Sons of Apollo - Derek Sherinian Interview

Anna lee's lyrics are Myung

 

Interesting point. Perhaps catering more to the crowd who would recognize Queen but not solo Soto?

 

Oh, no doubt. I think it says something about JSS's character and ability to be a team player using his solo slot to prop the show up by playing something the crowd might know. A new band playing all of their new album, despite the pedigree of the members, is a tough sell, and doing a well-known (but not often heard, seemingly) Queen tune definitely was to the benefit of the overall set. But it still surprised me a little, since it seems like such a great opportunity to get himself in front of a new audience, and his solo stuff is great.

 

It would be nice if they did some solo Bumblefoot stuff. They did a bit of one of his songs “A Day to Remember”, but just about a minute before seguing into “Just Let Me Breathe”. Yeah most of his stuff is not prog metal but it’s great stuff nonetheless.

 

He’s Billy Sheehan, he will make it work

Otherwise that song fits. Portnoy even mentioned it when he was talking about sounds that will come out in SOA because of him and Derek playing together before.

 

Unfair comparison. Neither Lines in the Sand nor Just Let Me Breathe are nearly as challenging to sing as most of the material on I&W. And from the one clip I have seen, Soto was cheating and dumbing down Just Let Me Breathe, which is one of the easiest DT songs from the 90's to sing. There is no doubt that LaBrie struggled badly on last year's tour (he simply can't sing most of those I&W songs anymore), but Soto wouldn't fit in DT at all.

 

Not to mention that Bumblefoot took over for most of the high notes.

 

I'm not saying it would happen, I'm just hypothesizing. I don't think it was "cheating" as much as adapting the song to his own voice. I've seen Soto sing a ton of other people's songs, and he always does that, rather than try to emulate another singer. Not many have the talent to pull it off, but I think he does.

I liked Dream Theater despite LaBrie, not really because of him, and I know I'm not the only person who thinks that way. None of the band members except Portnoy ever had any real stage presence, so if they ever did get a new singer, getting someone who knows how to act like a frontman might not be the worst thing in the world. Not saying JSS would be a fit, just floating it as a possibility, since he's basically unintentionally compiling an audition reel this year. (and also operating under the belief Portnoy will eventually return to the fold in a few years, when DT needs to move some tickets)

 

I haven't seen DT since the mid 90s, but back then, Labrie was a serviceable frontman. He was no David Lee Roth, but you can't expect someone to actually *sing* and also race around the stage like a maniac. I've only seen one person competently do that, and believe it or not, it was Harry Connick, Jr.

And Derek definitely had (has?) stage presence.

 

Soto races around the stage like a maniac and sings his ass off. So did Freddie Mercury. it's not about "racing around the stage," but there's definitely something to being a charismatic frontman, and there's many ways of going about it, from Liam Gallagher stoicism to Mick Jagger hyperactive aerobics. LaBrie just sort of exists onstage...he's fine, but having an onstage personality could help now that his ability to sing DT songs is diminishing. DT are such great musicians that they didn't need anything more than a serviceable frontman, but with their biggest personality gone and Rudess/Petrucci looking more and more like elder Wizards every year, a little jolt of energy onstage probably wouldn't hurt.

I'm completely hypothesizing out my **** here...but DT is a unique situation. Usually bands will do anything to keep their singers, downtuning/re-arranging/whatever to keep them able to sing the old stuff and put butts in the seats. But people never really went to DT shows for the vocals, they went for the the band, so IMO he's the most expendable person onstage. Not sure how many other bands there are where you could say that about the lead singer.

 

I wish I had gotten to see Freddie. :/

I'm one of the few apparently who considers Labrie integral to the band's sound. There are so many prog and metal bands out there that lack a capable singer, and I think he's done well fronting the band. I don't understand why fans can't accept that he was the band's choice and move on. Nearly every decent singer has lost something at some point in their career. Geoff Tate and Geddy Lee both had to adapt. I can't hate on a guy for something he has no control over: age.

 

I'm fine with him. But if they changed singers, I wouldn't really feel strongly about it presuming I liked the new guy's voice. LaBrie isn't integral to the creative/compositional side of the band, which makes him a bit expendable to me. I agree there's a lot of prog/metal bans with far worse vocalists, I'm just pointing out DT's identity (and creative process) isn't really tied to their singer the way a lot of other bands are. FWIW, I thought LaBrie's vocals on The Astonishing were one of the few good things about that album, but it's obvious he's struggling live.

 

I disagree with the "Portnoy had stage presence, no one else in the band ever has" narrative. Heck, Mike Mangini is just as animated back there as Portnoy ever was, but his drum kit isn't as open as Portnoy's, so it is almost like he is hiding in there depending on where you are sitting. Mangini should get rid of having anything above his head, that way the fans can see him better.

LaBrie is not a great frontman, but he is not a bad one either. I think darting off the stage for some of the long instrumental sections gives some a bad impression in that regard, but they have so many that you have to duck out of there for some of them, otherwise you become one of those singers trying to steal the spotlight during the parts where the players are and should be front and center.

You and me both. His voice was one of the things that attracted me to the band on the first listen. Even though his live vocals have been hit or miss for as long as I can remember, his studio voice is always great and I cannot imagine the band with any other singer now. If they were to change singers, my interest in the band would take a serious hit.

