Stagestruck

SAVATAGE/FATES WARNING
@The Metro, Austin, TX
May 10, 2001
"I liked Savatage the best," remarked a young woman on her way out of the Metro after this headbanger's ball. "They were so Monsters of Rock!" While that seems a bit unfair—there were no poodle haircuts or songs about shtupping underage girls—in a way it's accurate. In an age where even heavy metal has been genre-sized all to hell (death metal, speed metal, nu-metal, hair metal, stoner rock, etc.) it's interesting to know there are bands out there that play metal that doesn't particularly deserve a hyphen. Though Tampa's long-running Savatage make concept albums and gain wide praise on progressive rock websites, there was little to these ears that seemed proggy. There were a couple of classical keyboard intros, but otherwise this was pretty much meat and potatoes metal, with tons of power chords, long hair, fist-pumping rhythms and post-Van Halen guitar solos. Unfortunately there's little to distinguish Savatage's crunch with that of a million similar bands, so the only time the tunes (an equal mix of oldies and new material from their latest record Poets and Madmen) didn't blur together was when they played power ballads, and even those sounded alike. Their main asset is flamboyant lead singer Damon Jiniya, who's beginning his tenure with this tour. With a four-and-a-half octave vocal range, a background in musical theater, chiseled good looks (imagine Charlie Sexton as a long-haired metal god) and the energy of youth (he's at least 10 years younger than anyone else in the band), he's an onstage dynamo, sweeping his arms, jumping around, never standing still for a second. Even when he wasn't singing (keyboardist Jon Oliva took about half the leads) he was still mouthing the words and gesturing furiously, as if he was acting out the songs. He looked like he was having the time of his life, and he was a hoot to watch, even if the music he was fronting lacked any real appeal to anybody but the 50 or so diehard fans pressed to the front of the stage.

Openers Fates Warning inverted Savatage's equation. They didn't move around much; only singer Ray Alder and bassist Joey Vera showed much energy. But that didn't stop them from easily recreating their dynamic progressive metal on stage. Leader/guitarist/songwriter Jim Matheos held steady throughout the short performance, anchoring the music, while auxiliary guitarist/keyboardist Sean Michaud (leader of his own band Event) took most of the leads and coloration. While their stage presence may not have been the most exciting to tread the boards, their music was at the very least interesting, as Matheos and company deftly took metal places it had never been, at least not before Fates' formation in the early 80s. The crowd was actually bigger for Fates than for Savatage, so apparently their efforts were appreciated. Michael Toland