By Chris Martin

It’s no big secret really, but I tend to be a fairly nice guy. I have a very tough exterior, and tend to put out a serious vibe that tends to push people away. Truth be told, I do this because I don’t actually like people on the whole. If you’re in my small group of friends, you know that I would give you the shirt off my back, but to those I don’t know, i tend to keep you at a distance until I know you’re “safe” or decide you stay at a distance. I had purchased tickets for this show some time ago. Roger and Blake, my usual cohorts, were already on board to attend. We had a fourth ticket reserved for a friend of ours named Aaron (he of the Judas Priest tickets) who happens to still be stuck in Afghanistan. Like last time we extended the invite to Laura, who was on board to go until recently. When she told me she would be unable to attend, I racked my brain trying to figure out who to ask. My Sister has been out of work for a little bit, and I offered it to her, but as luck would have it it looked like she was to return the day of the show (and she did.) There was only one person on my Facebook friends list that hadn’t already clicked Like for Iced Earth that wasn’t already going, and after seeing a status he posted indicating he wasn’t currently having the best of luck, I decided to extend the invitation to him. He gladly accepted and we were set. Glad you were able to join us tonight Jason!

Since this show was at The Fillmore in Charlotte, Roger was already in town working, so it was just a matter of collecting Blake and Jason. Blake drove to my Sister’s house and we picked Jason up on the way. After a brief stop to get money to give to Roger for the upcoming Iron Maiden/Alice Cooper show we made our way to the show. The plan was to meet Roger at The Fillmore, him jump in the car, then we make our way to Bojangles then Manifest Records. We actually didn’t have to wait very long for Roger to meet us. Garmin in hand, we made our way to Bojangles. Once we found our location, Blake noticed there was an IHOP nearby, so we changed our minds and decided pancakes was where it was at this evening! Sadly, though the food was quite delicious, this choice was going to kill any chance of hitting the record stuff, and, sadly, put us out of seeing most of Warbringer’s set. We actually would’ve had plenty of time to definitely make the show, and possibly hit the store, but thanks to the horribly slow service, we got put behind terribly. I wasn’t too broken up about it. I love Warbringer, but I didn’t really think they meshed very well with the line up for the evening. In order to speed up the process, I paid for dinner just so we wouldn’t spend twelve hours having this yahoo break down four orders. Paid up, we jumped back into the car and made our way.

We got to The Fillmore just in time to catch the last two songs of Warbringer. They sounded great, and I was a little disappointed we missed them, but wasn’t too bent out of shape. We made our way to the merch table to see what they had. I was really disappointed that the Symphony X table didn’t have any 2x shirts for a fat bastard such as myself. At least the web site has them so it’s all good. Purchases made we made our way to our spot for the evening. We decided to stand in the section that was usually reserved for VIP, but since they had a portion of the club cut off they moved that section elsewhere. I kind of liked where we stood. We had a good side angle of the stage with very few obstructions. It seemed like no time elapsed from Warbringer leaving the stage and Symphony X taking over.

Thanks to my previous research as I usually do these days, I had scoped out the seltlists of all three bands a few weeks back, so I was more or less prepared to hear the songs we did. Based solely on this information, and hindsight firmly in place, Symphony X should’ve closed the show. As this was a co-headlining tour, both bands were switching off who closed each night. Seems the most diplomatic way of doing it, but SyX’s setlist was so badass I really think they should’ve ended every night. As soon as the opening refrains of “Iconoclast” began it was pretty clear that Symphony X was going to blow my mind! If you’re not familiar, they’re an excellent cross of Yngwie Malmsteen meets Dream Theater (and if you don’t know that comparison well, what the hell ya reading this for?!?) I became an instant fan from the very first time I heard them years ago. Most of the set consisted of tracks from their latest CD Iconoclast. This is the best album they have ever done, and I was glad to hear them perform most of it. Guitarist Michael Romeo is one of the most blisteringly incredible players out there. And he makes it look so easy. On top of that you’ve got Russell Allen who has a powerful voice and a consummate frontman and it just works. Allen’s voice is not unlike that of the late great Ronnie James Dio. One song I was super happy to hear was “When All Is Lost.” Taking in consideration it has a lot of ballad-esque moments, it was the song I was most interested in hearing live. There’s something about a tune that is as dynamic as this one in a live setting. With the soft parts, the heavy parts, and all points in between, it’s a true testament to as to how good a band is if they can pull off the nuances live. They completely surpassed my expectations. Beyond a shadow of a doubt Symphony X is one of the best live bands playing today. Not to mention the fact that this evening happened to be Michael Romeo’s birthday, so they brought out a cake and had all three bands on stage and they and the crowd sang Happy Birthday to him. Pretty damn cool if ya ask me!

While the road crew was breaking down and setting up equipment, we took the time to shoot the shit and catch up with each other. As well as people watch. I freely admit that I enjoy checking out the crowds in attendance at shows. You’ve got your assortment of freaks and geeks and scantily clad women, including one in dire need of a sandwich. It was really nice catching up with Jason too. We didn’t really hang out while in high school, but we were always civil and spoke to one another. Through Facebook we have managed to connect a bit more. I always like hanging out with new people at shows. Lights went down indicating that next up was Iced Earth.

Much like SyX, this was the second time seeing these guys live. Only this time was the first time with seeing them with new vocalist Stu Block. Stu is someone Roger and I have been a huge fan of since we had the opportunity to see him front Into Eternity about 7 times in one year. He’s what I refer to as a vocal chameleon. He’s got an incredible range and his abilities can go from a guttural growl to a soaring falsetto. It was bittersweet news hearing him switch bands, but after hearing the new album Dystopia it seemed he made a wise decision. Not only are the songs contained outstanding, it’s also a chance to showcase his abilities in a band that has a little more name recognition. After my research I was shocked to see so few tracks being played from the new album, however tonight they actually switched a couple older songs for two more new ones. There were a couple of places it seemed like Stu struggled a bit, but for the most part he did a fantastic job on the classic songs as well as the one’s he recorded with IE. The highlight of their performance for me was them doing “Damien.” This is such an incredible song that sets such an evil tone (the song is based on The Omen trilogy) and they nailed it! The also did the epic “Dante’s Inferno,” which clocks in at around 16 minutes. Though I still stand firm on the fact that SyX’s set was much stronger and probably should’ve closed, Iced Earth still did a fantastic job.

Show completed we parted ways with Roger and headed back to Statesville. I hope we get to see some more shows with Jason. He’s a super cool guy for sure! And as always it’s a pleasure hanging out and talking to shit to my brutha’s Roger and Blake. And if I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times, this is certainly one show I would highly suggest you checking out!! It’s pretty close to the end sadly, but it was a perfect night of heavy metal and great friends. So until next time my peeps always remember: Silent pictures speak like ghosts in the machine haunting my reflection in the frame.

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

Next session: Sunday 19 January

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 3 December 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)