Symphony X Celebrate Their Eventual 25th Anniversary Tour with Haken and Trope

June 1st, 2022

          After a few delays from the global pandemic, Progressive Power Metal legends Symphony X would finally embark on their 25th anniversary tour, celebrating their monumental discography alongside Haken, and Trope.  Tonight’s festivities would take place in Los Angeles, at The Belasco, where a crowded venue of eagerly waiting fans, would soak up this Progressive-filled musical theme.

          Having an interesting setup on-stage, Trope would open up tonight’s event, to an already packed house.  With a drum machine to back up the tempo and beats, Diana Studenberg’s glowing energy and passionate voice resonated with much of the audience.  Through the softer passages and slowly picked chords from the only guitarist on stage, “Moonhead”, you can hear the talent, see the drive, feel the genuine interaction with the crowd, and the homage to the late 70s to early 80s; particularly the strength in quality numbers for women in Rock:  Pat Benatar, Blondie, Ann Wilson from Heart, to name a few.  Light Progressive Rock, is how I’d describe what I heard from Trope. 

As well as the audience enjoyed them, and I did too overall, the fact there was only one guitarist, and a drum machine, did make a difference in the power of the set.  Checking a little online, they do have other members in the band, but couldn’t exactly find out why this setup was as it was.  It did slightly hinder their performance, only because I felt there were further elements missing from the music.  Nevertheless, you couldn’t help but smile seeing Trope’s engagement to the crowd, and Diana’s singing abilities were a standout for sure.  Difficult to fully assess Trope with this sort of lineup, but tonight’s first time seeing the band, I enjoyed their performance.   

1.  Lambs

2.  Plateau

3.  Privateer

4.  Surrogate

5.  Planes

6.  Breach

7.  Pareidolia

            Missing out on seeing their performance with Leprous a few years back, I didn’t really find the proper time to hear Haken on record since, but after seeing this outstanding show from them, might be time to make that change.  Progressive Metal/Rock from the U.K., Haken immediately had the crowd in shock and amazement. The rainbow colourful light drop, added so much aesthetic beauty and intriguing sight, to softly gaze upon. With backup vocals coming from nearly every band member, the beautiful singing arrangements dialed up the “theatre-like” atmosphere and tone from Haken.  Right in the middle of “Prosthetic”, Ross Jennings belted out a glorious sounding sustain, igniting the crowd to reach those notes with him.  Speaking the words quietly after a chorus, headbanging to the more distorted, powerful riff sections, and overall capturing the imagination vocally during these rather complicated arrangements, it’s truly something to see a singer as talented as Ross is.

            Despite all the backup vocal work from the rest of Haken, the layers upon layers of tricky guitar solo work, intense Progressive Rock sections, and the diligent attention to detail, truly were the highlights of their magnificent set.  From light high note picking, incredible fretboard awareness, to bombarding spastic chords, Richard "Hen" Henshall’s remarkable contributions to Haken, are demonstrated in highlighting fashion.  An instrumental in “Nil by Mouth”, also showed the prophetic, glimpsing keyboard work from newest member, Peter Jones.  Not only acting as melodies for Henshalls’s and Charles Griffiths’s various playing and dissonant riffs, but creating the nuisances and balancing the beautiful chaos surrounding Haken’s overall play.  The dashing acapella-like vocal counterpoints, unreal balance between each member, unique uses of dark harmonious riffs, and adding warm, lighter textures, had The Belasco in true awe and disbelief.  For Haken’s overall performance, as well as the compelling impact their excellent Progressive music sound, it actually was my favourite act of the evening.    

1. Prosthetic

2.  Invasion

3.  Nightingale

4.  Cockroach King

5.  Nil by Mouth

6.  1985

7.  Carousel

            Despite Haken’s brilliance on-stage, this was still a Symphony X headlining event, and as soon as the blistering intro to “Nevermore” was heard, the crowd absolutely exploded in delight.  Russell Allen’s dynamic screams, imaginative story-telling, and hilarious banter in-between songs, was something I remember so distinctly the last time I saw them:  co-headlining with Iced Earth back in 2012.  Symphony X doesn’t tour quite often, even before the global pandemic, and seeing the band sound even greater this time around, shows the constant progressions, even with the veteran groups.  Throughout their entire set, the clean, crisp sounding keyboard play from Michael Pinnella, contributed to countless variations of either being a counterpoint to the guitar solos, and matching the soul of the lyrics through gorgeous harmony.  They didn’t overpower the rest of the band, nor hid buried in the sound mix.  And, in the end of “Run with the Devil” and the beginning in “When All is Lost”, you’re able to hear how vital Pinnella is to the fantasy-driven theme Symphony X performs in.

            It would be complete injustice, without reminding the audience out there, the absolute profound force of nature, who writes the heavy majority of Symphony X’s material, as well as being one of the most astounding, exhilarating guitar players out there:  Michael Romeo.  The countless styles of hammer-on/hammer-off combinations in his riffs, which allows Pinnella’s parts to match Romeo’s, creating that “duality” and servicing the song-structures to mass effect.  With unworldly ease, Romeo’s erupting solos had the entire venue screaming and wanting to capture each note played.  Much like Jeff Loomis and John Petrucci in the Progressive world, Michael Romeo has been recognized for the sheer talent that not many have, and to see it performed for almost 2 hours, reminds you of the fascinating musicians, we’re able to see on a lucky, consistent basis.    

            Celebrating those 25-years as a full-fledged band, Symphony X came back for one more song, to demonstrate their longevity in the Metal scene, and to my admitted surprise:  performing the entire song of “The Odyssey.”  A 24-minute mountaintop of a track, the teamwork and renditions from Pinnella and Romeo, resonated in a vivid way, taking the listener throughout Odysseus’s eventful, and often tragically-told voyage home, to Ithaca.  One of the more stunning encores I’ve ever attended, and heard.  I appreciate the dedication of lyrics written in length and sounding diction like this, and Allen’s knowledge and prosper singing throughout all of this track, shows his range and importance for this band. 

Symphony X’s near 2-hour performance was uplifting, with their strength in songwriting, sonically bringing out those lyrical bubbles to life, and fantastic evidence for being one of the most sensational Progressive Power Metal bands, to ever exist.

1.  Nevermore

2.  Evolution (The Grand Design)

3.  Serpent's Kiss

4.  Sea of Lies

5.  Without You

6.  When All Is Lost

7.  Kiss of Fire

8.  Run with the Devil

9.  Set the World on Fire (The Lie of Lies)

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10.  The Odyssey