Posts
Fall 2010 should go down in the record books for fans of Buffy and Kamelot as having a number of unpredicted tragedies and inexplicably weird occurrences arise. Kamelot, without any forewarning, has been greeted with a certain spell of bad luck and misfortune. First of all, I highly respect the complexity and the stressfulness of the band's situation itself. The band's members, excluding Roy Khan,have had to effortlessly work to maintain the band's income because their main source of income has mainly come from the concerts. Without the concerts, the band faces the threat of bankruptcy. In the inclement climate of our economics, I do not fault the band with their decision to allow for another vocalist to overtake the other vocalist's place. But this does not mean that I am barred from expressing the full range of disappointment and the wealth of sadness that has resulted from this turn of events.
Remember that lengthy post a few months past that summed up my disconsolate feelings? Well, I am further distraught now that the dust has settled after that first explosion and Roy Khan is permanently missing from nearly every concert next year. Some of the more overzealous fans have taken advantage of this upheaval within the Kamelot fandom and have wrongfully claimed me to be an individual who is not a fan of the band. Since, I am human with the extreme audacity to speak the truth that percolates in my mind; I am taken to be an enemy amongst the fervid fans that are worshipful over the band to the point where they neglect the fact that the band is a human group. Fandom does not involve being untruthful about your feelings to the extent where you are also simultaneously ignorant of your obvious humanity.
During these troubled times, nearly all fans are reactive in some manner. It is to be expected that news of a vocalist's absence will be a divisive matter. I do not entirely agree with the band's impersonal note about the whole matter. When they are noncommittal about the whole news, they are in effect allowing the false information to have stability. Though drama persists about the Tarja's departure from Nightwish, Nightwish actually wrote a lengthy message about the matter because they understood that the fans are invested in the band.
Within Temptation took it upon themselves to be fully receptive to the worries of the fans. Though Sharon's situation may be more clear since she is expecting another child around the original date of the 2011 string of concerts. At least, she had the firm understanding of the needs of the fans to respect their emotional attachment to their musical offerings. Seeing Sharon both write a personal note about the matter and speak about it on their video feature was truly heartening. Many celebrities believe that there is an impassible wall between their fan-base and themselves. Sharon and the rest of Within Temptation shred those preconceptions of celebrity dissociative attitudes and actually clarify any news before the impending drama ensues.
I am completely sympathetic to Roy Khan's tragic mental condition. For some reason, people who sense my criticism always seem to jump at the chance to dislodge some shred of inhumanity in me. They completely scrap my views and construct a skewed version of the views I'm clearly expressing. I have never stated ill-feelings or presented an inconsiderate attitude about Roy Khan's illness. Instead, I have sought to understanding even with the band's unwillingness to try to communicate with the fans. They have not tried to be communicative about the entire matter.
Instead, they have strengthened the wall between the fans and themselves. Now, they are furthering bolstering the foundations by announcing the replacement of Roy Khan for the the entirety of 2011. Am I disheartened by this news? Absolutely;Roy Khan has been the soulful, emotive voice that has strung together my own disassembled feelings and helped structure one of my novel's main characters. The emotions he pours into the songs with each melodic intonation of his voice has helped me envision so many pivotal scenes and themes of my Death Seer, my novel.
Perhaps, I do overreact to the present state of things. Maybe, I will forever be seen as the antagonist among the fans for being completely honest about my feelings. Furthermore, I will always be miscast as the enemy when the disarray of my emotions could not produce coherent feelings. Do I care about the sentiments of these people? Nope! I am far too honest with myself and sometimes a bit extreme on my expressive side. When I feel an ounce of injustice, confusion, and sadness about a certain matter, I take it upon myself to scrutinize the situation with a burst of questions. Without these questions or criticisms, how can I thoroughly comprehend the matter? Moreover, how can I mentally accept that there does not exist a reality where I can hear the Kamelot songs that have strongly promoted me to write performed with that voice that has been my refuge and creative inspiration. I could repeat this a hundred times and some will always fail to understand it: An artist is irreplaceable; one person can never perfectly arrange themselves in way that authentically replicates the nuances of another person's artistry.
With this, I unsheathe the last amount of emotion that has arisen out of this news. I am honestly crushed and jaded by the developments with the Kamelot tour. Again, some people will continuously berate me for my perceived irrationality that surrounds this matter. Even with this misconception, I am glad that I am staying true to the feelings that pulse through myself. Internally, I know that a true fan of any work of art stays afloat in their river of conscious instead of falsely joining the populated river of those who have long ago conformed.
4 comments:
I'm really disappointed with the update that Khan won't be on tour at all next year. I feel that his replacement won't be able to cut it, and so I won't be going to see them in London next year. I agree with you completely that Khan is the soul of Kamelot (this is the reason I very rarely listen to Eternity or Dominion) and to have him absent means that the band that plays in front of me isn't Kamelot.
Have they said what illness Khan has yet? I've had a cursory glance on the interwebs but I can't find anything concrete. I'm saddened by the lack of communication from band to the fans, but I'm hoping it's a case of "we don't want to say it's this until it's been 100% certifiably diagnosed". I think if the fans knew all that was going on though, they'd be a lot more supportive.
here's to Roy Khan's full recovery!
Kamelot management don't need to say more than necessary about Roy's illness. Roy tell it himself in an interview. He suffer from a burn-out, and need time to recover. And he will :)
Jamie, you should be fortunate that you are not involving yourself with the fan-base. People are typically reactionary but to the extent where seems to be a group that wants to viciously bully anyone who does not support the band's opinion without any difference in opinion and idea. Sadly, I think everyone is equally effected by this recent turn of events. But I think the unfortunate piece about this remains the bullying tactics that some people use in order to relieve their own tension.
I release the burden of my emotions by writing lengthy blog posts. Then, some people take it upon themselves to restructure my views to support some faulty statement. Again, I think everyone is frustrated by this turn of events. So, there will always be this huge mass of people that will pit themselves against the few people who have not entirely conformed their views to be the same as every other person's.
Honestly, I have never experienced such incivility among fans.
Hey guys listen no matter what kamelot is going to be okay and everybody has an obstacle to over come. So just Support them in their time of need.
Post a Comment