03) Bringing The Shadow Theory to life with futuristic stage setup
Production-wise, a lot has changed between the group’s touring cycle for 2015’s Haven to 2018’s The Shadow Theory. Four years ago, Kamelot toured North America with Dragonforce, and for some reason, they ended up performing at Webster Hall’s Marlin Room. This was before Webster Hall’s renovations as the Marlin Room is no longer. However, this was much smaller than the grand ballroom. It was an intimate setup, which means the band was unable to have their full stage production. Jump to the soon-to-be-closed Playstation Theater; they had enough space to bring The Shadow Theory to life on stage. Whether it was the lighting, the group’s movement, or the futuristic set up, this particular look has accompanied the vision of what the band represents today. They bring much more than one backdrop behind the stage as the entire platform looked like it came directly from the future.
Thomas Youngblood somewhat described this when the group initially released the song “Phantom Divine (Shadow Empire),” stating:
“In the future our memories and thoughts will be extracted and transferred to synthetic AI. Our carbon based bodies will no longer be needed and eventually discarded. On Phantom Divine we explore this vision of a world where we are replaced by AI. Welcome to The Phantom Divine!”
Somehow, they pulled off, turning the Playstation Theater into a futuristic world as though AI replaced the band themselves.
