Iced Earth / Symphony X / Warbringer - MAR6, 2012 Charlotte NC

A quick synopsis...

We had about 500 people on a Tuesday night in Charlotte. I drove for about 80 minutes to get there. It was totally worth it.

It was an early show, starting promptly at 7:00PM (I missed the first couple of songs from Warbringer because of this). Iced Earth was over at 11:25.

Warbringer - decent Thrash...they were having fun.

Symphony X - brilliant...amazing...Allen NAILED every note all night...10/10

Iced Earth - they need to hire a new sound guy...he sucks. He ruined the good sound that Warbringer & Symphony X had...all rhythm guitar, bass & snare drum...vocals and solos drowned out (except for Block's screams....those were loud and clear). They were so loud at one point it was distorting and the snare felt like it was driving a nail into my ear. "Dante's Inferno" and "Damien" (as awesome as they are) kinda dragged down the set with the drawn out epic vibe...but overall a well played set from Iced Earth. 7/10

Can't wait for this show to come to Montana .....nevermind

kewl ya had a good time bro

Allen is certainly one of the best metal vocalists today. I saw SX several years ago and his performance solidified him as one of my top 5 vocalists. To be that harsh of a singer yet manintain that level of melody is a talent I'd give my left arm for.

Throw in Iced Earth and I'd really love to see them but I can't. Sucks being broke and unemployed .

Yeah, Allen is ridiculous.

About 10 years ago when I first was reviewing for DigitalMetal.com (later TeethOfTheDivine.com), I dubbed Allen and Jorn Lande as "future legends in the genre" saying they'd one day be mentioned with the same awe and reverence as Dio and Dickinson...I stand by that.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Yeah, Allen is ridiculous.

About 10 years ago when I first was reviewing for DigitalMetal.com (later TeethOfTheDivine.com), I dubbed Allen and Jorn Lande as "future legends in the genre" saying they'd one day be mentioned with the same awe and reverence as Dio and Dickinson...I stand by that.

I agree. I pretty much said the same thing after the first Allen/Lande album (the other two are great IMO but neither touches The Battle).

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

About 10 years ago when I first was reviewing for DigitalMetal.com (later TeethOfTheDivine.com), I dubbed Allen and Jorn Lande as "future legends in the genre" saying they'd one day be mentioned with the same awe and reverence as Dio and Dickinson...I stand by that.

By a significantly smaller percentage of fans, I don't see these guys ever hitting record sales to rival Iron Maiden or Dio.

S.D. wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

About 10 years ago when I first was reviewing for DigitalMetal.com (later TeethOfTheDivine.com), I dubbed Allen and Jorn Lande as "future legends in the genre" saying they'd one day be mentioned with the same awe and reverence as Dio and Dickinson...I stand by that.

By a significantly smaller percentage of fans, I don't see these guys ever hitting record sales to rival Iron Maiden or Dio.

Well, of course. Maybe if they were around in the 80s (they were alive, but nobody knew who they were-Allen probably wasn't even jousting at that time) but in this day and age, no metal band formed in the last 15 years or so (no matter how good) could match that.

S.D. wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

About 10 years ago when I first was reviewing for DigitalMetal.com (later TeethOfTheDivine.com), I dubbed Allen and Jorn Lande as "future legends in the genre" saying they'd one day be mentioned with the same awe and reverence as Dio and Dickinson...I stand by that.

By a significantly smaller percentage of fans, I don't see these guys ever hitting record sales to rival Iron Maiden or Dio.

I didn't say anything about sales. I'm talking about amongst future Metal fans...to scale.

Saw this tour when it came near my neck of the woods. Had a stellar night. Up here all three bands had a fantastic sound. They played in a very high scale club in the big city and it had probably 800 people out. The club stage had no barrier between the bands and the audience. The floor in front was very packed, sardine city.

I was on the main floor by the rail that separated the lower floor from the main. Great view for all the bands. The friend whom I was going to go with bailed on me at the last moment and my dear wife came along with me, even though she does not like metal. Funny as when I got back from a washroom run, this big metal dude called me a dick! He asked my wife which band she was there to see, and she told him NONE. She does not like metal. She just came along as I did not want the ticket to go to waste.

metalken wrote:

. Funny as when I got back from a washroom run, this big metal dude called me a dick! He asked my wife which band she was there to see, and she told him NONE. She does not like metal. She just came along as I did not want the ticket to go to waste.

