Location: Velden am Wörthersee / Bluesiana Rock Cafe / Austria
date: 31.10.2014
On the night of one of the most popular imported holidays, Halloween, American prog-metal up-and-comers Circle II Circle dropped into Bluesiana, Austria’s temple of the blues, under the fine leadership of (former) Savatage vocalist Zachary ‘Zak’ Stevens. By Bluesiana standards, where most gigs run on bluesy rhythms (apart from the odd visit by some legendary prog-rock romantic from the ‘prehistoric era’, like Carl Palmer (Asia, ex-ELP) in the past), Stevens’ band with its metal nature was certainly a pretty unusual event. With a rather meager turnout, it also came with an unexpected but nonetheless thoroughly interesting twist.
The announced Italian opening act didn’t show up, which probably didn’t make anyone in the small, mostly Austrian crowd weep, and that was far from the biggest surprise of the evening, during which we got a proper helping of quality power/prog metal. For the first time on the current tour, promoting the latest studio album “Seasons Will Fall” (2013) and the twentieth anniversary of Savatage’s masterpiece “Handful of Rain” (1994), the Circle II Circle guys made a completely unplanned decision to play this one in an acoustic version.
They borrowed individual instruments from the local organizers and music enthusiasts, who chipped in a microphone, two acoustic guitars and a piano. Mr. Stevens and his metal comrades (the second guitarist Marc Pattison was missing from the stage, preferring to stay at the hotel, while drummer Adam Sagan cheered his band on from the audience) sat down on bar stools and set about acoustic interpretations of one of the best Savatage albums and, at the same time, the mightiest moments of Stevens’ singing career. The absent Pattison was replaced on acoustic guitar by bassist Paul Michael ‘Mitch’ Stewart, who was ably backed up on a second acoustic guitar by guitarist Christian Wentz. Behind the borrowed piano was Henning Wanner, former keyboardist of the hard rock band Jaded Heart. The German keyboardist also made sure that all the locals who happened not to understand English got what was going on, as Zak and Paul fed the crowd plenty of more or less witty quips and stories between songs.
Considering that it was Halloween, which drives Americans absolutely wild every year, and that this was an acoustic show in a much more intimate atmosphere than the usual, generally far more ‘rowdy’ Circle II Circle concert routines, it was really interesting to listen to and watch how Zak’s band managed to dress up the arrangements of some of the best-known Savatage classics in acoustic ‘shirts’. To be honest, the announced performance of the entire “Handful of Rain” (in an unannounced acoustic version) was the main reason that drew a four-strong Slovenian ‘delegation’ to Bluesiana, which went for most of the crowd too.
Stevens’ slimmed-down band found its feet in the acoustic setup and coped brilliantly with a completely changed situation. They actually exceeded plenty of expectations, meaning they adapted both the Savatage classics and the Circle II Circle material superbly to the circumstances. Few metal bands these days have enough ‘balls’ to dare turn an entire show into an acoustic version, and even fewer are convincing at it. Circle II Circle proved they’re among the rare positive exceptions. Because of its particular rhythmic structure, which is anything but complicated, and with no proper rhythm section, they decided to skip the punchy energy catalyst “Taunting Cobras”, the opening track on “Handful of Rain”, which was a wise call under the circumstances. Instead, they opened with an acoustic take on the title track, which, partly thanks to its lyrics, fit the venue perfectly, so the atmosphere came alive right from the start and even a few people who had radiated near-total apathy before Circle II Circle took the stage began following the band actively.
Zak was, as expected, a chapter all his own. With his beautifully preserved vocal cords he sounds almost identical to twenty years ago, and with his enviable stage charisma he carried half of this rather demanding, acoustic-flavored Circle II Circle mission. The fact that the crowd responded so lively to every acoustic number that evening surely added to the band’s motivation, too, and Zak and both guitarists got up from their seats early on.
Even harder-hitting numbers like “Nothin’s Going On” came across convincingly enough in their softer form that soon nobody missed the electric guitars, bass and drums. Special praise also goes to bassist Stewart, who convincingly stood in on the second acoustic guitar for his absent guitar buddy and was Stevens’ ‘right-hand man’ in getting the crowd going. Even though most of the band members look like truck drivers from the American Midwest, we could once again see for ourselves that these are superb musicians, even if two members weren’t on stage that night, while Stevens changes his band’s lineup pretty often. A few good jokes to liven up the gig’s atmosphere flew around that night as well, and the late ‘King of Pop’ didn’t get forgotten either. The drive, diligence and convincing acoustic interpretations carried on through the Circle II Circle songs too, which peaked with the standard “Watching In Silence”, from the debut album of the same name, nicely showcasing the band’s past output.
The sound was good all evening, apart from a few usual fixes to the tuning of the acoustic guitars, after which everything was fine through to the end of the show. The band was in really great spirits throughout, both on Savatage standards and their own material, and they soon passed that good energy on to the crowd, who knew how to reward them with proper applause. We were especially blown away by their take on the vocally super-demanding Savatage evergreen “Chance”, where all three of Zak’s bandmates shone with backing harmonies and managed to recreate the original mood of that unforgettable masterpiece. As expected, one of the most convincing moments was also the gorgeous power ballad “Alone You Breathe”, dedicated to the memory of Savatage’s tragically departed founding guitarist Criss Oliva.
The closing song of the night was a pretty predictable pick, but we were all glad that Zak chose to end Circle II Circle’s acoustic set with “Edge of Thorns”, probably the most beloved Savatage song with his vocals, which electrified the space around the stage with its potent energy and mighty central arrangement. After this highly successful and interesting show, the band members took time to hang out with their fans, among whom you could see very few people in Savatage or Circle II Circle shirts, since more of them were dressed up as assorted creatures for Halloween, though to show off their comic monstrosity they wouldn’t have needed masks or special cloaks at all.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist:
1. Handful of Rain
2. Stare Into the Sun
3. Chance
4. Castles Burning
5. Watching You Fall
6. Nothing’s Going On
7. Alone You Breathe
8. All That Remains
9. Soul Breaker
10. Heal You
11. End of Emotion
12. Watching in Silence
—encore—
13. Edge of Thorns
