There you go again, Symphony X, never playing by the book and continuing with new surprises for progressive metal fans everywhere. By all accounts, this tour was going to be a disaster. Soilwork and Nevermore had dropped off the tour within a month of each other and the bill that had been originally lauded as the "metal tour of the year" became, "I'll check it out...if I have time." Not letting that stop them, Symphony X with openers Blackguard and Powerglove to put on an intense, high energy show.
Starting at exactly 7pm, Montreal's Blackguard took the stage and opened with "Firefight" off their latest album of the same name. (Read my review of Firefight here). Playing mostly "Firefight" material the band tour through the stage and vocalist Paul "Ablaze" Zinay performs with the energy of a cocaine addict who drank five energy drinks before coming on. Musically solid, it took the band a few songs for the audience to really get into them. Blackguard ended the night with tracks off their previous album, the more folk metal oriented "Profugis Mortis" and the crowd responded with some pit action. Perpetually on tour, Blackguard will be getting more notority in the coming year.
Next up would be the polarizing Powerglove. Named after the Nintendo controller accessory of the early 90's, Boston's Powerglove is essentially a cover band that plays metal versions of video game and TV theme music. The band takes a joking approach to their stage show, throwing out beach balls and inflatable swords into the crowd and decorating the stage with video game refrences. While some audience members were looking for more "metal" performance, other audience members took to the main floor, trying desperately to run to the front. For those who didn't know what to expect quickly learned, as the band opened up with the X-Men theme from the 90's cartoon show on FOX. During one song - an original piece entitled "F*** that Bird" the crowd erupted in a mosh pit that lead one audience member to say "You'd think Carcass was on stage." The biggest hit of the night for Powerglove was their version of the TV theme for "Pokemon" entitled "Gotta Catch 'Em All" that the crowd had been cheering for all night. To conclude their set, the band threw Starburst candy into the crowd. While they're entertaining, Powerglove will continue to divide metal fans over their GWARish antics.
Finally, at 9:15pm, Symphony X took the stage. Starting off with "Of Sins and Shadows" from 1997's The Divine Wings of Tragedy, the band played a heavy set of material off their last album, 2007's Paradise Lost. Frontman Russell Allen performs like a man half his age, running across the stage throwing his arms out and interacting with the fans. Allen warmly thanked the crowd for coming despite the band being off the road for awhile and while discussing their new album "Iconoclast" which is set to hit stores in June. Two songs off the that album were introduced at the show last night, the heavy rocker "Dehumanized" which features some great guitar work from guitarist Michael Romeo and the more melodic, yet still heavy "End of Innocence". Rounding out the main set was "Smoke and Mirrors" from 1998's Twilight in Olympus. After a short break, Symphony X came out and performed their 24 minute epic, The Odyessy off the 2002 album of the same name. The suite, which contains 7 parts, includes orchestral elements, acoustic pieces and crunchy guitar riffs and piano pieces give the whole band which includes drummer Jason Rullo, keyboardist Michael Pinnella and bassist Michael Lepond. At 10:40 the band took their final bows and ended another great concert night.
Overall, a great concert night for a tour that wasn't supposed to go well if at all. Iconoclast is set to hit stores on June 17th. Check it out.
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