Kamelot WILL perform at PPUSA XI as scheduled

[miel]

Official press release from the band released moments ago:


Hi Kamelot Nation.

As many of you know, Roy has fallen ill and could not make the North American tour.

We have been rehearsing like madmen here in Tampa -- the band is tighter than ever and Michael from Circus Maximus is truly an amazing singer; if there is one male vocalist in this world who is on par with Roy, it is Michael! However, after today's rehearsal, we all decided that we do not feel right about doing the North American tour as anything less than a 100% Kamelot Experience. We appreciate that many fans have waited more than 2 years for new material and to see us perform together. Our new album, “Poetry for the Poisoned” represents a labor of love from us, and to present it at anything less than full strength seems a disservice to all involved. Though we will suffer financial losses on this late hour cancellation, we still feel it’s the right decision for us as a band to make – we regret disappointing all those who worked so hard to shape this tour, and especially those fans who were still so willing to come through and support us despite Roy’s absence. We are humbled by that type of support, and we sincerely hope that our return in full form Kamelot strength will be more reward for your unwavering loyalty! We will reschedule all shows in the near future, once Roy is able to return. Refunds can be obtained at the point of purchase. To thank Michael for his effort, the band will still appear at the soldout Progpower Festival, as a one off show with him and many special guest singers from the festival. Again, we want to thank all of you for your amazing support!!

Best regards, Kamelot Members.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As many of you already know, Blackguard and Leaves' Eyes were touring with Kamelot in North America. Blackguard will indeed perform at ProgPower as scheduled. The final decision on Leaves' Eyes is still pending at this time.

~Jen

 

[nomisofsiman]

Now I'm super jealous I'm not going. That's pretty cool that there will be guest singers for the set as well. Interesting that they post-poned the tour instead of going through with Michael.

 

[compurocker]

Makes it that much more special. Can't wait.

 

[tenebre]

I hope leaves makes it... i know im odd here but they were my most looked forward to. Should be an interesting show with all the guests now. Glad they are still doing PP

 

[Cheiron]

Yeah I'm wondering if Leaves Eyes will be showing up at ProgPower now or what. Already have plane tickets, might already be in town, so why not right?

 

[kellsco]

Glad they are still going to play for us this following weekend. Bummed for their, and all others, losses that will be result of this. I hope this does not hurt the band in that regard, as I don't think they made this decision without a lot of hard thought and discussion.

 

[dionysus11]

what do you guys mean about Leaves Eyes? is there so kind of trouble? I haven't heard

 

[AngraRULES]

YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!!

This is friggin' bullshit. I was really looking forward to see them in NY. The fact that Mike was singing was actually the main reason why I wanted to go so much.

I'm beyond mad now.

 

[AngraRULES]

what do you guys mean about Leaves Eyes? is there so kind of trouble? I haven't heard

They were coming to the US as part of the Kamelot tour. I'm not sure if it's financially viable for them to do ProgPower USA as a one-off. That's what it seems to me.

EDIT - Glenn just gave the official update, Leaves Eyes is confirmed for Friday.

I officially envy every single one of you who will witness Mike singing with Kamelot. Goddammit.

 

[progmetalprincess]

I hope leaves makes it... i know im odd here but they were my most looked forward to. Should be an interesting show with all the guests now. Glad they are still doing PP

Leaves' Eyes was definitely one of the reasons I wanted to go. Glad they are still planning on coming.

 

[nb]

This is my 1st and last post on this forum

My wife and I are coming to PP for the first time, and I can honestly say this news just about ruins the trip for us. I quit going to metal festivals years ago b/c of all the last-minute changes and cancellations, which inevitably seem to only affect the headliners. My wife and I decided we would try PP this year b/c there are a handful of bands we both like (Leaves, Eyes, Noc- Rites, 7th Wonder, Stormwarrior), plus Kamelot, whom we both love and have never gotten to see live, living as we do in the metal-desolate Southeast. So of course it was only a matter of time until Kamelot's performance got F#$%ed up

As for the band soldiering on with a replacement singer; sorry, but I wouldn't pay $5 to watch that. This band was AWFUL before Khan joined, and his voice is an integral part of their sound. I know illness is beyond everyone's control, but I honestly could not care less about watching someone else sing with Kamelot, trying to pad things out with whatever other singers want to jump on stage and help out rather than hit the bar early. That's not a concert, that's karioke. I find it interesting that so many people have responded saying how 'exciting' they find this idea; I think it's far beyond lame and I have absolutely zero interest in watching some cobbled-together act of 'Kamelot Members Plus Some Other Guy' take the stage. Screw that! We went to see Epica a few years ago and Simone cancelled last minute with illness; no disrespect to whoever took her place, but afterwards I wished we had just thrown the tickets out instead of wasting gas driving to the show. The replacement singer was ok, but really, who wants to see Epica without Simone singing? Same goes for Kamelot and Khan in my opinion.

