James LaBrie tour dates announced

Nov. 26 - Charlotte, NC - Tremont Music Hall
Nov. 27 - Raleigh, NC - Volume 11
Nov. 29 – New York, NY - Gramercy Theater
Nov. 30 - Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero
Dec. 02 - Montreal, QUE - Club Soda
Dec. 03 - Toronto, ONT - Opera House
Dec. 04 - Detroit, MI - Blondies
Dec. 06 - Cleveland, OH - Peabody's
Dec. 07 - Chicago, IL - Reggie Rock Club
Dec. 08 - Minneapolis, MN - Station 4
Dec. 10 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
Dec. 11 - Portland, OR - Berbati's Pen
Dec. 14 - Los Angeles, CA - Key Club
Dec. 15 - Ventura, CA - Ventura Theater
Dec. 16 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theater
Dec. 18 - San Antonio, TX - Backstage Live
Dec. 19 - Dallas, TX - Trees
Dec. 20 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar

Tickets for the trek are currently on sale exclusively via EnterTheVault.com where fans can purchase both regular and VIP tickets for the trek. VIP packages include entrance to the venue one hour early, a meet-and-greet with James LaBrie and a signed tour poster.

Beardfish/Pain of Salvation replaced on Prog Nation tour

Just read this from Mike Portnoy...when I talked to the Bearfish guys over the weekend, they were so looking forward to this tour too:

"It is with the utmost disappointment that I am forced to share the unfortunate news of both Pain Of Salvation and Beardfish having to pull out of this summer's Progressive Nation tour....

Their label Inside Out just recently lost the financial funding for the tour as a result of their distributor SPV recently claiming bankruptcy...which effectively meant that both Pain Of Salvation and Beardfish lost the tour support that was essential to their ability to come to North America for Progressive Nation.

All parties involved (myself, both bands, Inside Out, etc) are beyond devastated at this turn of events and are truly sorry to all of the fans that were looking forward to this lineup. We tried everything we could do to salvage the situation, but in the end it was not possible...

Well as the album title says, every Black Cloud does indeed have a Silver Lining....so with this unfortunate news, I bring to you the good news of 2 incredible bands that will jumping on board Progressive Nation to join Dream Theater and Zappa Plays Zappa this summer: Bigelf and Scale The Summit.

Los Angeles' Bigelf are my personal favorite new band to come along in many years...their latest CD "Cheat The Gallows" is my favorite album of the year and I already had positioned them onto the European run of Progressive Nation in the Fall....with them now joining us on PN09 in North America as well, it looks like world domination is now not that far out of reach for them! Pretty soon, everyone will hopefully be falling for their retro, psychedelic, progressive, hard rock, doom metal as hard as I have!

Houston instrumental band Scale The Summit are a recent discovery for me and their top notch musicianship will be a perfect fit to this Progressive Nation lineup stylistically falling very nicely between the musicality of Dream Theater and Zappa Plays Zappa. They bring the instrumental elements of prog rock and fusion into today's contemporary hard rock/metal sounds and are one of the most talented group of young musicians I've seen assembled in many years.

Once again, apologies to anybody disappointed in this unexpected and unavoidable lineup change...but the circumstances were beyond our control... In any event, PN09 will carry on and still deliver the most musical bang for its buck this summer throughout North America and we look forward to sharing the evening with you!

Sincerely,
Your Progressive Rock Ambassador,
Mike Portnoy "

Progressive Nation 2009 announced

New York progressive metal veterans DREAM THEATER will take their Progressive Nation tour back on the road for its second incarnation with a run through America and Canada in July/August 2009.

In addition to a headlining set by DREAM THEATER, this year's package will feature the outstanding musicianship of ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA as well as two incredibly talented imports from Sweden: PAIN OF SALVATION and BEARDFISH.

Progressive Nation was created by DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy and its successful inaugural run in 2008 also featured OPETH, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME and THREE.

Portnoy once again hand-picked all of the bands for the 2009 bill based on their diversity and musicality. He comments: "This year's lineup is so exciting for me. Every band is bringing something very unique to the package to create an incredibly well rounded musical experience. I am just as excited to be watching all the bands from the side of the stage as I am to be performing with mine in the center of it!"

