[caedmonscall.net]

Rumor Forum Member Wally drove many, many hours to enjoy Caedmon’s Call in Pennsylvania last weekend. Here are his thoughts.

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Where shall I start? I live in Hamilton, Ontario. I became a Caedmon’s fan when I picked up a copy of their self titled cd when I heard positive reviews on it. I followed them since then and over the years my interest in them picked up steam. I saw Derek a couple of years ago in Toronto and over that last few years I continuously checked out where Caedmon’s was playing next, hoping they would play close to me. I had never seen them before. About two weeks before the shows in PA I realized that they were playing only about 8 hours from my house. I thought about it and said to myself “a chance to see Caedmon’s (twice), driving about 20 hours over 3 days……Road Trip”!!! My wife and I looked to see if we could make it a family affair and the only way it would happen is if I went by myself.

Cut to the Saturday morning of the first show, with a Tim Horton’s coffee, a handful of Caedmon’s and Derek cd’s (sorry Andy, I didn’t own any of yours, YET), 3 pages of MapQuest directions and Bryan and Geof’s phone numbers beside me, I headed out. Eight hours later I arrived in New Holland.

I got to the church in time for the sound check. Wow, I couldn’t believe it Caedmon’s Call was right before my eyes. Bryan asked if I wanted to meet the band. I didn’t want to impose while they were rehearsing so I said “no, that’s OK”. I think Bryan looked at me like I had 2 heads. I then just jumped at the chance and said sure. I was introduced as the guy who drove from Canada. The band was great. Bryan invited me to sit front and centre with him and his family. As the lights dimmed Derek came out with his guitar. It reminded me of when I saw him in Toronto. Before I knew it his set was over and moments later the band entered the stage. They opened with My Calm // Your Storm. It was great; I was sitting there finally watching my favorite band that I listened to for years. The show was excellent. They played a wide variety of songs from their anthology of cd’s they put out over the years. The set lists for the 2 shows were pretty much the same as the rest so I won’t speak too much on that. Considering that they now have 4 lead singers, they had mix up the songs to get Cliff, Danielle, Derek and Andy involved. It was nice being able to hear their individual songs and their mixed harmonies together. I could see that Andy was struggling that first night with the remnants of the flu. I was very happy with the set list that they did. What people have to realize is that this is a very special tour. They are promoting their new cd but not exclusively seeing it is only about 1/3 of their set list. Also both Andy and Derek are with the band at this time. Who knows, this may be the only time a tour like this happens. Derek said that this tour is better than what he imagined it would be. Jeff asked me which show I enjoyed more. Andy was feeling better the second night and nailed his performances but there is always something special about a person’s first Caedmon’s show. I Have trouble picking either one as my favorite.

One thing I missed was more banter/band interaction in between songs but on the other hand if that meant less songs, that’s OK by me. I would have personally chosen 2 or 3 different songs but as much as I don’t want to admit it, Caedmon’s didn’t perform for just me. :) If you are thinking of going and are not sure, I have one thing to say to you “STOP THINKING ABOUT IT AND JUST DO IT”!!! You’ll regret it if you don’t. If you’ve never been to a show, it’s amazing and the band is very approachable afterwards.

Some of the highlights for me were:

-meeting/seeing Caedmon’s for the first time and hanging with them after the shows.

-meeting the dotnetters that were able to make the shows and even going out for dinner with a few of them.

-helping Todd set up merch

-sitting down with Andy before the second show talking about how that was the day his friend’s baby was baptized as the song “Hold the Light” was played. He explained the journey this couple took to get their little one. He would have loved to be there but couldn’t make it work with the shows he was playing. I felt bad for him that he wasn’t able to go but when he played that song that night it almost brought me to tears imagining how he was feeling. There was great emotion in that performance. I even picked up my first Andy O cd.

- trying to track down all the members the second night for pictures and autographs. Josh was the last one I needed but I couldn’t find him. Derek said he wasn’t feeling well and was on the bus but he would get him for me. When I got his picture he said to tell people that this was “sick Josh”. I told Josh that playing “find the Caedmon’s” that night was more difficult than playing “Where’s Waldo”.

So was it worth going, absolutely. I can’t wait to see them again and include my family in the road trip. I wanted to add a special thank you to Bryan and Geof. They’re 2 guys who really care about the band and the fans. We are lucky to have them working for Caedmon’s.

Wally

here’s a bonus photo of Wally trying to come down to derek’s size.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 at 9:03 am and is filed under On Tour, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.