My weekend with Stryper

[mattsmusiccenter]

Although I used to be very active, I stopped gigging 8 years ago and hadn't stepped foot on stage again until just recently. I've posted a couple things about the band I'm playing with here but for those that missed them, I'm dabbling in a project with some of the guys from Trans Siberian Orchestra and Savatage. This past weekend we did a couple shows with Stryper in Cleveland and Detroit, we also played live acoustically on FOX 8 in Cleveland for their morning talk show "That's Life".

The Stryper shows were a trip, all of a sudden I went from not gigging at all to playing in front of 700-800 people per night and performing on a major TV station.

Here are some pics from the Cleveland House of Blues gig.

I will now return to my regular life of selling gear!

Matt

[Soap]

congrats.

[El Chiguete]

What haped with the black and yellow guitars and clothes?

[stevoc]

Is that you on guitar?

[mustaine-who?]

T

That's not Stryper...that's Matt's band on stage...which is decked out for Stryper...

What haped with the black and yellow guitars and clothes?

[shreddermon]

Rock on, Matt!

[roodyrocker]

Wow! I wish I knew you were going to be in Cleveland. Thats about an hour away from me and I would have came to HOB to see you guys. Congrats!

[mattsmusiccenter]

Yes, that's me on guitar playing my JJP. You can see Stryper's black and yellow cabinets behind my Marshalls. Once those guys took the stage, there was black and yellow everywhere... guitars, drums, clothes, basses.

[Musician78]

Wow, that's pretty sweet.

[sixx_ gunner]

Very cool! Looks like a great time~

[guitarsjb]

Cool.

[mattsmusiccenter]

Here's a review of the Cleveland show we just did.

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Stryper is hitting the road for their 25th Anniversary Tour and in support of their new CD, Murder By Pride. They are going to be to visiting 50 US cities and touring through Europe as well. Thursday September 24, 2009 Stryper came to the House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio and they brought friends.

Stryper had two bands supporting them in Cleveland. Both hail from the Boston area and one of the bands has a Sweet in it. The bands that played in Cleveland are Flight Patterns and Machines of Grace. Manic Drive will be supporting Stryper at other venues.

Flight Patterns

If there is one thing Flight Patterns has in their favor it’s that Michael Sweet is in the band. Well it’s Michael Sweet Jr. and if he’s got a fraction of his dad’s musical talent then he should go far.

Michael Sweet Sr. introduced Flight Patterns to the rabid Cleveland crowd. With a legend as a father, Michael Jr. has huge shoes to fill. It’s also nice for his band to cut their teeth on a crowd that loves his dad so they will be forgiving if need be.

Flight Patterns is a group of extremely young guys having a good time. They’re a bunch of good looking kids that are finding their way and place in music. This is early in the tour so they were not as confident as they most surely will be at the end. They had a strange stage setup, which may have been dictated by equipment.

Sweet plays guitar and backing vocals and he’s stage left. The lead singer/guitarist is on the right side of the stage with the bass player in the middle. The keyboardist was tucked behind Sweet but the stage at The House of Blues is small so there wasn’t any place else for him to go. The drum kit was as far back as it could go but there wasn’t a lot of space for it.

Flight Patterns did the best they could, but it has to be daunting to be 19 and play in front of a huge crowd. They need to learn from Stryper and Machines of Grace about stage presence. They need to have the confidence it takes to inspire the crowd and get them on your side. The bass player wasn’t doing too badly. He loped around the stage and had some presence there. Once they get the stage presence and confidence down, they will be tighter and even better.

Machines of Grace

Before Machines of Grace took the stage most of the crowd had no clue who they were. By the time they left the stage they owned the crowd.

To say the rocked is an extreme understatement. They are more than just a metal band. They can go a hundred miles an hour no problem. They have a melodic, heavy sound that’s transcends the boundaries metal sometimes puts around lesser bands.

Machines of Grace is made up of metal veterans. The front man, Zachary Stevens, and the drummer, Jeff Plate, played with Savatage and Trans Siberian Orchestra. Steven’s stalked around the stage like he’s lived there his whole life. After the second song they drew the crowd in and they were part of the show. Guitarist Matt Leff played in Wickedwitch with Stevens and Plate. Bassist Chris Rapoza played with Leff in Trigger Effect. Together they are tight and feed from each other.

Flight Patterns and Machines of Grace

The difference between Flight Patterns and Machines of Grace is experience. The members of Machines of Grace have been playing longer than most members of Flight Patterns have been alive. It will be exciting to see the evolution of Flight Patterns. It’s exciting now to experience Machines of Grace.

Looked at in the proper context, Flight Patterns did fine at the House of Blues in Cleveland. There is no doubt that at the end of the tour the will have advanced. On the other hand, Machines of Grace plain out jams. Those lucky enough to catch them will be blown away.

[RacerX]

Nice review, Matt, Congrats!

[toxikdeth]

Cool

[jk2171]

Congrats, Matt! Great review, and some cool pics.