Fresh on the heels of his Grammy win, Dweezil Zappa is pleased to announce his plans to join forces with DREAM THEATER as part of the Progressive Nation 2009 tour: "It's no secret that I started ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA with the intention to diversify and expand the audience for my father's music. I figured I'd probably have to do it one concert at a time. Playing with DREAM THEATER on the Progressive Nation tour is a great way to accomplish that goal. Music fans who are seeking something to challenge their senses should definitely consider attending this great bill."

Portnoy adds: "It is an absolute honor for me to have ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA on board. Frank Zappa is one of my all-time biggest heroes and his music practically invented the term 'progressive.' Dweezil is doing an amazing job carrying on the tradition of his father's daring spirit and like his dad, has surrounded himself with a band of jaw-dropping, incredible musicians."

Sweden's PAIN OF SALVATION will bring their unique brand of cutting-edge progressive metal to Progressive Nation. Vocalist/guitarist Daniel Gildenlöw comments: "We are truly very happy to be part of the Progressive Nation tour, and to be back in the States again and bring all the sweat and flesh to our music and our well deserving American fans. We feel honored to have been asked."

Gildenlöw also joked: "Actually, Mike has been on our backs now for two years in what we believe to be a personal campaign, bordering on harassment, to make us come over. So when he asked us about Progressive Nation, it was a joy to finally be able to say yes. And if Mike didn't give up on us, then hopefully America hasn't either."

Vocalist/keyboardist Rikard Sjöblom of BEARDFISH is equally excited: "When we read on a website that Mike Portnoy had our album 'Sleeping in Traffic Part 1' among his favorite releases of 2007, we just couldn't believe it and we were really happy about it! And now we once again gasp for air since we've been asked to join Progressive Nation 2009 together with DREAM THEATER (one of the biggest bands in this genre today!), PAIN OF SALVATION (hey, fellow Swedes!!!) and ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA (being a HUGE Zappa fan myself, I think this is really cool!). Since we've only played the U.S. once before we simply can't wait to come over and rock out!"

Progressive Nation will be the first North American tour for DREAM THEATER in support of the band's newest Roadrunner Records CD, which is slated for a June 2009 release.

IQ to issue two exclusive tour cd's

The new IQ studio album ‘Frequency’ is scheduled to be released early next year but, to coincide with the forthcoming live dates, November will see the release of two new collectible Tour CDs. Both discs will feature about 40 minutes of exclusive material, unavailable elsewhere, including brand new recordings from the studio this year and rare archive material, stretching as far back as 1985.

These Tour CDs (Archive Collection Volumes 2 and 3) will be limited to 1000 copies each and will be on sale at the concerts in November and December. For those of you unable to attend these shows, the discs will also be available by mail order at a later date, details to be announced shortly.

The full track listings are as follows:

DISC 1 (AC002)
1. Frequency (Alternative Mix, from ‘Frequency’ sessions, 2008)
2. Already Gone (From ‘Frequency’ sessions, 2008)
3. Lost In Paradise (From 'The Tsunami Projekt', 2005)
4. Crazy Horses (Live at the Mean Fiddler, London: December 15, 2001)
5. Corners (Original Demo, January 1985)
6. Suffragette City (From ‘Frequency’ sessions, 2008)
7. Crashed And Burned (Stronger Than Friction) (Live at De Boerderij, Zoetermeer: December 1, 2007

DISC 2 (AC003)
1. The Province (Studio Outtake, from ‘Frequency’ sessions, 2008)
2. One Fatal Mistake (Extended Version, from ‘Frequency’ sessions, 2008)
3. Chemical Rain (From ‘After The Storm’, 2005)
4. Jet (Live at the Mean Fiddler, London: December 15, 2001)
5. Outer Limits (Original Demo, January 1985)
6. Frequency (Live at De Boerderij, Zoetermeer: December 1, 2007)

Yes announce benefit concert

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 27, 2008—With the eagerly anticipated 30-city “In the Present” tour getting underway Nov. 4 in Ontario, band members Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White of YES have agreed to donate a portion of proceeds from their Nov. 23 concert at Albany’s Times Union Center to STRIDE Adaptive Sports.

