o Symphony X/The Devin Townsend Band @ Metro, 11/24, $15
I walked into the venue just as Twelfth Gate was playing their last notes, so that was the second time I’d missed a chance to seem them (both at the Metro). Bummer.

Didn’t miss Devin though, and he was great. The last couple times I’d seen him it had been with SYL, so it was nice to hear his other stuff agin. I think I liked this set even more than ProgPower, although that could be just because I knew the songs more. The sound was perfect, and the whole band just does an amazing job of recreating the sonics of the CDs in a live situation. I love the drummer, and he really lends some hard-hitting, crisp tightness to the band. Devin is known these days for his unique songwriting style and guitar sounds, and as a producer, but I was reminded that his first claim to fame was as a vocalist for Steve Vai. Because he’s really great singer, and that almost gets forgotten. This may be sacrilege, but I think his vocal performance was much better than Russell Allen’s, especially when it comes to reproducing what’s on record. The crowd, although clearly there for Symphony X, was generally polite and appreciative, probably even a little more than Devin was giving them credit for. He did play the instrumental “Away” to show off his wanking skills to the crowd. Oh, and I finally figured out that the bass player reminds me of Reese from “Malcolm in the Middle”. I think the setlist was

Seventh Wave
Storm
Earth Day
Life
Truth
Regulator
Away / Deep Peace(?)
Bad devil

Symphony X was good as usual, although for some reason they’re a band that never blows me away like they seem to for so many other people. I did stay for the whole set this time though, and it seemed like they played a lot of my favorites, so that was cool. It was my first time hearing “The Odyssey”, and while it seemed like a cool song, it really didn’t make me feel at all like I was in ancient Greece! My favorite part of the show was when I walked up and saw two people right at the front rail wearing corpsepaint. I thought “Is there a black metal band playing at this show?” But then I looked closer, and realized they were wearing makeup in the form of the Symphony X masks, and even had the appropriate hooded capes. Ha!

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