Summer 2019

Summer concerts in 2019 were slim pickings, so we ended up seeing Weird Al and little else. He puts on a good show, and we were lucky enough to catch him touring with his full costume presentation.

We also caught Mephiskapheles opening for Streetlight Manifesto (counterintuitively; SM should have been the opener). While we enjoyed ourselves at the sold out show, there was an enormous gap in their sound where a keyboard should have been. From talking to one of the original members, we got the impression that there was a hint of animosity there, and that's a real shame. Their sound was largely defined by their keyboard player, and accentuated by the horns. Without that element, it had really lost everything we came to see, after years of them not touring at all. We hope there's an amendment, so we can see them live the way we have always heard them.

Streetlight Manifesto played a tight set, but we skipped out early, since they weren't who we were there to see. It's probably unfair to give a full report as if we'd seen the whole thing, so we'll leave it there.

At the Sanctuary, we caught a show featuring Voyag3r, a local, instrumental trio who aim towards prog, but end up playing something more digital and spacey than what you expect when a band describes themselves as progressive. They're quite good, and have a lot to offer film soundtracks. Given the lingering elements of the movie industry here in the state, we hope they make a connection.

So, what's next? 2020 is a big year. It's momentous. It's full of promise. In fact, we kicked off the new decade's concerts this past weekend, to be featured in tomorrow's entry.