LMAO about the latest lineup change. But I guess they went more than a few months without someone getting replaced so they were about due.
BTW, I caught them in early march in Atlanta, and they were really on top of their game. The show was a bit shorter than I'd hoped considering they were by themselves (no Symphony X) and played only 90 minutes or so. However, the performances were dead on, and Stu really distinguished himself in a way I hadn't seen since Matt was originally in the band. Ripper was pretty solid in the Glorious Burden tour, but didn't really capture the emotion of some of the songs as well. Matt was just plain horrible in his return (although I heard that was mostly due to his having a cold the night I saw them in Cleveland in 2008). Stu was a great combination of the both, really hitting the high notes, and yet sounding pretty sinister when he could. While Dystopia was a decent enough album, it hadn't quite hit the classic sounds of some of their earlier efforts, the newer stuff really smoked. They also broke out a number of classic older tracks that hadn't been played in at least a decade, and it was great to hear Stu's take on some of them.
All in all, a very fun evening that made me think that IE just might really be back after a pair of mediocre albums and shows for the much-advertised Set Abomine concept album. Let's hope things click well enough so that the lineup can remain relatively stable and they could up the quality on the studio albums.
BTW, I'd also like to see another effort with the Demons & Wizards side project. Schaffer and Hani really have major chemistry and both albums were awesome. Let's see some more.