A few thoughts after watching the Symphony X / Iced Earth tour kickoff...

[Jasonic]

Sounds like ICED EARTH are still delivering live.
Glad to hear.

I will be at the Joliet show @ MoJoes.......

Oh wait!!! I forgot, my band is on that bill actually! Ha!

No Symphony X at that show though. I think they drop off for the last 5 dates.

If anyone needs tix for the Joliet show on March 17, please let me know.

 

[zedowns]

Nice to see SyX completely ignoring V again. What was the point of the setlist poll they did on Facebook when they completely ignore 3 of the cd's (well 4 if you include the first one, but i'm glad they don't play anything off that)?? I love the new cd, and love PL even more, but very disappointed otherwise.

Seriously. At this point I'd rather skip out on them and just wait to see them at ProgPower.

 

[p1driftfiend]

Sometimes the headliners will put a limiter on the opener so they dont get the (full sound) which is obviously saved for the bigger bands.

OR

they have just too much stuff being mic'd and run through the board they run out of head room and (openers) don't have their own sound guy that is good enough to push through the 'headliner wall'. It sucks for the opener usually sound-wise, but its all in paying your dues.

I actually enjoyed the smaller system they played on. It's nice listening to music at a more reasonable level than the main house system. And I think they sounded really good too (not bass, drum, booming heavy, but nice and even and clear)

BTW - Dante's Inferno....the build-up to the end "Lucifer..." part? Yeah, I almost couldn't bear the wait thru that buildup and the delivery of that "Lucifer" section was just epic.

 

[TychoCelchu]

I actually enjoyed the smaller system they played on. It's nice listening to music at a more reasonable level

YES!!! Some of the best sounding shows are far from the loudest ones. (Actually, I think that's 100% of the time) The trade off is that sometimes I have to hear people having conversations during the songs.

 

[MYSTIC1]

I'll be at Friday's show in Jersey. Love all 3 bands and very much look forward to Stu on the mic. Oh yeah, I don't care if I never hear the Odyssey live again, would MUCH rather hear a few shorter songs which aren't played as often

 

[eppst1]

I am strongly, heavily, considering the road trip down to that dreaded Columbus OH for the 3-12-12 show.

And if my truck gets vandalized simply cuz of my Michigan license plate, I'll get this installed!


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRNVxHPJ0hM[/youtube]

Bryan - you drive down you can crash at my place! I *will* be there for the show! Drag the 2 other punks with you also!

 

[DarkOne]

Replying to myself, after the show. Thet setlist was exactly the same, by the way.

Going to see them both tonight in Philly.

It'll be my third time seeing Iced Earth, and it'll be one with each of the last three singers. Nice. I think that's a pretty varied setlist

Iced Earth was fun, but not as tight as SymX (not surprising - not many bands are). Stu started out a little off, maybe a tad hesitant, but he warmed up after a song or two. He nailed Damian, Watching Over Me, Stand Alone, and had a good rendition of Declaration Day.

I'm looking forward to but less thrilled with the SymX setlist. I love Iconoclast - one of my top albums in 2011, but I don't want to see (almost) the entire album live. SymX is all but ignoring their older catalog.

In hindsight, I'll disagree with myself a bit. Seeing the songs live reminded me just how good Iconoclast is. I don't like them ignoring the older material, but they know where the money is coming from, and there are still enough hooks and tempo changes in the album to make me happy. Allen was Dead On perfect. It may have been the best I've heard him live.

** Note# 1 - I'm glad they ditched the playing The Odyssey.
Steve in Philly

As the lights darkened for the encore, the crowd started chanting: "Odd-Ess-See, Odd-Ess-See, Odd-Ess-See". Russ came out and sang the first few lines of the song, then told everyone it was just one long psyche.

A great show. Glad I dragged myself out late on a Wed night.

Steve in Philly

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

I was at the Philly show, too. I sat up in the balcony and relished the bitching, pissing, and moaning about WARBRINGER by the two ignorant progsnobs who sat in front of me. They left after SX and texted almost the entire SX set. I don't get that at all. Why pay for the ticket and not just listen to the CD if you're not going to watch? On to the show. All three bands were great. But, I really need to get this off my chest. SX especially blew me away. I've always wanted to love this band, but never could. Iconoclast changed all that. I love that album so fucking bad it hurts! It's heavy, fast, dark, and brutal. Brilliant, fat, perfect production. I can't get enough of it. In fact, IMHO, I really don't find that much prog on Iconoclast. I just hear good old honest heavy metal. I loved their setlist, also. I prefer the last three albums and that's what we got. I absolutely loathe the Mythology Suite and find it their weakest besides the first. That album actually turned me off from them until Odyssey came out. I'm no prog fan. Anyone that knows me can verify this. Lane? Milton? Mark? But, I digress. Iconoclast has me loving SYMPHONY X now.

