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You know, one time I was on tour and we were opening up for this band that was just incredibly technical and skilled, and all their fans who were there seemed to be eyeing us with the "you better be good" look since we were headlining over them (not our decision, but hey, it's money). The guys were a little intimidated so I quoted the great Mick Foley, who once said, "I can't jump high, but I can jump from high places". You do what you do extremely well, with confidence, presence, and intensity, and I promise we will win these people over.
Sure enough, we did. What we lacked in technical ability, we made up for in sheer ballsiness and intensity, playing like we were in godly communion, like the wrath of the ages was pouring through our instruments. Though I hate to use jockish cliches, we obliterated the more technical band, sold tons of merch, and surprised a whole lot of people who thought we didn't belong on that stage.
Now, I don't think IE will quite go that far, but they're used to playing before skeptical fans. The first time I saw them was at a Destruction/Municipal Waste show, and they played six songs. They went from a lukewarm reception to the whole place going fucking apeshit by the time they closed with Spiraling Into Depression. Their live show is a whole lot more animated than Dream Theater's (at least from their live DVD that I've seen, they don't move around or get into it all that much except for the bass player). So, while they may not have the chops of DT (and really, who does?), IE have their own niche, they're used to playing before people who've never heard them let alone wary of accepting them, and I think a lot of those DT fans are going to respect them very much.
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