Anyways, here is how I felt about Symphony X's performance:
I was sitting in the first row of the upper balcony, dead center. The only sound issue I had was the bass, Lepond's Ampeg was not really enough to kick the sound up to where we were. Romeo's 2 Mesa Boogie's did the trick quite nicely, and the PA took good care of Rullo on Drums, and Pinella on Keyboards. Russell Allen had an incredible night, he hit his notes perfectly. Especially notable was his usual vocal break in "Wicked", the notes he improved were spectacular.
Inferno was incredible, Rullo ripped the drums apart, he had at least an 8 piece set with about 10 different cymbals (it took 3 racks connected together to fit all of the hardware). I have no idea how he can play seperate double bass parts, which are totally different from what he does with his hands. No one can change the feel like him, and his fills show utter mastery of the set.
Wicked as mentioned before was great, as always. It is a song that was very good on the album, but is sick when played live (much like Awakenings is sick on the album, but is never 100% on the stage...although last night may have changed that)
Communion was beautiful, Pinella has some real skill, he was all over the 3 keyboards he stacked, I love when he plays 2 keyboards at a time. Lepond is a sick, sick man on bass. Leopond basically strolls around the stage jamming out the craziest bass riffs, his speed is amazing, most people cannot play as fast as he does with a pick, let alone 2 fingers!
Awakenings was insane. I have always wanted to hear it live, and now I can die happy. It was the "roughest" of all of the songs, it is very obviously near-impossible to play, there is so much going on. I wish that Romeo would find a rockin back-up guitarist so that songs like Awakenings would be easier to do. Either way- amazing, Romeo's solo was intense at the end of the song. Russel Allen pulled out all of the stops here as well.
Of Sins and Shadows- I was sad when they announced their last song (which is basically always "Shadows". I really wish that I had heard Smoke and Mirrors, Out of the Ashes, or even Masquerade (which they have played live before as an encore with the Damnation Game...soooo awesome). Of Sins and Shadows was awesome, again, Romeo and his insane-ass solos, you've never really heard a guitarist play until you hear Romeo or Yngwie show you the meaning of the word "notes".
It was a short set, but getting to see them at the massive Beacon Theater was well worth the price of admission. I hope that the new album will continue in the "heavier" direction that "The Odyssey" has taken them towards.