Sorry for the rant/tantrum, but we've invested hundreds of dollars in this trip and are taking time off from work, and now a few days before the show the main band that we both wanted to see is such a shambles that I don't know if we'll ever bother staying for their set. Now if we can have Stormwarrior cancel b/c their drummer's back is too messed up for travel, then yet another metal festival will be a complete and utter failure in my eyes. If that happens we may just hit the aquarium and the zoo for the weekend and feed our PP tix to the fish.

Again, I realize the situation is nobody's fault, but we're now stuck spending > $500 on a festival we probably would have passed on if Kamelot wasn't on the bill. We like some of the other bands, but not enough to spend this kind of money on w/ Kamelot headlining. And as far as we are concerned Kamelot are no longer on the bill. I should have known better than to try the metal festival circuit again, always ends in disappointing cancellations.

That's my 2 cents; I won't be checking back. The only reason I posted this is that every other reply seems almost giddy at the prospect of Khan being replaced by someone else, and I wanted at least one post to register severe disappointment with the way things have changed. If everyone else at the show loves having Roy sidelined for some other guy, then y'all enjoy the show and I'll go get some extra sleep.

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

This is my 1st and last post on this forum

My wife and I are coming to PP for the first time, and I can honestly say this news just about ruins the trip for us. I quit going to metal festivals years ago b/c of all the last-minute changes and cancellations, which inevitably seem to only affect the headliners. My wife and I decided we would try PP this year b/c there are a handful of bands we both like (Leaves, Eyes, Noc- Rites, 7th Wonder, Stormwarrior), plus Kamelot, whom we both love and have never gotten to see live, living as we do in the metal-desolate Southeast. So of course it was only a matter of time until Kamelot's performance got F#$%ed up

As for the band soldiering on with a replacement singer; sorry, but I wouldn't pay $5 to watch that. This band was AWFUL before Khan joined, and his voice is an integral part of their sound. I know illness is beyond everyone's control, but I honestly could not care less about watching someone else sing with Kamelot, trying to pad things out with whatever other singers want to jump on stage and help out rather than hit the bar early. That's not a concert, that's karioke. I find it interesting that so many people have responded saying how 'exciting' they find this idea; I think it's far beyond lame and I have absolutely zero interest in watching some cobbled-together act of 'Kamelot Members Plus Some Other Guy' take the stage. Screw that! We went to see Epica a few years ago and Simone cancelled last minute with illness; no disrespect to whoever took her place, but afterwards I wished we had just thrown the tickets out instead of wasting gas driving to the show. The replacement singer was ok, but really, who wants to see Epica without Simone singing? Same goes for Kamelot and Khan in my opinion.

Sorry for the rant/tantrum, but we've invested hundreds of dollars in this trip and are taking time off from work, and now a few days before the show the main band that we both wanted to see is such a shambles that I don't know if we'll ever bother staying for their set. Now if we can have Stormwarrior cancel b/c their drummer's back is too messed up for travel, then yet another metal festival will be a complete and utter failure in my eyes. If that happens we may just hit the aquarium and the zoo for the weekend and feed our PP tix to the fish.

Again, I realize the situation is nobody's fault, but we're now stuck spending > $500 on a festival we probably would have passed on if Kamelot wasn't on the bill. We like some of the other bands, but not enough to spend this kind of money on w/ Kamelot headlining. And as far as we are concerned Kamelot are no longer on the bill. I should have known better than to try the metal festival circuit again, always ends in disappointing cancellations.

That's my 2 cents; I won't be checking back. The only reason I posted this is that every other reply seems almost giddy at the prospect of Khan being replaced by someone else, and I wanted at least one post to register severe disappointment with the way things have changed. If everyone else at the show loves having Roy sidelined for some other guy, then y'all enjoy the show and I'll go get some extra sleep.

Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

 

[AngraRULES]

Blah Blah Blah, Whine Whine Whine, Blah Blah Blah, Rant Rant Rant, Idiotic post blah blah

Hey Nb,

From the bottom of my heart, with every inch of honesty that's in me...

Fuck off.

Have a nice day.

-AR

 

[AMBR]

I know illness is beyond everyone's control, but I honestly could not care less about watching someone else sing with Kamelot, trying to pad things out with whatever other singers want to jump on stage and help out rather than hit the bar early. That's not a concert, that's karioke. I find it interesting that so many people have responded saying how 'exciting' they find this idea; I think it's far beyond lame and I have absolutely zero interest in watching some cobbled-together act of 'Kamelot Members Plus Some Other Guy' take the stage. Screw that!

