Shadow Circus

[jeffMc]

New band out of NYC.

http://www.myspace.com/shadowcircus

http://www.shadowcircusmusic.com/band/

They are looking for a keyboard player.

Anyway, interesting to hear American Prog.

[Peter]

Veeery nice. IMO, among all the influences they list, the one that's most noticeable is missing: 80's Marillion.

[progman]

That's so cool to see people talking about this band here. Apparently they found a keyboard player, Zach Tenorio, who is  a 17-year-old keyboard wizard in the vein of Emerson and Wakeman, and they just started pre-orders of their CD.

If the final CD is anywhere near as good as the samples I've heard so far, I'd say this is going to be one of those bands up there with Neal Morse-era Spock's Beard and the Flower Kings...really nice 70's-flavored classic-sounding prog...I've heard talk that the live shows will be a lot like early Genesis shows, very theatrical...

[Peter]

Veeery nice. IMO, among all the influences they list, the one that's most noticeable is missing: 80's Marillion.

Did I really say that? Upon second hearing, that doesn't fit at all! ... strange...

[PH]

Hmm at first I did not like the man's voice. But I think it fits well with the music for some strange reason! (He reminds me a bit of IQ's vocalist, which is a good thing!)
But I do hope that the vocalist will practise a bit more, because if I'm not mistaken he sometimes gets off key...

All in all I think this is certainly something to follow.

[tachyon_man]

Someone told me they saw this Zach kid on a tour with something called Rock School and he was off the hook!  If the other musicians are the same caliber as him then their live shows could be awesome!

[funkster]

That sounds veeery  ;nice indeed.

I also detected a bit of late era , Abbey Road ,Beatles but then i could be wrong 

Isnt it wonderful to see how alive and vibrant prog is and besides the more established bands of the last 10-20 years , Arena , Pendragon , IQ , Marillion etc we have bands such as Space Avenue , Riverside , Frost , Tinyfish ,  Shadow Circus etc making quality music.

[progman]

I also detected a bit of late era , Abbey Road ,Beatles but then i could be wrong 

Yup, I hear the late-era Beatles influence in a big way. I also hear elements of Supertramp, Pink Floyd and Queen, although the singer reminds me more of a cross between Dennis DeYoung and the guy from Queensryche...but without the high-pitched metal thing...

[tachyon_man]

I just got on the Shadow Circus myspace and I think these are new versions.  Hopefully they are close to shipping the CD.  Sounds great!  Love the guitar work!

[progman]

I just got on the Shadow Circus myspace and I think these are new versions.  Hopefully they are close to shipping the CD.  Sounds great!  Love the guitar work!

Yeah, these are definitely different samples, I think the old ones were from demos and this is the real album. Samples on myspace are crap sound quality though, but I think that's myspace's fault. The clips on the band's site sound 100x better.

Anyway,  I'm sold. I just pre-ordered mine.

[progman]

Ok, my copy just arrived today!

I have given it one listen all the way through. I need to listen a few more times before I can write a thorough review, but what I can say right now is that my jaw was dropped for a large part of the time it was playing. This is insanely good! the early 70's sounds are all there, mellotrons, moogs, beautiful harmony vocals and wailing guitar.

I'll give it a few more listens and post a more thorough review...

[Herben]

Did I really say that? Upon second hearing, that doesn't fit at all! ... strange...

I would say it's more like Uriah Heep in 70s