 

I actually have no idea what they're like live now. The last time I saw them was in 2003, and since then I've moved to a city they will never, ever actually play in. I just don't see a lot of personality from the other members...which is totally fine, we were all there for the music. I just don't think LaBrie would be difficult to replace in the way most lead singers are.

 

Maybe it was because I hadn't seen them myself in about 10 years, but I was pleasantly surprised by how good they were when I saw them in Chicago on the Along for the Ride tour (the tour for the self-titled record). It definitely helped that they were playing a ton of material from Awake, my favorite DT record, but the band was on fire that night and having a blast.

 

I was gutted when they announced an I&W anniversary show here, then cancelled it a week later due to "production issues." Between that and their last few studio albums, I think I'm kinda done with them, honestly. Always clinging to the hope they'll recapture that magic, but it's hard to get excited about them after a stunt like that (when they're in a major city they haven't played in 25 years).

 

Couldn't disagree more !
Saw both of them last year (DT's I&W anniversary tour and MP'Shattered fortress) and the difference was stunning !
In fact, while the I&W show was pretty solid (a good suprise for me as i wasnt expecting it, especially from Mangini, which was very good), MP'show was a real eyes opener about what the band is lacking since his departure.

 

Understandable. I like all three Mangini-era albums a lot, so I can't wait to see what they do next. They were trending down on the last few albums with Portnoy, but have cranked it back up following his departure, IMO. Being a fan of the band is fun again.

That is kind of an unfair comparison since all of Portnoy's band for those shows were young guys (Eric Gillette and most of Haken), who are naturally going to have more energy and be more active than a band of 50-year olds.

I saw DT and the Neal Morse Band within a few months of each other (end of 2016 for TA, early 2017 for NMB), and while Portnoy looked kind of bored playing back there at his show (which I think had to do with the small venue, I think he has trouble getting up playing for small crowds), Mangini was enthusiastic and energetic the entire DT show I saw on the Astonishing tour. I guess it can depend on your perspective.

 

I agree about Mangini. Granted my only exposure to the band live in the last two decades has been video footage, but Mangini is definitely no Neil Peart back there - he is fired up when he plays. He's just a really little guy though - only 5'5". Hard to be visible behind a huge kit when you're kinda small!

Can you honestly blame the band though? I would guess that this meant that they had a certain size stage set-up that the venue said they could accommodate, and then they found out they couldn't. I would be much more pissed if they cancelled a show the week before like some bands do when ticket sales just don't make it worth their while. Maybe they could have hunted down another venue in town, but I'm guessing that Nashville doesn't make it easy (or cheap) for artists to book there.

 

My comment was only about who is druming (and singing, and haranguing the crowd) in each band, not about the other players: clearly there is no contest

 

As for his playing for other guys band, honnestly i don't know, he might be more commited to the music he created as a leader to his own band

 

I can. We want to see the band, no one cares if they have a giant production or not (particularly when playing such a fan-friendly setlist like they were last year). Also, maybe figure out your production issues before announcing the show and putting tickets onsale and getting everyone's hopes up? The auditorium they were playing regularly hosts big-name acts, and it's configuration/setup/dimensions were easily obtainable by DT's production team. Plus, trust me, it's a 2,000 seat theater, the stage is plenty big for any band of DT's size. I dunno, I guess I'm just old school, and think if you book the gig, and your fans buy tickets to the gig, unless someone's dying, you show up and play the gig. Trust me, it's a great venue they booked, and they would've had a great night playing for fans who've waited decades to see them (particularly see them play those particular songs), no one would've cared if they had one less shiny curtain behind them or whatever they were doing. (I've seen the videos, the staging didn't seem all that elaborate)

It's funny this comes up in a Sons of Apollo thread...I was shocked when they booked a Nashville date, and even more shocked when they booked it at a tiny club that has probably never hosted a metal show in it's life. But it was the only venue available in town that night, so they did it. Portnoy's kit took up half the stage, and Soto definitely had to be careful when doing his frontman thing, even commenting about the challenge during the show (without s@#t-talking the venue or anything), and y'know what? They did the gig anyways, like pros, were in a great mood despite it being the smallest/jankiest venue of the tour, and absolutely slayed. (Check it out. How they fit all that gear on that stage is the greatest Tetris game of all time:

 

They were definitely on the downswing post-Six Degrees, but I don't think the Mangini stuff has been much better. Portnoy was right; they needed 5 years off to recharge and do other things. Petrucci and Rudess could crank out stuff like the self-titled 2013 album in their sleep, and I just don't find it all that inspired. And The Astonishing was a mess. They'll always be a band whose new material I look forward to sampling, but I have pretty low expectations as far as being surprised by it at this point. I thought the Sons Of Apollo record was the best thing from any DT members in years...same style, but felt so much more fresh and exciting to me. (And maybe a lot of it's due to the vocals)

 

I love ADToE, but I would agree that the SoA album feels revelatory in comparison. My only complaint is that three of the songs sound very similar (Lost in Oblivion, Coming Home, Signs of the Time). They still kick butt, but I honestly have trouble remembering them from one another if the album isn't playing. But God of the Sun on its own stands tall among all of the DT-ish songs since FII. To me, it shows the value of Derek as a songwriter that went unrealized in his brief stint with the band.

 

I definitely agree the SOA is not exactly the most diverse prog record I've ever heard. I really hope they do a second one and build from it, with a bit more time to put the songs together. But I kind of let it slide, since no one else is really making records that sound like this right now. (Especially not with that pedigree of players/singers)