1999 was the beginning of a real transition in my life. This was the year things really started moving in the right direction for me. I was taking math and computer technology classes and working various temporary jobs, but living at mom and dad's to pay for it. One of these jobs was being an auditor in cigarette warehouse. It was my job to make sure that all the boxes were in the right places. Sounds dumb, but a box of cigarettes is on average worth a $1000.00 retail so they had to make sure they knew where each box was and that all incoming and outgoing shipments were correct. This was also the first year that had a CD player installed in my car. Cassettes were becoming a thing of the past (finally).
I had two more or less annual rituals going on that summer: A trip to South Carolina and a trip to a Kiss convention. (More on how these traditions started later) This was also the year when my main source of new music information had fully switched from 'radio' or 'guitar/music magazine' to 'internet message board'.
My friend Greg (former lead singer of Primal Faith and Edgar Blunt) and I would generally go to the local Kiss convention, hang out other Kiss fans and spend a little time with Bruce Kulick or Eric Singer. There were always vendors with Kiss related collectables (read "crap that makes Gene Simmons' wallet thicker") and sometimes guys selling import and or idie label metal cds. In 1999 I became aware of the band Symphony X, thanks to the internet message board for the band Fates Warning. I was really intrigued just reading what the fans had to say about them. I had even heard an mp3 because it was 1999 and downloading an mp3 wasn't going to happen because of 'dial up.' Right in front of me at the convention was a guy selling all four Symphony X discs. I went ahead and bought 3 of the 4, which a first for me. I had bought plenty of discs in my life "sound unheard" but never 75% of a band's catalog in one fell swoop that was basically unheard.
1 of the 3 totally blew me away: The Divine Wings of Tragedy. The impact is still there. The others are still great but The Divine Wings of Tragedy flat out blew me away. There is one section of the title track that borrows Bach's Mass in B minor. Now my other annual ritual came into play because a few days after the Kiss convention. I drove down to Charleston, SC to see my friend Matt and hit the beach for a couple days. Having the right CDs made the 11 hour drive totally worth it. When I was younger I could spend hours on hours listening to CDs, but as I got older and started working all the time and going back school again, I didn't have that luxury anymore. So having 11 hours to rock out with a stack of CDs was just what I needed. I made this trip many times and had memorized virtually every mile of it. At some points the scenery is so breath taking you can't help but be mezmerised. Having the right sound track just made everything that much more memorable. The Divine Wings of Tragedy was perfect more me.
Of course Charleston, SC has breath taking scenery too. Go there and you'll know what I mean, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean. I'm still a huge Symphony X fan, and they hold the record in my book for "most spent on a single concert". (More on this later)
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