From his management: As many of you are no doubt aware, James LaBrie of Dream Theater has been scheduled to perform at this year’s ProgPower Festival among many other incredible artists. While James and his band had been looking forward to this live appearance and performances of James’ solo material for many, many months, circumstances have forced the band to have to pull out of this year’s festival. The entire band regretfully makes this decision to officially cancel the appearance after several weeks of making every effort to try and maintain the scheduling as anticipated. Unfortunately in this case, James LaBrie’s responsibilities to Dream Theater and his bandmates are of the utmost importance, and this will be a critical period of writing in studio for the next Dream Theater record. James wishes to thank all of his fans who were looking forward to this appearance and supported this upcoming live solo band performance at ProgPower. The entire James LaBrie band is deeply apologetic to all those eagerly anticipating the show, and the band looks forward to making this historic live appearance happen in the future.
Dang!!! With 4 months to get a new band, I am guessing overseas replacements (cough THRESHOLD cough) are out of the question.
My guess is that one of the existing bands will be moved to headlining status (Redemption or Labyrinth are good candidates) and a band will backfill. No matter, the situation still sucks.
Oh well, stuff happens. Planning this far in advance things will ultimately arise that are out of control of the promoters. Things like this have happened in the past, pretty often actually a band cancels for some reason or another. It has NEVER kept me from attending and won't this year. Look forward to the event. Perhaps The Contortionist could be an add on since they are in the USA.
Sucks bad for Glenn at such short notice... But I'd guess noone would be mad if this would be the replacement! http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/fo...ith-reunited-conception-new-ep-due-this-fall/
While I believe this will be the likely scenario, it would be great to snag a great US band like Fates Warning or Symphony X that jives with the overall sound for this particular night. I've seen a lot of people on social media suggest Sons of Apollo to slide into that spot but they're playing in Japan on 9/10, so that seems like a long shot. While admittedly a shitty situation for Glenn, it is fun for us to speculate. Let's pray that he has extra bourbon and patience for this situation.
really hate it for Glenn. Not the first time someone has dropped a flaming turd sandwich in his lap before, even a headliner. One of the many reasons we love Glenn, is he always finds a way to make this situation better.
Hey, they're playing Pennsylvania in a week... I'll be seeing them in Montreal on Wednesday (worked out better with existing vacation plans). Bubble burst. :/ Benedictum?
I'm so confused?? Who's playing in Pennsylvania and Montreal? I was hoping you meant Threshold but I know it's not them.
Not a Dream Theater fan. Wasn't really looking forward to seeing LaBrie either. So don't let the door hit you on the ass James, and don't come back. One of these would be my choices to replace Sir James, not in any particular order: Vanden Plas Jon Oliva's Pain or Savatage Voyager Accept Grave Digger Lacuna Coil If you need to bring in another band to fill in a gap (e.g. if an existing band is promoted to headliner), then one of these: Votum Vanden Plas Wintersun Thunder & Lightning Evergrey Communic Innerwish Wind Rose Diviner Whatever the decision, Glenn will make the right choice. He always does.
Damn. It would have been cool to see James play live, as well as to get his autograph to join Mike Portnoy's on I&W. But Glenn always comes up with something interesting, whether it will be to pull from the current roster or to add someone new. If someone from the current roster moves to a headlining slot, then perhaps they can do a special set. Perhaps a band like Mindmaze or Stormzone could take one of the earlier slots. However, if they get a new headliner, would it be feasible to get Accept at this late date? They don't seem to be doing any live shows in early September, and seeing them headline would be awesome. Or perhaps Sabaton could make their return. Yes, they already played Atlanta earlier this year, but a special set from them would be awesome. Same thing for Iced Earth.
The only thing I can think of is the end of the set? Jon was pissed on stage because he thought there were technical difficulties. However, it was Jon's guitar that actually blew up. Nobody could figure out wtf happened at the time, including his techs. They took it apart and it was blackened/charred on the inside. His tech told him he never seen that happen in his 20 years on the road. Once Jon was shown, he was incredulous and couldn't believe it either. I'm not trying to change your mind. I just want you to know that Jon was one of the most gracious and coolest guys to ever attend the fest backstage.
