Dingwalls

I'm amazed to see how truly independent England is from the rest
of Europe. I've been to the UK numerous times, but only came
through on a ferry once prior, too long ago to remember. Going
through customs at the border in France to the UK was curious.
People doing their jobs and exercising their rights as humans is
the way things are. We only had photo-copies of our work permits
which they did not like. One younger British officer in particular
gave Sean a hard time. Luckily they could have made it more
difficult but we just smiled our way through.

I love London for it's incredibly complex mad design as a city.
So many little off roads and places to get lost throughout. It's
fun to get lost and have nowhere to go. Nothing to do. Just being
in presence is often enough. Ultimately, we did get lost trying to
find the venue. It's the anti-grid town, unlike New York. Our
navigation system is apparently not smart enough for London's
streets and we were short of a good map. The guys from opening
act Linear Sphere were waiting patiently for us when we arrived
a bit late to Camden Town where Dingwalls is located.

A fairly quick soundcheck and the show began. I was really
impressed with the dynamic and layered arrangements that
poured out of Linear Sphere. Very colorful guitar work and
creative writing. Those guys have obviously spent some time
on their instruments and flushing out their tunes. I think they
played 4 songs in a 45 minute set! With a teaser nod to
'Lack Of Comprehension' inserted in one section of a song.
Kudos to Charlie, Steve and Martin for their support,
kindness and help with everything. They've been around for
many years and we're happy to have finally played a show
with them.

We hit the stage, and the immediate impression was quite the
opposite from the two previous festival shows. The audience was
inches from our guitar necks and I reveled in the intimacy. I saw
many little phone cameras directly in front of me throughout the
gig. Great energy from the UK. The room was packed and I felt
a sense of urgency and expectation in the air. We have serious
fans here and they've been a strong-hold over the years.
The Cynical Sphere website was birthed from a Brit fan,
Tim Spears! Btw: Thanks for saying hello.

A musician whether he realizes or not, walks on stage and
immediately gets a 'vibe' from the room that can subtly increase or
decrease comfort levels for the performer. It's a reflective act for
the entire room in general. Energy bouncing off each other, trying
to touch ground. We're raw when we get up there and have to let
go of all expectation. When we walked out to an intensely
supportive atmosphere at Dingwalls, I was grateful. As an
audience member myself, I go to shows wanting to see the artist
pour their heart out on stage and essentially purge inner pains,
longings, hopes and fears for the room as a conduit. I got that
feeling from the people of England. They wanted us to go 'there'
and we not only did, we danced. We played our first full '
stretch-out' set of the tour, including 'Meeting Of The Spirits'
and 'Textures' which were a blast to perform live. Chris had
some beautiful moments in his Textures solo. I dug into some
old blues chops for 'Meeting' always humbly doing my best to
tune into Mclaughlin's massive aura.

At one point in the show, the immediate energy of a few audience
members threw me into a head-banging frenzy during Uroboric
Forms with some lion-maned fans in front. I'm occasionally
missing my hair for the efficiency of a good head bang or spin!
Sean has been getting slippery stick syndrome but recovers
gracefully every time. Mavis as a first instrument drummer, has
an excellent feel and pocket on guitar. Much in the same way
that Jason did. I'm really impressed with how he's uncovered
some of Jason's more esoteric moments on Focus and interpreted
them accurately. He's a disciplined cat!

Thanks to the many UK travelers who came far and wide including
Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
One show in the UK is not enough and we look forward to coming
back. Cheers and thanks for lighting the way. Cynic shines a
bright light back to you. Also, a warm thanks to the
British press for their support. Stay tuned my friends.

Paul

Dingwalls set list

Veil Of Maya
Celestial Voyage
The Eagle Nature
Sentiment
I'm But A Wave To
Evolutionary Sleeper
Textures
Uroboric Forms
Cosmos
Meeting Of The Spirits
How Could I

Graspop Metal Meeting

First let me comment on the beautiful neighborhood that Dessel the home of Graspop is. Open spaces and nice homes surround the tents of this famous rock/metal festival now in it's twelveth year.

Graspop is incredibly organized. Upon our arrival down to the minute, every detail of our show was on time. We performed in Marquee 2 tent just after a Danish band called Mercenary. They're really nice guys with big melodic songs.

We headed to the stage a few minutes early and a production person approached us saying "you have to wait another 6 minutes". Sean went behind his kit to restart the intro chant that we are using as an opening mantra for all our shows. The crowd roared, assuming we were about to start again. Between the double up on the chant and the intense down pour of rain outside our tent, the crowd was cleansed, purified and ready to embrace Cynic!

Although this was another gigantic festival - hurry up and play experience, we felt more relaxed this time. We had space to get our hearts and minds in order before the show. We headed to the stage and the entire tent was packed. The people of Belgium were gracious and attentive. I saw many smiling faces, just happy to be hearing the Focus tunes again. Other's headbanging while the musicians in the audience just stare, analyzing each members fretboards. I'm one of those people! Sean's four limbs at work are an act in itself to watch.

I knew that once we launched into the opening notes of 'Veil Of Maya' the show was going to be fluid. Again, a few technical details that I could mention, but this overall performance felt solid due to the setup time. Over the years of building and deconstructing a complex midi-guitar rig, I have to surrender to the reality of stuff occasionally not going right. Tonight's issue, due to low visibility, I plugged a midi cable into an input instead of an output. As a result, my multi-fx unit didn't respond when needed and Sentiment intro didn't go as planned. Luckily Sean caught on quick and went ahead into his intro drumpiece. These kinds of mishaps are the nature of things and bound to appear. Sometimes these accidents are little treasures. We like to keep an improvisational aspect around the structure of a setlist and sometimes the improvisation forces itself upon you. Either way, one just moves forward without hesitation.

We were given a slightly longer set tonight which allowed us to change the pace and play another non-Focus track. 'Cosmos' is a big breather after the intensity of the Focus tunes. It's expansive and open sound sits well in this set as another post Cynic environment.

The guys from Children of Bodom were there to greet us after the show. Really nice people. We caught their set on another stage and enjoyed it. Super preciseneo-classical shredding between the keyboards and guitars! Later in the night we watched some of Slayer's set. I felt sixteen again! Amazing how long they've been together. I must give it to Kerry and Jeff, for those monstrous riff's that defined a generation of sound in the metal world.

My perspective is clearer now after the 2nd show. I'm more reflective about this reunion journey which is not a repeat of past efforts - all artists grow as I have grown. One of my favorite thinkers Emerson said: "Because the soul is progressive, it never quite repeats itself, but in every act attempts the production of a new and fairer whole". Here we are shaping our wholeness with a new found presence, wisdom and artistic growth. It comforts me to know that art can transcend space and time and live in it's own universe un-regulated by gravity and other human energies. Music is of the spheres, the planets, the entire universe and beyond. How lucky we are as a species that get's to embrace, enjoy and provide a sonic landscape to our short life experience, (atleast for those of us with hearing).

Thank you fans of Graspop for welcoming Cynic and creating such a comfortable warm space for us. We again confirm the value of this reunion as a present to you and to us. Cynic truly belongs to the fans now and forever.

Paul



Graspop set list

Veil Of Maya
Celestial Voyage
The Eagle Nature
Sentiment
Evolutionary Sleeper
Uroboric Forms
I'm But A Wave To
Cosmos
How Could I

Hellfest

Prior to tonight the last time I performed the songs of Focus in front of an audience was July of 1994. Amazing that 13 years later we open our hearts to a sea of amazing fans and get only love in return. I feel blessed to have so many wonderful people understand the music of Cynic. I was surprised we had so many fans come from all over the world; Spain, Germany, Peru, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Greece, England, France, Venezula, Israel, Finland, Romania, Canada, and even Australia all to participate in the first Cynic show/Hellfest. Such passionate, open and courageous fans that support Cynic!

I could go on about the technical difficulties and other meaningless details that ultimately don't mean a thing in a performance. Considering the nature of festival shows, where you don't get a sound check if even a line check. It's a get on stage and go for it kind of performance. A bit nerve-wracking at first, but then I throw away all the fear and doubt and surrender to what it is. An abundance of collective human energy just being fully present, embracing the sound of music.

Cynic fans are inspiring beautiful souls that give and give. To hear them singing along in the opening chorus of Veil Of Maya made me want to stop and cry. The first bundle of songs felt absolutely surreal of preform. We did it! ....and it feels glorious. A musician must write music for themselves, but in the end if a song isn't heard by others, then it never really get's finished. I truly believe that the songs of Focus are finally being heard in the way that I dreamed of a lifetime ago when the record was being written. These songs are finally coming to life and breathing in the hearts and souls of you fans and we get some of your oxygen for taking such a long deep breath. I want to personally thank the fans for their patience, kindness, warmth and for making our first show the most rewarding, heart opening experience of a lifetime. We are here for you. I will never forget this day. Many blessings and love to you all.

Paul

Hellfest set list

Veil Of Maya
Celestial Voyage
The Eagle Nature
Sentiment
Evolutionary Sleeper (new song)
I'm But A Wave To
Uroboric Forms
How Could I