About five minutes before Symphony X took the stage, I realized that they hadn’t played a live show since the end of the first Gigantour in September, 2005 – an absence of more than a year and a half. “That’s interesting,” I thought. “I wonder what sort of effect that’s going to have on the show.” By the time Symphony X was halfway through their first song, the band and the dark, heat-drenched cavern of B.B. Kings had the answer: through a few missteps and dropped cues, the band would start to regain its form, all the while combating the horrendous acoustics that did their best to spoil the evening’s entertainment.
Sound Issues Make for Hard Hearing
At their best – the first fifteen minutes of the band’s encore – the sound problems were a manageable detractor; a price, like the sweltering heat rising from the packed bodies, to be paid for watching a superior live band do its thing. For the other hour and fifteen minutes, the audio quality was so poor it was a distraction: a steady booming hum from the amps that turned to mud when it left the speakers, obliterating much of bassist Michael Lepond’s careful fretwork, washing out the bottom of keyboardist Michael Pinnella’s synth lines and generally making it difficult to follow the familiar sounds of the Symphony X catalog. Before that blissful interlude during “The Odyssey” I was willing to write off the bass tones vibrating my skull as a side effect of B.B. King’s poor construction; afterwards I decided that poor sound engineering and the long absence from the stage played their part as well.
The Long Absence from the Stage Shows
Then there were the small miscues, the occasional missed note or ill-timed stage position (or 10-minute interval between set and encore) that make the difference between a tight show and a loose one. Symphony X is a highly technical progressive metal act with a fun, loose stage presence that blurs the line between accident and intentional, but it’s safe to say this show wasn’t as strong a performance as their sets during Gigantour two years ago. At the same time, Symphony X had the experience to realize they weren’t at their best and the support of the (grateful, really) crowd no matter what and kept loose from turning into sloppy. It underscored how this show was as much a warm up as it was a special “evening with…” and added a sense of intimacy: here was Symphony X, not at their best but sharing their vulnerability with a sympathetic audience.
The Good Far Outweighs the Bad
For all of these flaws, there were more than enough stellar moments to make this soirée an excellent show. First and foremost is the musicianship and energy Symphony X puts on stage. Progressive metal can be dry, tedious and soulless noodling at its very worst, a pretentious escape from all of the explosiveness that characterizes good rock music. Symphony X has none of those problems in their live act: aided by a few simple lighting tricks, the band can evoke any mood from soulful to stirring to rocking with ease, transporting the crowd on the broad shoulders of their music to new transports of delight. More importantly, they got better as the night wore on, shaking off the dust and rust for a true return to form. When the music finally ended, I found myself wondering at the speed of time passed.
Russell Allen’s Mastery of the Mic
Special mention must be made of singer Russell Allen, who has developed a special mastery over the role of front man. A consummate vocalist with a great deal of range and power, Allen also has a gift for evoking and controlling a mood; delivering his gestures and exhortations (“This song is called ‘Set the World on Fire.’ Are you ready to the world on fire New York City?”) in a way that seem cheesy but instead underscores the power of the music. This particular show saw Allen at his best; even when guitar phenom Michael Romeo took his awe-inspiring solos, breath taking in their intricacy, it was hard to not look at Allen to see what he was doing. This excellence made “The Odyssey,” an adaptation of Homer’s famous tale, into a true retelling, with Allen and his band of accomplished fellow musicians taking up the role of the blind Greek bard. For 25 minutes we all watched spellbound, as the band worked their magic and Allen recreated Odysseus on stage. It was a phenomenal ending to an incredible night.
