As was indicated previously, I finally met Jasonic! Unfortunately, that was one of the only highlights of Di'Anno's Chicago performance. I certainly wasn't expecting Paul to sound like Pavarotti or anything, especially given his laryngitis, but I kept thinking to myself that he had laryngitis on this tour for a good reason. I was happy to see that he included a few songs from his solo work, but he and his band totally butchered the Maiden songs by taking them to unsafe speeds. Di'Anno was literally getting to the point where he couldn't enunciate. Of course, the near-hour wait after Icarus Witch didn't help his case. At one point, I turned to my friends and said, "I thought we were going to see Di'Anno, not DeMaio!" I know that someone made the argument that maybe Icarus Witch needed a rest after their set. I'm sorry, but a 45-minute set does not warrant a 55-minute break. Icarus Witch was not to blame here. Somebody within the headliner's ranks has an ego. I won't name names.
Jasonic, I can't argue with you when it comes to ripping on bands. I'll admit that I try to avoid slamming bands on the internet. As a singer who is attempting to get his name out there in the scene, I think it's best to keep most of my negative comments to myself when I make my online posts. However, when I'm amongst friends, as I was in the case of this show, I don't mind speaking my, er, mind. In fact, if I find a band or a particular member of that band to be absolutely unbearable, you'll find that I'm extremely vocal.
Such was the case on Thursday night. I agree wholeheartedly with Jose about Icarus Witch's vocalist. Some singers might not have the most extensive range, but they make up for it with their tone and delivery. This guy had nothing going for him in any of those areas. He had a three-note range, and that might be giving him too much credit. To make matters worse, I've never heard a more nasally vocalist in my life. Every time I watched him, his nose was rushing straight to the top of his head. Perhaps if he learned how to use the numerous other resonators in his body, he might improve. To top it off, his delivery just came off to me as cocky. It didn't help that he was constantly giving the audience a hard time. Let's face it; opening bands generally have a hard time winning an audience over, no matter how good they may be. I didn't mind the singers comments the first couple of times made them, but he was sorely mistaken if he thought that further antagonization would work to his and his band's benefit. Instead of gving the audience crap for not being enthusiastic about their set, maybe he should ask himself why the audience wasn't enthusiastic. Then again, he probably doesn't want to hear the crippling truth: that his band writes boring songs and he's an annoying singer.
Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert
