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
7 comments:
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you and again Thanks so much!!! I felt like in a dream... 1st the sound in front of the stage was really bad, so i moved in front of one of the PA speakers as i had my musicians' earplugs in and then enjoyed most of the gig with closed eyes, being caught by the vibe! Just Fantastic! One can really see and feel that it is a welcome equilibration to Sean's and your work in Aeon Spoke to be back with Cynic.
Apart from the few glitches, which were immediately and overly professionaly caught by Sean the following second, i have to say, this guy is a groove machine par excellence, a joy to experience in raw live dynamics! Sad though i couldn't see him from back there, would be cool to have him on the stageside on the next tour like seen 17 years ago (which i couldn't see as i was a. physically to young to go to such a gig and b. mentally to immature to understand the vast musical genious in vinyl form available then). I'm strongly hoping there's gonna be a next time! Thanks also for playing textures, although i see (and heard on other bootlegs like the soundboard recording on Chris' Website) that you're struggling to get the vibe right in the first minute of the song... Anyway, it was the Dogs Bollocks ! (I learned this means "Awesome" in the UK :). The new song is great, i love it, and want to hear it again asap. The great melodic-melancholic approach from Aeon Spoke, twinned with the musical outgoing-ness of Cynic, please please do go ahead with this, do more songs, more albums, more tours!
One last thing: "I'm amazed to see how truly independent England is from the rest of Europe." To whatever side one would want to interpret this quote, as a German having been working in the UK for 13 months, i still am too :)
Love, Peace and all the best to you guys !
Take care and keep on proggin' :)
Phil
P.S.: @Dave/Sean: I an in inner dispute about whether it's OK to abuse a stage mike to get something organised, but i do perfectly understand your desperation. I would have loved to help out, but didn't have any there. If you ever come to Hamburg on the next trip, i'll be there for ya with enough supplies, that's a promise :)
hehe great set!
Keep going with this energy guys!
I hope to at least see that on a dvd or something... Brazil tour, who knows?
Blessings, Luka.
Hey Paul!
I hope I can be there on the 4th of July in Franfurt/Germany. From what I've seen and read on the Internet I'm impressed by your 'new' work guys! Really impressive; when I'm looking back on all you've did for music and metal in general, showing how delightful and warm it can be, this mixture of metal and jazz.
I discovered Cynic for me in 2004 in age of 15. First of all I did not manage to understand 'Focus' in general; it took me 2 more years when I first listened to the album one full time. After that I got into a spiral of emotions, listened to 'Focus' every day and with each listening I discovered even more melodies, harmonies and so on. I was hoping that Cynic are going to reunite someday...and now it became reality. Quite shocking, while sitting on my chair and drinking coffee! I couldnt believe my eyes!
Aeon Spoke was another beautiful discovery which I made! Heave-rotation record at this time! Allround talented, huh Paul? :)
Your singing, playing and also your harsh vocals in Cynic are mind-shocking for me; near perfectly in my opinion. But you get better and better with age; you grow as a musician. That´s why I'm writing in this blog. I wanted to say how happy I am about the reunion of Cynic.
I also hope you're going to record another LP. That would be wonderful. I bet this album will be as groundbreaking as 'Focus' was and smash all other releases up to date.
Good Luck to you Paul, and all the others!
P.S Do you know if there will be other gigs in Germany?
matts
el-polako@hotmail.de
Paul, this looks like a dream, Cynic change my vision of the music, I give thanks to the life for being able to listen to your music.
I just forgot to check CYNIC HP for several weeks, but today I return here and find the band is moving again... It's a great thing, I want you touring in Japan, please!
Hey guys, this is Dom (from a fledgeling death metal band to soon arise). I was wondering, and really really hoping, if you all had plans to tour in or around Louisville, Kentucky? Many fans around here were pleading me to ask, so I thought I'd take the reigns and be their voice. I'll keep watch on the here for your reply. This will be a reunion of astronomical proportions in the world of metal and I hope my friends, fans, and I will be able to see such a fantastic group of musicians such as you guys! Good luck and blessed be, Cynic!
Paul, i'm absolutely gutted that I couldn't make it to the show in London. I had bought a ticket but I teach at a college in the North of England (about 200 miles away from the gig), and it was the last night of the course, when the work had to be completed and handed in for submission. I didn't want to let the students down even though I've waited so long to see you play live. I hope there's going to be a DVD out soon, or better still a few more tour dates over here i.e. Leeds, Nottingham or Sheffield. Take care of yourselves and hopefully see you soon (with Atheist , Pestilence and Believer ;o)
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