistic journey thus far, but in all fairness, Fates Warning’s 95-minute set last night was nothing short of prog perfection. Here’s a band that managed to strike the right balance between presenting an unmistakably heavy sound but still being able to express their individual and collective musicality while doing so.
Set list-wise, the show was an apt representation of their repertoire, and in my opinion, the mid-section with the new song ‘I Am’ followed by ‘The Eleventh Hour’ and ‘Point Of View’ was the best portion of the set. It seemed like the initial segment of the set was a buildup to this middle part, which in turn provided a great thrust for the latter half of the set. The set had an easy, smooth flow to it and for genuine fans of the music, 95 minutes flew by without them even realizing it. Overall, Fates Warning certainly lived up to the hype surrounding this gig and succeeded on all fronts.
Interview with Jim Matheos coming soon
Visit Fates Warning on the web:
FatesWarning.com
facebook.com/FatesWarning
twitter.com/FatesWarning
youtube.com/FatesWarningvideos
Set List:
1. One Thousand Fires
2. Life in Still Water
3. A Pleasant Shade of Gray, Part III
4. Another Perfect Day
5. One
6. A Pleasant Shade of Gray, Part VI
7. Pieces of Me
8. I Am
9. The Eleventh Hour
10.Point of View
11.Firefly
12.Through Different Eyes
13.The Ivory Gate of Dreams: IV. Quietus
14.A Pleasant Shade of Gray, Part XI
15.Wish
16.Monument
Encore:
17.Still Remains