Sons of Apollo (feat. Portnoy & Sherinian)

[bill1971]

the second show will be tonight:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10155994730891877&id=36797576876

Hopefully someone gets it on video this time. I predict on a full show they play A Change of Seasons to close.

[RodrigoAltaf]

the second show will be tonight:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10155994730891877&id=36797576876

Hopefully someone gets it on video this time. I predict on a full show they play A Change of Seasons to close.

I bet on that too!!!

[Cool Chris]

Nothing like seeing a new band start off a tour by playing a song two of the members recorded with another band 20 years ago!

[RodrigoAltaf]

Nothing like seeing a new band start off a tour by playing a song two of the members recorded with another band 20 years ago!

Hey Debbie Downer! SNL called...they want their sketch back.

[Adami]

Nothing like seeing a new band start off a tour by playing a song two of the members recorded with another band 20 years ago!

Especially when those two songs end up being around 1/3 or more of the show time.


I hope they don't play ACOS. It's weird enough they're closing on a DT song, which I also hope changes soon enough.

Playing some covers is fine. Playing a DT song is fine. Closing on one just is odd unless you've really really established yourself.

[cramx3]

ACOS makes little sense to me as well.  LitS makes some sense.  I guess the whole part that's weird about it all is they spent a good amount of time making fun of the band they are covering.  I get it, they are making fun of the current state of the band, but it doesn't really matter honestly.  They look like idiots for doing that before and they still look like idiots by performing DT music after it's all said and done.

Anyway, I'd expect more covers from other bands.  THey are supposed to do a covers set in the fall so I guess they need to perform more covers, unless they are just going to a DT set at that Plovdiv show.

[The Walrus]

I'll go see them if they play ACOS just to sing alternate lyrics. "I'm sick of all your vicious tweets, slamming James LaBrie / and I don't need Del Fuvios to get me through the day"

[ErHaO]

I like seeing good musicians cover good songs, so wouldn't mind ACOS (or an abridged version of it). That said, I do think they should close the setlist with one of their own songs.

[cramx3]

I like seeing good musicians cover good songs, so wouldn't mind ACOS (or an abridged version of it). That said, I do think they should close the setlist with one of their own songs.

Maybe.  A lot of bands close sets with cover songs, it's not that rare.  But I really don't think LitS is a good closer song, as much as I love it.  That's a strong middle setlist type of song IMO.  They should do a Panama cover for the encore.  End it with something that gets people wild.

[bill1971]

MIKE PORTNOY On 'Prioritizing' SONS OF APOLLO: 'This Isn't Just Some Sort Of Recording Project; This Is A Real Band'

We're amazed at the electricity we felt playing together yesterday, so we're dying to take this on the road. We want to try to take a different approach from any of my other projects, whether it's Liquid Tension or Transatlantic or my cover bands - those have been kind of one-off things. With Adrenaline Mob, we really want to treat this as a real touring entity. A real band. It won't be our only band, but it'll be something we come back to.  -MP

As far as Portnoy is concerned, the more original material to cull from live, the better.  “This time around, I’m looking forward to having two albums and 25 or so of our own songs to choose from,” he says.  “We can even keep the set completely, exclusively Winery Dogs material if we want.  That’s the sign of a real band.  When the first album came out, a lot of people were writing us off as a supergroup or whatever, but we wanted people to understand this wasn’t just a ‘project.’  It’s a legitimate band, and we want to make many albums together in the future.”



I really hope for his sake this pans out.

[pg1067]

As far as Portnoy is concerned, the more original material to cull from live, the better.  “This time around, I’m looking forward to having two albums and 25 or so of our own songs to choose from,” he says.  “We can even keep the set completely, exclusively Winery Dogs material if we want.  That’s the sign of a real band.

It is?  The sign of a "real band" is the ability to play a bunch of songs from the band members' prior bands?  Huh?

[Orbert]

Yeah, that was a serious WTF for me.

[Adami]

As far as Portnoy is concerned, the more original material to cull from live, the better.  “This time around, I’m looking forward to having two albums and 25 or so of our own songs to choose from,” he says.  “We can even keep the set completely, exclusively Winery Dogs material if we want.  That’s the sign of a real band.

It is?  The sign of a "real band" is the ability to play a bunch of songs from the band members' prior bands?  Huh?

Huh? He said to only play original material. Am I reading it wrong?

[Orbert]

"We can even keep the set completely, exclusively Winery Dogs material if we want.  That’s the sign of a real band."

The band he's talking about is not Winery Dogs, it's Sons of Apollo.

[ProfessorPeart]

As far as Portnoy is concerned, the more original material to cull from live, the better.  “This time around, I’m looking forward to having two albums and 25 or so of our own songs to choose from,” he says.  “We can even keep the set completely, exclusively Winery Dogs material if we want.  That’s the sign of a real band.

It is?  The sign of a "real band" is the ability to play a bunch of songs from the band members' prior bands?  Huh?

Huh? He said to only play original material. Am I reading it wrong?

That quote, wherever it came from was in reference to the difference between the 2 Winery Dogs tours. They padded the first tour with covers since it was 1 album. He made a comment that he wanted the second Winery Dogs tour to be only their songs to show it is a real band.

Because it is an MP quote, people are trying to find something to rip on him for even if what they find isn't actually there.

They have to pad the first SOA tour with covers since they only have one album. I imagine that if they make it to 2 albums and a 2nd tour that you probably won't see many covers, if any.

The Winery Dogs quote comes from the Bio for Hot Streak (copy and paste link):

www.ueginc.com/resources/The_Winery_Dogs/TheWineryDogs_Bio.docx

The title in Bill's post is from a Blabbermouth article in January. He seems to have meshed a title with 2 different story quotes.

