Personal view of the gig...
I was at the very front about 2 metres to the right of JP's mic stand. From there, the mix was very good in the first half but deteriorated during the 2nd half so that by the end, not much of JP's solos could be heard when the whole band were going full tilt. I'm sure it was fine elsewhere though.
Set One:
As I Am
Beyond This Life
Endless Sacrifice
Caught In A Web (with drum solo)
This Dying Soul
The Great Debate
Finally Free
15 minute Intermission
Set Two:
JR Piano slot into Death on Two Legs (from A Night At The Opera)
Honor Thy Father
Another Day
Only a Matter of Time
A Mind Beside Itself (Erotomania, Voices, Silent Man)
In the Name of God
1st Encore:
Trial of Tears
2nd Encore:
Metropolis Part 1.
Some cool things from the gig:
1) JP's singing which was in tune (!!) and quite impressively high.
2) some very tricky passages were very very tight (in particular, the end of The Dying Soul. And Metropolis Part 1 - the doubled passages were the tightest I've heard them played live)
3) James LaBrie's voice was very strong and he hit all the high notes (bar one) without straining.
4) Jordan's waaaay cool new keyboard stand
5) As Artist mentioned, JP's piezo sound (although it was the same as on the SFAM tour, still impressive)
6) John Myung's bass playing - every time I see that guy play I'm blown away. When he came over to JP's side of the stage at the end, he got a massive heartfelt cheer from us in the audience at that end.
7) The webcams which were brilliantly used when working... however, see below!
8 ) The intro collage which was really cool and a great idea. (spandex and hairspray anyone?!)
Some dodgy things from the gig:
1) some absolute twat throwing a cup of liquid over JP as he's standing at the front of the stage shredding. To his credit, JP didn't batter an eyelid and carried on flawelessly!
2) JP's pedal board/rig/brain - several times (I counted at least 4 times), JP hit the wrong sound (e.g. sparkly clean instead of heavy distortion) at crucial moments. Don't know if this was a technical problem with his rig or JP just getting it wrong? During Caught In A Web (I think it was this one, cant remember for sure), the mistake led him to fluff about 8 bars or so as he tried to remember where they were in the piece.
3) The webcams were very unreliable. Often freezing frames or crapping out altogether.
4) Total loss of James' vocals for a few lines at one point (unsure whose fault it was but he didn't look happy about it!). From the front, you could still just about hear his voice over the PA system! Now that's powerful!!
For those that take umbridge at the dodgy things I mentioned, they didn't detract from the gig as a whole, just pointing out a few of the things that happened, that's all.
In general, it was... how can I put this....? AWESOME!!
I think as a band they were tighter and more in control of the music on the SFAM tour than they were last night, but the atmosphere and vibe was so much more exciting with this gig. The whole band were really into it and enjoying themselves, the audience (down on the floor, don't know about circle tickets) were really into it and the set list was exceptionally good.
