Galaxy Theater - Santa Ana CA

[PMA]

Well, just got back to northern California after traveling to the show in Santa Ana yesterday. Well, what can I say? Symphony X did not disappoint. Great venue and not a bad seat in the house. Had a great location right behind the board near the bar. Probably 200 ft. from the stage and in a good place for the PA's throw.

Show started at 8 with what I think was a local act called The McKibben Band. Seemed like 80's throwback music but the guitarist was good. Two drummers but neither were great but adequate. 30 minute set and extremely good sound. Following the opener was a band called Havoc. They chose their name well cause they wreaked havoc on the place. Absolutely the worst band I've ever seen. How they got on this bill is beyond me. Thankfully only 30 minute set.

Then Devin Townsend came on after getting a much more thorough sound check on the instruments. I had never heard these guys and was looking forward to the set since I figured that if they are touring with Symphony X, they must be a great band. Well, I was very disappointed. Townsend asked for and got the sound guy to turn him up. He drowned out his entire band. They all seemed to be very good musicians (including Townsend) but couldn't be heard well. I got tired of their set quickly as too many of the initial songs had the same tempo and Townsend's vocal style turned to screaming.

After an hour's set, Townsend was finished and gave way to getting Symphony X set up and sound checked. After about 30 minutes, they finally took the stage and started with Inferno (Unleash The Fire). They quickly moved from tune to tune covering Odyssey, V and Twilight In Olympus. These guys are masters of their instruments and the audience was duly blown away. Russell Allen had a slight bit of road wear in his voice but he was still spectacular. His family was there since they are from California. After a blistering 1 hour set, they looked to be finished but came back out to play Odyssey in its entirety for their encore.

A great show in spite of having to listen to unimpressive bands while waiting for them. Well worth the 800 miles of driving.

Would like to hear others review of the Galaxy show and sound as well as their Saturday show in Hollyweird.

Paul

 

[cinflames]

I was next to the stage at the Santa Ana show for all 4 bands, on the right side where Mike Lepond stands. Being so close it was hard to tell the quality of the sound. After the show we waited for them to come out and they finally did around 1:45 am. I took pics of all of them, well except for Mike Lepond. I ran out of film.

 

[teddyastuffed]

i couldnt agree any more with PMA.

the opening local band, which i guess is The McKibben Band (i didnt catch the name), was a bunch of 40 year olds with a lot of rock in them. personally, i thought they did great. their sound was nice. the only setback is i heard no variation between their songs. they all somewhat sounded the same, but i liked them nonetheless.

next came havok. LOL what a joke.

then Devin Townsend came on stage. i had never heard of the band so i didnt know what to expect. by their appearance it gave me a pessimistic view, but i decided to stick around before moving to the bar. i, btw, was standing in the orcestra area on the side where michael romeo played. anyways, back to devin townsend, lets just say i stood in disbelief at how poorly they played. their sound was horrible, and they didnt impress me one bit. eventually i left for the bar and came back half way during the set up for symphony x.

symphony x was next, and completely blew me away. i never realised how much songs from the odyssey sounded so well when played live. their set was:

-actual set-
Inferno
Wicked
Evolution
Communion and the Oracle
Accolade II
King of Terrors
Smoke and Mirrors
Sea of Lies
Of Sins and Shadows
-encore-
The Odyssey

(this is the same set they played in all US locations to my knowledge)

Wow. personally, i had no idea they would play the odyssey. since it was a 24 minute epic, most bands dont play things like that. but, they did and it rocked. my favorites were evolution and smoke and mirrors. they amazed me and proved to me how powerful they truely are.

all in all, the show was amazing, mainly because of Symphony X.

 

[Curufin]

I drove down from San Francisco to see them, and it was worth it. GOt a pick from Romeo, had him sign it after the show, and got all the members' autographs. Well worth the drive. Devin Townsend is just as horrible as he was at ProgPower 3. Blah.

 

[Guardian of Fire]

I was in the pit to the far left with my good friend Jessie! I hated that speed metal band! They sucked! Why have a speed metal band at a prog metal concert? Any way I was the dood who had the SX shirt tied aroud my hips and the black over shirt.
Any one see me there?

 

[snakeey11]

I was also at the Galaxy Theatre performance. It was my first time seeing Symphony X, and they were absolutely FANTASTIC. I went in expecting it to be the best concert I had ever seen, and I was not dissapointed. As for the other three bands, I enjoyed The McKibben Band the most; especially the first two instrumental songs. Havoc was terrible, and I was unimpressed by Devin Townsend. I liked the venue; a pretty intimate setting. Seeing Michael Romeo in action was truly astounding.

 

[Lopes]

I missed the first two bands because I was in the parking lot getting drunk, although I did catch the last Havoc song and it looked like I didn't miss much. I thought DTB was pretty cool, but I would've liked to have seen a bit more variety in his set. A lot of the songs had a similar tempo, so none of them really stick out in my mind. Seeing The Odyssey was a fantastic experience, probably my favorite Symphony X of all time.

 

[Airgeetar_freak]

I drove from Salt Lake City, Utah to check out the greatest bad in the world. The first band was cool for a basic rock band. Havoc definitely sucked big time!
Devin Townsend was ok, but I was unfamiliar with his tunes. Symphony X was awesome. Russell was an awesome showman. I loved on King of Terrors when Russell had the red light on his face. He looked pretty spooky: very cool effect. Michael Romeo was unreal. He plays as if he could do it blindfolded. He's so good that it is no effort for him. I wish he would have done a solo, even though the brief trade off with Lepond was cool. Hopefully in the future, the band will have one col opener, then play for a good 2-2.5 hours. The concert was too short. Worth driving from Utah to see.

I missed the first two bands because I was in the parking lot getting drunk, although I did catch the last Havoc song and it looked like I didn't miss much. I thought DTB was pretty cool, but I would've liked to have seen a bit more variety in his set. A lot of the songs had a similar tempo, so none of them really stick out in my mind. Seeing The Odyssey was a fantastic experience, probably my favorite Symphony X of all time.