From the first riffs of I For An I till Higher the musical performance was strong, allthough the vocals were a little less strong. Especially the song Higher (a good psychedelic song with great guitar solo) was performed excellently. Unfortunately after 30 minutes Mother Matrix suddenly had to stop the show on behalf of the management of the headliners. The band was quite disappointed.

After a 30 minutes break it was time for the main act. Tony Macalpine is one of the first guitar virtuoso from the Mike Varney crest. He plays progressive instrumental metal with classical influences, incorporating elements of jazz and fusion. He made 11 cd’s, the first one in 1986 “Edge of Insanity”, the latest one in 2006 “Collection - The Shrapnel Years”. On this first cd the bass quitar was played by … Billy Sheehan, the bass guitar player who was voted 5 times as the "Best Rock Bass Player" in Guitar Player magazines Readers Poll. As we all can agree with, having heard some of his other cd’s with Mr. Big and David Lee Roth. Sheehan also made a large number of solo recordings. And last but not least: Virgil Donati, an Australian drum wizard who played with many bands e.g. Planet X, Steve Vai Band and Ring of Fire. He is considered a real drum virtuoso. All in all the expectations of the audience were very high, seeing these three master musicians playing together.

The audience surely got everything they came for. Solo after solo, one bass riff after another, and amazing drum playing by Virgil, what more can you ask for? Sheehan was rocking and rolling, and it was a pleasure to see him play. Macalpine excised solo after solo out of his guitar and Donaty formed the solid foundation for all this, superb!! The band played several tracks from Macalpines first album, Edge of Insanity. I’ve always liked this album, and seeing these songs performed live on stage was absolutely fabulous. To be honest I’m not very familiar with the material of Sheehan and Donaty, but their performance was very convincing as well.

Of course all of the musicians played quite a few solo’s. Billy Sheehan let his bass guitar speak for itself, the way he handled it and the speed of his playing was amazing. The solo of Virgil Donaty was great. I usually don’t like drum solo’s, since they’re very predictable. Virgil’s solo however wasn’t boring at all, he proved to be one of the best drum players I’ve ever seen. And Tony Macalpine? Well, he played so many solo’s during the songs, he limited his stand-alone solo to a short (but very melodic) one. All in all, the audience had a really great evening.

At the end of the show all three musicians thanked the audience (it was their last show of the tour) and promised to be back next year in the Bosuil. I will be there again!

(Review & Pics: Ralph Vermeere)