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mike-portnoy-on-prioritizing-sons-of-apollo-this-isnt-just-some-sort-of-recording-project-this-is-a-real-band/

[ganpondorodf]

Isn't he just making the point that Portnoy has said 'this is a real band' about a few different things over the years, and maybe we should take it with a pinch of salt?

[Cool Chris]

I imagine that if they make it to 2 albums and a 2nd tour that you probably won't see many covers, if any.

I LOLed at the first part, and disagree with the second. Mike likes playing music as much as he does making music. And part of that will always translate to playing covers.

[pcs90]

So then if I understand this correctly, according to the MP quotes, currently SoA is not a real band, right?

[Orbert]

That quote, wherever it came from was in reference to the difference between the 2 Winery Dogs tours. They padded the first tour with covers since it was 1 album. He made a comment that he wanted the second Winery Dogs tour to be only their songs to show it is a real band.

That was not clear at all.  In fact, it clearly seemed that either MP was confused about what band he was talking about, or that somehow Sons of Apollo would be a real band if they could play an entire show of Winery Dogs songs.

Because it is an MP quote, people are trying to find something to rip on him for even if what they find isn't actually there.

Or maybe because it's presented in a way to suggest that something is there.

[Adami]

Yea, took me a minute to realize it was just three separate, unrelated quotes.

SHAME ON YOU BILL!

[MirrorMask]

Isn't he just making the point that Portnoy has said 'this is a real band' about a few different things over the years, and maybe we should take it with a pinch of salt?

This.

Took me a while to get it, but it's clear the quotes are from different periods in time.

[Stadler]

For the life of me, I feel like this is a tempest in a teapot.   First, it's a cruise, so it's probably not exactly indicative of a touring setlist, and even though I hate the song itself, LITS doesn't surprise me one bit.  I don't see what the fuss is. 

To suggest that "playing a DT song in the final slot" is somehow indicative of a "real band" or not is sort of odd to me, especially since you have two guys in the band that played on that song. 

[MirrorMask]

For the life of me, I feel like this is a tempest in a teapot.   First, it's a cruise, so it's probably not exactly indicative of a touring setlist, and even though I hate the song itself, LITS doesn't surprise me one bit.  I don't see what the fuss is. 

To suggest that "playing a DT song in the final slot" is somehow indicative of a "real band" or not is sort of odd to me, especially since you have two guys in the band that played on that song.

Indeed!

[DTA]

Something from FII makes sense for them to play, but I feel like LITS is a bit too "important" to play as a cover if that makes any sense. It would easily become the centerpiece of their set since it's vastly superior to their original songs and more well-known, and would only serve to remind everyone just how inferior the songwriting is on Psychotic Symphony. Something like Hell's Kitchen, Burning My Soul, or Just Let me Breathe would be much better choices IMO if they absolutely have to play DT material. I would just choose other covers that are relevant to the genre/style of their music.

[Stadler]

Something from FII makes sense for them to play, but I feel like LITS is a bit too "important" to play as a cover if that makes any sense. It would easily become the centerpiece of their set since it's vastly superior to their original songs and more well-known, and would only serve to remind everyone just how inferior the songwriting is on Psychotic Symphony. Something like Hell's Kitchen, Burning My Soul, or Just Let me Breathe would be much better choices IMO if they absolutely have to play DT material. I would just choose other covers that are relevant to the genre/style of their music.

"Vastly superior" is an opinion - taste - and means nothing.  I think that song is one of the five worst DT songs in the catalogue, so there's that.    If I we're going to criticize LITS as a specific choice, it's not because it shames everything else in the set, but because it's a massive let down.  I just watched an hour and 15 of this cool new band, and we end on LITS?  That's like having a steak dinner and finishing with kale for dessert.  But I don't think the choice of ANY song from FII de-legitimizes the band any more or less than it already has been. 

[cramx3]

It only delegitimizes (if it does at all) the band because of their own words against DT.  Not because of the song choice or the song placement in the set IMO. 

[JayOctavarium]

Show #2 per Setlist.fm

God of the Sun

Divine Addiction

Just Let Me Breathe

Labyrinth

The Prophet's Song/Save Me

Alive

The Pink Panther Theme

Opus Maximus

And the Cradle Will Rock...

Coming Home

[Adami]

Show #2 per Setlist.fm

God of the Sun

Divine Addiction

Just Let Me Breathe

Labyrinth

The Prophet's Song/Save Me

Alive

The Pink Panther Theme

Opus Maximus

And the Cradle Will Rock...

Coming Home

Much better. Some interesting covers, but closing the set on their own song. Smart.

[cramx3]

I think that set's better too and honestly feel like JLMB is more SoA sounding than LitS so makes sense.

[bosk1]

I think both sets were pretty cool, actually. 

[devieira73]

Interesting that they didn’t play Just let me breathe and Lost in oblivion in the same set. IMO these two songs have a lot in common in terms of style/structure (which is a good thing).

[Adami]

I think both sets were pretty cool, actually.

Indeed! This one is just smarter.

[devieira73]

Thinking about LiTS and the similarity beetwen JLMB and Lost in oblivion... it only occured me now something that I expected and it didn't have on Psychotic Symphony: a song with a prog jazzy feel like LiTS. Maybe on SoA 2?

[Anxiety35]

Are there any videos up on YouTube from the shows?

[bill1971]

Isn't he just making the point that Portnoy has said 'this is a real band' about a few different things over the years, and maybe we should take it with a pinch of salt?

Yes, it actually had nothing to do with playing covers. I understand that after only one album or even two you may have to play some covers. Heck DT even after multiple tours through in some covers.