The volunteer, non-profit organization provides more than 3,500 adaptive sport and recreation lessons annually to children and individuals with special needs with 200 instructors serving 850 families, offering free programs in 15 different activities and locations. STRIDE is an affiliate member of Disabled Sports USA, Professional Ski Instructors of America and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors; and an official Red Cross Provider.

The members of YES will donate $10 from every $38.50 ticket sold to STRIDE for their Fourth Annual Wounded Warrior Snowsports Event, with 15 members of the armed forces who have sustained permanent injuries during their service brought to the Albany area on Friday, Feb. 27, 2009 for a weekend of Adaptive Skiing and Snowboarding at Jiminy Peak, Mountain Resort.

All funds from ticket sales will go directly to cover the cost of transportation, lodging, food, clothing, entertainment and gifts for the Wounded Warriors and their families.

The event will open at Michael’s Banquet House in Latham, N.Y., with dinner and entertainment on Feb. 27, 2009, with tickets available for $30 to the public. For more information on the event, visit STRIDE’s website at www.stride.org. To purchase tickets to the YES concert, contact Katie Moshier at the STRIDE offices in Rensselaer, N.Y., at kmoshier@stride.org.

“We are delighted to lend our hand to this very worthy organization,” said the band. “We are glad to do what we can to support the officers and soldiers who have sacrificed so much to defend their country.”

The “In the Present” tour, which will hit a total of 30 cities in November and December, features Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White playing selections from hit albums like Fragile, Close to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans and 90125 along with audience favorites like “Roundabout,” “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and “I’ve Seen All Good People,” some of the enduring classics that have made YES the most influential and groundbreaking progressive group in rock & roll.

The tour will get underway at the Hamilton Place Theater in Hamilton, ON, on Nov. 4 and run through Dec. 17 at the Hard Rock Casino in Miami., featuring guitarist Howe, bassist Squire and drummer White, joined by keyboardist Oliver Wakeman, the son of YES’ Rick Wakeman, and vocalist Benoit David, a Montreal, Quebec, native and vocalist in several YES tribute groups, who was discovered by the band on the Internet and invited on the tour.

The group’s itinerary includes performances at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom on Nov. 14, Baltimore’s Ram’s Head Live Nov. 16, Cleveland’s House of Blues Nov. 25, Detroit’s Fillmore on Nov. 26, Cincinnati’s Taft Theater Nov. 29, St. Louis’ The Pageant Dec. 2, Chicago’s Chicago Theater Dec. 3, Atlanta’s The Tabernacle Dec. 7, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium Dec. 10 and Orlando’s Hard Rock Live Nov. 14, with more dates to be announced.

Fish tour saved by NF organisers

Posted by Fish, forwarded on here by yr. obd't blogger:

Dear FishHeads, fans, Freaks and The Company,

Sorry I've been a bit quiet lately but the arrangements for the US tour have been taking precedent and creating a lot of stress.

The tour was close to going down in the last two weeks as we couldn't find a petitioner.

The petitioner has to be a company involved with the tour and basically guarantees that I pay any taxes and stands as a kind of bail bond should anything go wrong. Without a petitioner we couldn't get work visas. As you are probably aware, the US has a great deal of "ambulance chasing" lawyers and to put it in perspective when the tragedy occurred in Rhode Island with a band foolishly letting off pyros inside a low ceiling, sold out club which had all the exit doors chained and resulted in close to a hundred people dying, even the radio station who advertised the show were successfully sued. It's a wee bit scary. Everyone was walking away.

My US agent couldn't sign as petitioner, the label distributing my catalogue over there wouldn't and EMI publishing was in a quandary. Luckily at the last moment the Nearfest promoters stepped up to the plate and signed off which means we can now go for the visas. Believe me Yatta and I were on the edge of cancelling the shows as we were fast approaching the deadline for visa applications.

The bureaucracy of setting up this tour is a nightmare but bit by bit the Yattmeister has whittled away at the mountain and we are moving apace.