Symphony X -- Columbus, OH -- March 7th, 2012

[gilpdawg]

Only bothering with this because SX changed the order of their set. All the songs were the same, just different order than every other set I've seen so far.

Warbringer:

Living Weapon
Severed Reality
Shoot to Kill
Demonic Ecstasy
Living in a Whirlwind
Combat Shock

Pretty good, but suffered from "opener sound." I didn't realize how young all those dudes are. Singer looks like he can't be older than 20 or so.

Iced Earth:

Dystopia
Angels Holocaust
Slave to the Dark
V
Stand Alone
When the Night Falls
Dark City
Damien
Anthem
Declaration Day
Days of Rage
Watching Over Me
Dante's Inferno
Iced Earth

Stu was amazing. I was kind of worried, being close to the end of the tour, and I believe the last night of 5 shows in a row, that his voice might be a little ragged, but dude was flawless. Fucking amazing. Dante's Inferno ripped my head off and shit down my neck. Damn.

During Watching Over Me, apparently a girl got smacked in the face or something over on Jon's side of the stage. Don't know details, or if it was accidental or on purpose, but Jon dropped his guitar mid-song and ran over there to see if she was okay. He was pissed. He kept giving someone over there the stinkeye the rest of the show. Stu didn't know what was going on and he walked over where the guitar was and acted like he was going to pick it up and play it, but didn't obviously.

Symphony X

Iconoclast
The End of Innocence
Dehumanized
Bastards of the Machine
Children of a Faceless God
When All is Lost
Electric Messiah
Inferno (Unleash the Fire)
Of Sins and Shadows
Encore:
Eve of Seduction
Serpent's Kiss
Set the World on Fire (The Lie of Lies)

They apparently have a day off in Jersey tomorrow, because they mentioned 3 or 4 times that they are home tomorrow. And they played like they couldn't wait to get there. I went to this show mostly to see them, and left more impressed with Iced Earth. Russell was drinking a lot, and his voice was a little off, and the sound wasn't near as good as Iced Earth's. I think they borrowed Lars' St. Anger drum kit for the first half of the set, as that snare overpowered everything, and you couldn't hear Romeo that well. It got better towards the end of the set, but from Bastards until Electric Messiah I was actually kind of bored, and I never thought I'd be bored at a Symphony X show. And a pit actually got started during Electric Messiah. I will never understand moshing at power metal shows. Just doesn't seem like "mosh" type music, but whatever.

Even though SX was a little disappointing, I'm glad I went because IE ripped my fucking face off. I had my doubts when they hired Stu, but I'm a believer now.

[maidenpriest]

Originally Posted by gilpdawg

They apparently have a day off in Jersey tomorrow, because they mentioned 3 or 4 times that they are home tomorrow. And they played like they couldn't wait to get there. I went to this show mostly to see them, and left more impressed with Iced Earth. Russell was drinking a lot, and his voice was a little off, and the sound wasn't near as good as Iced Earth's. I think they borrowed Lars' St. Anger drum kit for the first half of the set, as that snare overpowered everything, and you couldn't hear Romeo that well. It got better towards the end of the set, but from Bastards until Electric Messiah I was actually kind of bored, and I never thought I'd be bored at a Symphony X show. And a pit actually got started during Electric Messiah. I will never understand moshing at power metal shows. Just doesn't seem like "mosh" type music, but whatever.

Even though SX was a little disappointing, I'm glad I went because IE ripped my fucking face off. I had my doubts when they hired Stu, but I'm a believer now.

I felt the same way about both bands. IE blew me away, and Stu was fucking incredible. Symphony possibly put in their worst performance I've seen by them (granted it was still good but not their best)

[masterguy49]

When I saw this tour Friday, Iced Earth and Warbringer killed it. The problem with Symphony was that most people were tired and 3/4ths of the crowd left after Iced Earth. I feel like if Iced Earth ended the show it would have been better. Oh well, all was good overall.

[Sanitarium78]

Originally Posted by masterguy49

The problem with Symphony was that most people were tired and 3/4ths of the crowd left after Iced Earth.

Maybe they weren't tired and 3/4ths of the crowd was there only for Iced Earth. Next week will be my first time seeing them, so I can't speak to how many people they draw at shows but it's certainly possible.

[Force10]

Pretty much the same deal this past Monday in Raleigh.

Iced Earth was the better band - Stu was great and the band just sounded better than SX. Of course "Dante's" killed. The crowd thinned out as well after IE. SX was good, but Russell was also drinking Monday and the mix was a bit too loud. "they played like they couldn't wait to get there." describes their set very well. At least I scored the SX setlist from the soundboard (that was folded in half and never unfolded the entire set )

[Maiden33]

The thought of anyone claiming Romeo wasn't loud enough blows my mind... every time I've seen them he drown out almost everything. The keyboards in particular are never, ever loud enough at SX shows.

[SomewhereInTime72]

I love Iconoclast, but that's an abysmal SX setlist. Considering my experience with them live, I doubt the show is anything less than awesome though. Iced Earth set is exciting.