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Events and Reports - Saga - A night with Saga at BB King´s - July 15th 2006
Starting to become a barfly over there!
Here's another report on a band that I am absolutely in love with but never bought an album or know any of the bandmembers names.
"Yeah, that guitar dude is awesome, totally underrated man."
In my defense, as a teenager, I had limited funds and could only buy 2-3 albums a YEAR so I usually got some Rush or KISS. By the time I hit High School, MTV was just starting and they started out by playing "music videos". There were these really cool performance pieces and you actually got to see bands perform their songs!
Saga was in pretty heavy rotation with "On the Loose" a fantastic, intricate proggy pop song that featured harmony guitar, piano and synth solos- a musician's wet dream. PLUS the song totally kicked ass. They also had "Wind Him Up" and "Hurry and Don't Be Late" on pretty consistently. I actually got to sing "On the Loose" with one of my first bands, a joyful experience.
So, I went out to Hooters with Chris Caffery and downed a few beers and a bucket of wings before heading over and the kind folks at Inside out got us in on the guest list so I could spend more money on beer- thanks Eric!! Luckily Ken Pierce saw us and we waved him over to the door to get our cheap asses in otherwise I would have been out $25. That's 2 beers in NYC btw.
So the band was already on and they were on fire, the musicianship outstanding and the vocals perfectly crystal clear. Friggin' Canadians with their high tenors, must be the cold air that keeps the testicles of Geddy Lee, Rick Emmit and James Labrie pinched enough to keep their voices in the stratosphere. This guy was no slouch either. Kinda sucks that I am too lazy to search the net for his name, considering how much I LIKE this band right? Can't be bothered.
Saga just released a new CD and I had the chance to listen to it twice before the show but truthfully I wasn't impressed with the songs or the production. Nothing really came close to the hits they had written in the 80's. However, they did engage the crowd with the chorus to the opening track from the new CD- having us all sing "I'm ok!" with them.
Another thing that bothered me was the guitar tone. Back in the 80's this dude had an uncharacteristically clean sound, heavy on the compression and sustain but hardly any distortion. It was unique and a breath of fresh air during shreds heyday where everyone had blistering over the top tones. Unfortunately, he was playing through a Boogie and although it was good, it wasn't his signature sound and that was a little disappointing.
Now back to the vocalist- one of the best frontmen around- full of theatrics and a flamboyance that would make Freddie mercury look macho. I could totally see this guy take over a broadway show and just own it.
The rest of the band was fantastic, supreme musicianship and a real sense of grace and dignity from a band that has to be in their late 40's and early 50's. Gives me a lot of hope for my music career!!
| | Written by Paul
Wednesday, August 2, 2006 |
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