Thoughts on Spheric Universe Experience set?

[VenomGA]

Originally Posted by DRFS Rich

My thoughts exactly -- In performance and clothing.

SUE did absolutely nothing for me live, and I like their first CD. Riverside took the Prog Crown for this year in my eyes.

- R

Quoted for truth!!

[Stevie WOnder]

Originally Posted by Key19

I love S.U.E., but honestly I thought their set was disappointing. The guitar sound and tone was so muffled and muddy that most everything was indiscernible. Frontmanship was obnoxious. Keys were great, drums were great (except for the drum solo which was dull and unnecessary), bass was great. Vocals were pretty good. S.U.E. really needed to play more Mental Torments material. So Cold was the best song they did. Overall they did not meet my expectations, and that's almost entirely due to the horrid guitar sound. Even on their recordings the guitar sound is bad, but live it was just horrible and detracted from everything else.

I agree with most of what you say. The singer was a bit over the top but the musicianship was the most impressive I've seen all weekend long with Andromeda battling it out with them. They were certainly having fun.

What I mostly agree with you is they should've played way more of Mental Torment since So Cold was hands down their best song. I still think after having seen this set that Anima is way too cold and powermetal for their talent. They need to go back to a more melodic and prog album for the next one.

About the guitar, it sounded pretty good on the floor where we were standing so maybe it's got something to do with the place where you were.

All in all, they slayed for sure. This was an amazing year.

Steve

np: Mindflow - Destructive Device (Awesome progmetal for those who care...)

[Stevie WOnder]

Originally Posted by VenomGA

one of the 2 worst performances of the weekend....

I could say the same thing about Elvenking but I'll say they're not my style instead...

Steve

[Dead_Pixels]

The only band that was completely god awful through out all 4 days was Midnight.

I enjoyed all other bands on some level or another. SUE was one that was a little iffy with me. Mainly I think it was the vocalist. To me his voice just seemed out of place. The rest of the music was awesome.

I thought it was funny they used a Final Fantasy song as their intro. On that note, it was waaay to long of an intro.

[sh0kr0k]

S.U.E. were tremendous! One of the main reasons I wanted to be there this year. Regardless of the mix not being all that great, imo, they were so tight and interesting. I love the singer's voice and his stage presence was a little distracting from the solos but still entertaining anyway. Really nice guys, and really great musicians. I wish the sound had been a little clearer but overall this was one of my favorite performances all weekend!

[C4RN470R]

Wow, so controversial.

This is one of the band I wanted to see and did not disappoint. Totally worth the trip. Yes, Frank (vocals) was all over the place, but it's part of their show. Love it or hate it. You could see they really enjoyed playing at PP.
Their set list was appropriate and full of ENERGY.
Great prog musicians.
Nice people to hang out with too.

[AirGuitarLoonhouse]

I can see why people have the love/hate, but for sure they displayed the best "chops" over the weekend. Great performance. Great guys to hang out with. Nice to see them flaunt their technical abilities!

[SwordLord]

I thought SUE was amazing! Thanks to Lance King, I was introduced to this band relatively early with their first album and then I purchased their second album almost immediately and was blown away by it. THE KEY is easily one of the best prog metal songs I've heard lately and I was really hoping they'd play it but it was a bit long I suppose.

I disagree with the negative comments on the singer. I agree with the person who said that "prog bands get it from both sides" - if they just stand there and play their instruments, they get bashed. If they move around now, they can't do that right either. I thought the way he interacted with his band was hilarious and also made for a pleasant change from the usual stage-show where for the most part most singers are in their own little worlds. I thought he was a real breath of fresh air and I couldn't believe how much voice he had for being, what, 115 pounds soaking wet? I thought that entire band was so much better than I expected. I agree that the drum solo was a tad presumptious but I'll cut them slack on that because it was an otherwise perfect set.

I had a chance to meet them briefly and they were just as cool off-stage as on it. I cannot wait to see this band stateside again and if they ever book a tour, I will book a Minnesota tour stop in a heartbeat!


Nathan

[shaq]

I thought these guys did a great job, I really liked their set. They were actually on my plane coming home too so it was cool to get to chat with them for a bit there. Seems they're about to record a new album so I'm looking forward to that

[sccaldwell]

Originally Posted by el_ace

For me, one of the greatest performance I've seen. It was relentless!

This is what the prefix Prog means for ProgPower USA.

What do you think?

I also thought they were freakin' brilliant. One of the three bands I was truly excited to see this year, and even so, they exceeded my expectations by a LONG shot. AWESOME!!

Craig