 

[dspot]

Is SyX always closing the shows? Or are they rotating between IE and SyX on which band closes the shows?

 

[labrekk]

Is SyX always closing the shows? Or are they rotating between IE and SyX on which band closes the shows?

They're rotating. For example, in Montreal on Sunday, Symphony X will close and in Quebec City tomorrow, it'll be Iced Earth.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

Sounds like ICED EARTH are still delivering live.
Glad to hear.

I will be at the Joliet show @ MoJoes.......

Oh wait!!! I forgot, my band is on that bill actually! Ha!

No Symphony X at that show though. I think they drop off for the last 5 dates.

If anyone needs tix for the Joliet show on March 17, please let me know.

Awesome deal that you guys got on the bill ... You guys are one of the few enjoyable opening bands out there. Savatage tribute done very well. Check out Ghost in the Ruins if you get a chance.

I'm bummed Symx will not be on the bill. I love Iconoclast and would love to see that set. The new IE is also a solid return after those past couple debacles.

 

[Jasonic]

Awesome deal that you guys got on the bill ... You guys are one of the few enjoyable opening bands out there. Savatage tribute done very well. Check out Ghost in the Ruins if you get a chance.

Wow, thanks Britt!!! You rule!!!!!

Our performance will certainly be enhanced, as we now have keys!

I am even looking more forward to this than ever after finally hearing the new Iced Earth. Holy smokes!!! All killer and no filler. Its been quite a few albums since I have been able to say that about a new IE release.

Would have been cool to have Symphony X here, as I haven't seen them in quite a long time and all the reviews of them live lately have been positive.

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

I love this tour so much that each time these two bands release an album, it should be mandatory they tour together.

 

[KingsGene]

Saw this in KC Sunday night, and all the bands crushed. Not much for Warbringer, but I admired their spirit. Iced Earth really brought it, amazing live sound except for only being able to hear Jon S's rhythm guitar over the other guy's leads, and really liked Stu fronting the band....he's awesome. Symphony X was very tight, and Russell Allen blows me away....but Michael Romeo was a shredding machine.

 

[Arabianhazard]

I'm not going to lie, Stucifer freaked me out a little during Dante's Inferno. That shit was scary.

 

[PureXul]

amazing live sound except for only being able to hear Jon S's rhythm guitar over the other guy's leads

San Diego was the same, and I was standing right in front of Troy, about 3 people back from the rail...I would've liked to see Troy's leads boosted a little higher, but Jon's rhythm tone was so incredibly tight that I was glad to be able to hear it so clearly.

 

[Artizan]

they have just too much stuff being mic'd and run through the board they run out of head room and (openers) don't have their own sound guy that is good enough to push through the 'headliner wall'. It sucks for the opener usually sound-wise, but its all in paying your dues.

gee....never had that happen, have we???

 

[Metal_Camden]

gee....never had that happen, have we???

lol! NEVER, Who would do such a thing to their support bands? haha

 

[SavaRon]

The show at the House of Blues in Orlando has been moved in case anybody missed it. It's at a place called 'The Beacham' in downtown Orlando and the doors are at 5pm from the looks of it. Not sure if they are starting that early, but since it was moved who knows?

Guns N Roses are now playing at HOB that night. Managed to snag some tix for that and we are going to hit both shows, because GnR won't hit the stage until at least 11pm.

 

[Creeps]

The show at the House of Blues in Orlando has been moved in case anybody missed it. It's at a place called 'The Beacham' in downtown Orlando and the doors are at 5pm from the looks of it. Not sure if they are starting that early, but since it was moved who knows?

Guns N Roses are now playing at HOB that night. Managed to snag some tix for that and we are going to hit both shows, because GnR won't hit the stage until at least 11pm.

Why is GNR playing what amounts to be a club for their stature? Haven't they been selling out arenas?

hmm... just checked their site.. only 3 showsl Miami, Orlando, Atlanta...