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Venue: The Electric Ballroom, Camden, London Date: 31/03/2003
Setlists:
Symphony X: Inferno, Wicked, Evolution, Communion & The Oracle, Accolade II, Out of the Ashes, Smoke and Mirrors, Of Sins & Shadows
Stratovarius:
Eagle heart, Soul of A Vagabond, Kiss of Judas, Speed of Light, Learning To Fly, Destiny, Fantasia, Father Time, MEDLEY: Fright night/Hands of time/We are the future/Tears of ice/Eyes of the World/Dreamscape/We hold
the key, Forever, Stratofortress, Elements, Will the Sun Rise
Encores: Season of change, Paradise, Hunting Hi and Low; Black Diamond
Well, with three bands on the bill, I suppose that I should have known that I needed to get to the venue early. I arrived at 7:30PM and by then I had already missed Finnish act Thunderstone.
Symphony X came out soon after my arrival, all fired up and with the emphasis definitely on their heavier material. The sound was slightly muddy, but in my experience that is a common problem faced by a band
supporting Stratovarius. Nevertheless the crowd loved the heaviness of the newer tunes like 'Inferno' and 'Wicked' and frontman Russell Allen sung his heart out. The less heavy and perhaps more progressive tunes
such as the material from 'V' and 'Accolade II' also went over very well, though the crowd seemed a little quieter at this time. However they woke up again for the 3 songs which closed the set, two of which were
from the oldest album of the band's catalogue to be featured, 'Divine Wings of Tragedy'.
Anyway, It was very pleasing to see the band get such a good reaction from the crowd. The Greek Metal brotherhood down at the front made lots of noise as usual and sung along in places. If I had a criticism to make
of Symphony X, it would be that their performance looked a little static, but by the time that Jason Rullo's kit had been placed in front of Jorg Michael's huge kit, there probably wasn't much room remaining for
Michaels Romeo and Lepond as well as Russell Allen to stand, never mind move around.
After a slightly longer than usual break, Stratovarius appeared and it was clear from the start that we were to be treated to the full stage-show that the band use in Europe. That meant great lights, slide and video
projections and some pyrotechnics. Given the conditions at the Electric Ballroom, some compromises had to be made and overall the projections were not as clear or as impressive as I've seen them in other venues.
As for the music, 'Eagleheart' from 'Elements Part 1' made a great opener but it was followed by 'Soul of a Vagabond', one of the weaker songs from the new disk. Then they completely threw me by playing a 'Kiss of
Judas' one of my favourite 3 Stratovarius songs and followed it with the super fast 'Speed of Light from 'Episode'. The arrangements of 'Kiss of Judas' were slightly modified, to the songs detriment, but it still
made for a great opening segment to the set.
The band continued to mix songs old and new, even dipping right back into the earliest 4 albums to string together a medley of tunes, only a couple of which I'd ever heard before. While one appreciated that the band
was trying hard to keep all of its fans happy by showcasing songs from throughout their long career, I'm sure that I was just one of many who latched on to the band with the excellent 'Episode' album and have still
not found the inclination to search out their early albums, many of which have not been given a UK distribution or release.
The presence of plenty of songs from 'Episode' was one of the best things about the set, but 'Destiny' is rather weak for the title track on an album and I think that 'SOS' would have been a better representative
from that disk. As for the songs from 'Elements Part 1' well I think that 'Stratofortress' and particularly 'Fantasia' are amongst the weakest tunes the band have produced in years and they were not very impressive
live. Secondly, the song 'Elements' is not a patch on 'Infinity' as the major blockbuster of the set and though they followed it with 'Will the Sun Rise' I was already thinking of leaving by this point.
In the end I stayed to the very end and I'm glad that I did so, because with the exception of the first encore 'Season of Change', the other tunes were fast, catchy, stereotypical Stratovarius fare like 'Paradise',
'Hunting Hi and Low' and another big favourite of mine 'Black Diamond' (not the Kiss number of the same name). Just the sort of songs I was expecting to hear when I bought my ticket.
So, a decent show overall and one that the majority of the crowd enjoyed. The musicianship, as usual was top notch, with the astonishing Jorg (drum machine) Michael nice and crisp in the mix, but what I wasn't so
keen on was the singing of Timo Koltpelto. Though I am a fan of his earlier work, I don't like his tone on 'Elements Part I' and unfortunately he carried this over to the live show. It was the first of 6 times that
I'd seen the band and come away disappointed, though judging from the happy faces leaving the venue, I was in a minority.
Charlie 2003
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