I would of had to wash his mouth out with soap for talkin like that in front of the ol' lady.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

A quick synopsis...

We had about 500 people on a Tuesday night in Charlotte. I drove for about 80 minutes to get there. It was totally worth it.

It was an early show, starting promptly at 7:00PM (I missed the first couple of songs from Warbringer because of this). Iced Earth was over at 11:25.

Warbringer - decent Thrash...they were having fun.

Symphony X - brilliant...amazing...Allen NAILED every note all night...10/10

Iced Earth - they need to hire a new sound guy...he sucks. He ruined the good sound that Warbringer & Symphony X had...all rhythm guitar, bass & snare drum...vocals and solos drowned out (except for Block's screams....those were loud and clear). They were so loud at one point it was distorting and the snare felt like it was driving a nail into my ear. "Dante's Inferno" and "Damien" (as awesome as they are) kinda dragged down the set with the drawn out epic vibe...but overall a well played set from Iced Earth. 7/10

Your review sums it up for me. Symphony X were by far the best of the three. Agree completely about Iced Earth's sound and their set did seem to drag.

Great show overall though!

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

A quick synopsis...

We had about 500 people on a Tuesday night in Charlotte. I drove for about 80 minutes to get there. It was totally worth it.

It was an early show, starting promptly at 7:00PM (I missed the first couple of songs from Warbringer because of this). Iced Earth was over at 11:25.

Warbringer - decent Thrash...they were having fun.

Symphony X - brilliant...amazing...Allen NAILED every note all night...10/10

Iced Earth - they need to hire a new sound guy...he sucks. He ruined the good sound that Warbringer & Symphony X had...all rhythm guitar, bass & snare drum...vocals and solos drowned out (except for Block's screams....those were loud and clear). They were so loud at one point it was distorting and the snare felt like it was driving a nail into my ear. "Dante's Inferno" and "Damien" (as awesome as they are) kinda dragged down the set with the drawn out epic vibe...but overall a well played set from Iced Earth. 7/10

Yes, aside from IE's sound an excellent show. It looked like the crew was having issues with Schaeffer's rig during the set-up. I'm not very familiar with SX(Set the World on Fire being the only song of theirs I know) but was very impressed. That dude can WAIL! I liked how he'd go out into the crowd for pics & autographs during the solos, almost didn't make it back in time on a couple of songs.

CRIMSONMASK wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

A quick synopsis...

We had about 500 people on a Tuesday night in Charlotte. I drove for about 80 minutes to get there. It was totally worth it.

It was an early show, starting promptly at 7:00PM (I missed the first couple of songs from Warbringer because of this). Iced Earth was over at 11:25.

Warbringer - decent Thrash...they were having fun.

Symphony X - brilliant...amazing...Allen NAILED every note all night...10/10

Iced Earth - they need to hire a new sound guy...he sucks. He ruined the good sound that Warbringer & Symphony X had...all rhythm guitar, bass & snare drum...vocals and solos drowned out (except for Block's screams....those were loud and clear). They were so loud at one point it was distorting and the snare felt like it was driving a nail into my ear. "Dante's Inferno" and "Damien" (as awesome as they are) kinda dragged down the set with the drawn out epic vibe...but overall a well played set from Iced Earth. 7/10

Yes, aside from IE's sound an excellent show. It looked like the crew was having issues with Schaeffer's rig during the set-up. I'm not very familiar with SX(Set the World on Fire being the only song of theirs I know) but was very impressed. That dude can WAIL! I liked how he'd go out into the crowd for pics & autographs during the solos, almost didn't make it back in time on a couple of songs.

Yeah, a couple times he went and chatted up the girl at the smaller bar by the door...it was kinda funny.

IE's sound had little to do w/ Schaffer's rig...the mix was horrendously out of balance...his rig sounded fine...just too damn loud.

Schaffer was cranked up pretty loud. I have to agree that Dante's Inferno and Damien did drag the set down. But it was better than the show I saw a few years ago where the whole band's sound was muddy. Symphony X was the best band of the 3. Missed most of Warbringer's set.