The band received fairly much response, seeing the audience’s enthusiasm. The music itself was not bad, though they did miss some originality and stage action (except for the bass-player!!). The sound was decent, only lacking good keyboard volume. After half an hour they left; in no time Symphony X entered the stage.

Symphony X
It makes no sense why this band needs to tour with Stratovarius. In all respect to Stratovarius, but Symphony X deserves a headline-spot. Without intro, lights on, they blasted off with “Inferno” from the new album The Odyssey. It was clear a lot of people only came for Symphony X, seeing the many Symphony X shirts in the front row. Remarkable fact: after Symphony X’s show, many fans left the venue, without even watching Stratovarius.

Nevertheless, the sound was horrible. I positioned myself on the left side of the stage, but I could only hear the drums and too much bass. I know it’s better to take a central position during a concert, especially near the soundman, but sometimes this is just not possible. The instrumental duels between Romeo (Guitar) and Pinella (Keyboards), a trademark of Symphony X, were unrecognizable. Too bad.

Back to the music. During the short set they played about 7 or 8 songs (lost the count) of their latest four albums, with the emphasis on the metal songs. It was a delight to hear part II of “The Accolade” live and they even played my favorite from the album V, “Communion And The Oracle”. It was also a pleasure seeing guitar-master Romeo play his instrument. Seeing him play with that accuracy is just amazing.

Rusell Allen was the man of the show. After his escapade with Ayreon/Star One it was clear that he is one of the best metal singers of the moment. He made sure of that tonight. After the encore “Of Sins And Shadow” and 40 minutes of annoying sound quality the band left the stage. Rusell mentioned they will be back during fall. Hopefully with a complete show and a decent sound.

Stratovarius
A little before nine o’clock Stratovarius hit the stage in a packed 013. On cd, Stratovarius is not really my cup of tea. I have never seen this band live and I have to say that, initially, I only came for Symphony X. The band started with “Eagle-heart” from their last album Elements Pt 1. With fireworks and flamethrowers, an amazing lightshow, good sound and a fanatic (!!!) crowd, this band really amazed me. Not really musically, but with their performance.

The sound was very good, compared to the first two bands. This is music you have to experience live. The band played extremely tight and the fireworks were so heavy, the building really trembled. Now, that’s metal! It was cool to see Jens Johansson playing his keyboard towards (!!) the audience.

The set contained new and old work, including an instrumental song with some Russian polka metal. During this instrumental, two guys wearing a moose-head walked the stage, dancing on the polka rhythm. Quite funny!!! All songs were supported by a backdrop video-screen, which contained pictures, lyrics and special effects. I have to give two thumbs up for the light-engineer. He did a great job.

A little after ten o’clock the band interrupted their regular set for a break. Unfortunately we had to leave during the break. All in all this turned out to be an amusing night. Due to the bad sound during Symphony X’s gig, it could however been much better.

(Review: Martijn Semmelink
Pics: Nico Vink)