That's my 2 cents; I won't be checking back. The only reason I posted this is that every other reply seems almost giddy at the prospect of Khan being replaced by someone else, and I wanted at least one post to register severe disappointment with the way things have changed. If everyone else at the show loves having Roy sidelined for some other guy, then y'all enjoy the show and I'll go get some extra sleep.

That's because most of us here are very familiar with this replacement, Michael Eriksen and know the talent and quality of vocals he brings to the stage. We are also very familiar with the caliber of guest vocalist that usually are invited to grace the ProgPower stage. Therefore, with this knowledge, we can be assured that this will be a-once-in-a-lifetime performance as well as a not-to-be-missed festival.

If you had the passion to stay involved in the metal scene and expand your knowledge and experience, you too would be able to find more pleasure in a wider variety of bands instead of having all your excitement tied to just a few bands. This increases your odds of disappointment. That's truly a shame.

 

[hoodaman]

Hey Nb,

From the bottom of my heart, with every inch of honesty that's in me...

Fuck off.

Have a nice day.

-AR

+1

what is it with people JOINING THE FORUM to bitch?!

 

[Metalmilitia2000]

+1

what is it with people JOINING THE FORUM to bitch?!

If this keeps up, Glenn is going to have to change the festival name to bitchpower.

 

[speedy1383]

Well this is disappointing. I planned on seeing them in Orlando. I guess not. I've seen Kamelot 3 times and it would have interesting hearing Michael do his take on the songs. Khan is one of my favorite singers. He is irreplaceable on Kamelot. Kamelot should disband if Khan can't make it back. I truly hope that is not the case.

Having said that, Michael is a great singer in his own right. I've got both CM CDs and they are both very good. Some of the hyperbole being said on this site is a bit much. Someone actually compared it to Bruce being replaced by Dio. Are you kidding me? Khan has built up his reputation over 11 studio albums with Conception and Kamelot. He's earned his spot among the best. Michael has not reached that status yet. CM has only put out 2 albums. Both albums are quality albums. I am very certain Michael will do a great job. I just have to shake my head at some of the stuff being said.

 

[No Username]

It is sad when someone places their entire emotional investment in one band like this. Obviously they just don't get it:
ProgPower USA is not about one band. It is not about a group of bands. It is about a community of good people coming together for one weekend a year to listen to music and create memories that last a lifetime.

Favorite parts of this festival:

1. Hanging out with my closest friends
2. Hanging out with my extended family of ProgPower listeners
3. Meeting Glen and shooting the shit, if only for a couple of minutes
4. Enjoying the great city of Atlanta
5. Lifting a glass with the talent. The bands that come here are the most approachable, nicest people in the business. Guys you see on stage one hour could be standing right next to you an hour from now. Try to hang out with Disturd at lunch, see how far you get.
6. Discovering bands you would never have heard of had it not been for ProgPower.
7. etc. etc.
8. Coming to see a specific band: #100 on the list...

Yeah, all festivals have setbacks--but the positive way to handle it is to say that the money will be well spent no matter what, because it is the WHOLE EVENT we come to see, not just one band.

Oh and NB we know you are reading this. Slamming you only perpetuates the kind of attitude that really is not the norm here. So I would like to extend an olive branch: go to the poster thread, find my picture, and say hi at the show. Lets hang out. I think I can convince you that you don't need Kamelot to have a good time!

 

[dionysus11]

I was just reading nb message up there.

All I can say to you is I have been going to PPusa since ppusa 3, and over the years there have been lots of lineup changes, but as a fan of the music it really doesn't matter because there is always another amazing show in each one's place. This year is going to a once in a lifetime chance, 1 time only show where you get to see Kamelot just have a big jam with other singers. If you were a fan of the music,and of Kamelot then support the band in this hard time,and come see them have lots of fun, it is clear they have much respect for the PPUSA (having done it in the past) so much so that they are still playing the fest.You never know what is going to happen on the stage at PPUSA,and thats why I love it so much. For someone to be mad over a sick man taking care of himself, sir you are a jackass.

1. I really hope you do come to PPUSA, because I know you will be hooked for life
2. If you don't, that's on you,and when you hear how badass of a show it was you will be sorry
3. Just give it a change. Don't cry about it until it happens,you're not Ms.Cleo you don't know if show will be good or bad. See the show then you can talk crap.

 

[AirGuitarLoonhouse]

@Nb - The good person in me hopes you enjoy the fest and realize what a music fest like PP is all about. I'm not going to give you the definition or meaning of the fest. It is up to you to find that out on your own. If you don't come away regretting your post above and rethinking how shit happens and the fest still kicked ass, then the bad person in me says the fest doesn't need your kind. And perhaps Kamelot doesn't need your kind either.