Jukebox:Metal

Symphony X - Astoria 2008

Paradise Lost Tour
London - March 6
Capacity 2,000

Being handed the coveted support slot on Dream Theater’s tour last year (finally) increased metal fans’ awareness of Symphony X almost overnight, meaning they could instantly book a headlining tour in venues the size of the Astoria some five years since the last time they were able to headline here.

Last time they played the Astoria’s smaller counterpart the Mean Fiddler (now the Astoria 2), so the upgrade to the larger venue was long overdue. Support for the tour came from Epica, who angered a lot of fans by canceling several other dates due to singer Simone Simons’ illness, but continued to play these shows with Symphony X, and their own US tour.

Despite her much publicised health problems, Simone did a good job with their short set, but was visibly waning towards the end. They played a good mix of songs from latest album The Divine Conspiracy and older material, but over the course of 40 minutes there really isn’t enough variation in the songs to hold the interest of anyone not already a fan.

At the Wembley Arena show with Dream Theater a few months ago Symphony X impressed (obviously well enough to get this tour booked) but struggled to really extend themselves with such a short set. This time they could flesh out the set with older songs and fit in a lot more banter, which front-man Russell Allen proved rather good at. The band were visibly looser than at the Wembley show, and clearly enjoyed themselves more as well, with the crowd already won over from the beginning.

While a few fans newer to the band were disappointed with the omission of 20+ minute behemoth The Odyssey, which they had seen the band play at Wembley, older fans were delighted with the inclusion of songs like Through The Looking Glass, Masquerade and The Divine Wings of Tragedy Part VII: Paradise Regained, none of which have been played live for some time.

As expected most of the obvious songs were culled from the current album Paradise Lost, including the now familiar opening trio of Set The World On Fire (The Lie of Lies), Domination and The Serpent’s Kiss, all of which are some of the heaviest Symphony X songs in their repertoire, plus the much mellower title track. The remaining new songs Revelation (Divus Pennae Ex Tragoedia) and Eve of Seduction were scattered amongst the older songs, with one special treat thrown in a well.

Purely for the English audiences they opened the encore with Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song, leading into Eve of Seduction. Younger fans failed to recognise the homage to one of England’s most popular rock bands in the States, but everyone else loved seeing SX pull out something so unexpected.

If the Dream Theater tour had opened a few eyes for Symphony X, this show certainly held everyone’s attention and there’s no doubt that once they produce another album and want to tour again they’ll have no trouble booking decent sized UK dates. They are now firmly on the radar of metal fans who’s progressive knowledge began and ended with Dream Theater, and Michael Romeo’s dazzling fretboard work has clearly appealed to all the young metal fans who though Herman Lee was the only one that could do it.

“ visibly looser ”

Epica Setlist: The Obsessive Devotion / Sensorium / Menace of Vanity / Chasing The Dragon / Sancta Terra / Cry For The Moon / Fools Of Damnation / Consign To Oblivion

Symphony X Setlist: Set The World On Fire (The Lie of Lies) / Domination / The Serpent’s Kiss / Masquerade / Paradise Lost / Through The Looking Glass / Inferno (Unleash The Fire) / Smoke And Mirrors / Sea of Lies / Revelation (Divus Pennae Ex Tragoedia) > The Divine Wings of Tragedy Part VII: Paradise Regained // Immigrant Song > Eve of Seduction / Out of The Ashes / Of Sins And Shadows

Photo(s): Johan Eriksson | www.rockersdigest.com

Written by Andy Lye
More: Gigs, Progressive, Epica, Symphony X