Sons of Apollo - Nottingham Review

Since leaving Dream Theater in 2010, and indeed to a certain extent prior to this, Mike Portnoy (drums/vocals) has been expanding his musical horizons by lending his considerable talents to a myriad of different bands and projects. While nearly everything he has been a part of falls within the broad rock and metal spectrums, none of his endeavours really sounded like the band he was most known for. I imagine that this was deliberate to allow him to try his hand at some new sounds, but seven years on from leaving Dream Theater it seemed that he was ready to return to his progressive metal roots. This return to the genre came in the form of Sons of Apollo, his latest project and one of the most exciting 'supergroups' to be formed in a while. It also saw the reunion of Portnoy and his former Dream Theater colleague Derek Sherinian (keyboards) who last played together in the studio when Dream Theater wrote and recorded 1997's Falling into Infinity. Both have had long and illustrious careers since, but it seemed that the two felt that they had unfinished business. Sons of Apollo, and the band's debut album Psychotic Symphony, was definitely spearheaded by Portnoy and Sherinian's songwriting - but was fleshed out by the considerable talents of Jeff Scott Soto (vocals), Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal (guitar/vocals), and Billy Sheehan (bass guitar). All three of these men are powerhouses in their own right, making Sons of Apollo a genuinely exciting prospect. Thankfully the album was not a disappointment and, despite taking a bit of time to grow on me, is currently one of my go-to progressive metal albums. The band have been touring pretty heavily since the beginning of the year, and included a fairly generous amount of UK shows as part of this world trek. The easiest show for me to make was at Nottingham's Rescue Rooms as it fit neatly around other plans. I always enjoy taking a trip back up to Nottingham too, so I never need much persuasion to head up to the Midlands city. It seemed that a Sons of Apollo show at the Rescue Rooms was an exciting prospect to many others too, as by the time the show came around it was sold out. This helped to ensure that there was a fantastic atmosphere throughout the night, which is usual for any concert in Nottingham in truth, which helped to make the night a memorable one.

Before Sons of the Apollo took the stage, the Dubai-based rock band Jay Wud entertained the growing crowd with half an hour or so of dense, riffing material. I do not know much about the band at all, but I would hazard a guess by saying that I do not think that they have been together that long. On the one hand I enjoyed their set, but on the other hand I felt like I was watching a band that was still finding their feet and attempting to settle on their sound. Most of their songs had strong riffs, but not too many of them had many hooks. Too me, hooks and melodies are some of the most important aspects of songwriting as it is what makes the songs memorable. Jay Wud's material was mostly lacking this spark, which meant that the vocals washed over me without really leaving a mark. This was a shame as they did have some strong riffs, so there is certainly the makings of a good band here. With a bit more practice and time honing their craft, I feel that Jay Wud could become and interesting and enjoyable bad - but they are not quite there yet.

Despite it being less than a year since Sons of Apollo released their debut album, they are already the complete package and delivered a two hour in set in Nottingham featuring all of their debut album as well as a selection of other goodies. It was one of the most technically-impressive shows I had seen in a while, with five virtuosos constantly displaying their considerable skills. The ten minute-plus God of the Sun opened the show with its Eastern-tinged melodies. Thal churned out the main riff on his fretless guitar while Soto took to the stage to big cheers. The song is a real prog epic, complete with a stadium-filling chorus that Soto nailed and a lengthy instrumental section that starts off slowly with Sherinian's keyboards before erupting into a cacophony of shredding from all concerned. It was a song that certainly set the tone for the night, and the set continued in a similar fashion for the next two hours with the grinding Signs of the Time and the Deep Purple-inspired Divine Addiction following on quickly and not giving the time any time to rest. Divine Addiction was a particular highlight for me, as it shows the band member's love for classic rock. Sherinian's Hammond organ growled throughout the piece, and Soto's slightly low voice added a certain weight. With one album to draw from, the set had to be filled out with other songs and the Dream Theater catalogue was raided for a spirited performance of Just Let Me Breathe. It has never been a favourite number of mine, but it came across well and the non-former Dream Theater member of Sons of Apollo did the song justice. There were also plenty of solo spots throughout the night, and the first of these belonged to Sheehan. I am not the biggest fan of bass solos, but it was great to see a real master of his craft showing off. It did go on for a little too long however, and I was glad when Lost in Oblivion started up and got the metal flowing once again.

Soto had a chance to show off after this in a spot which saw him performing the strange vocal solo part in Queen's The Prophet's Song, before he was joined by Thal for a stripped-back rendition of Queen's Save Me. The crowd helped him out during the choruses, and it was a real hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck moment. Alive was then the last full band effort for a while, before an extended instrumental portion of the show began. It started with Thal's rendition of The Pink Panther Theme, before the lengthy instrumental epic Opus Maximus saw some of the most technical interplay between the band's four instrumentalists of the night. This led into Sherinian's keyboard solo spot, which naturally morphed into the semi-forgotten Dream Theater epic Lines in the Sand which brought the main set to a close. Lines in the Sand is one of my favourite songs from Falling into Infinity, so it was great to hear it performed live. Soto really owned the song vocally, and it proved to be the perfect end to the set. There was a short run off stage, before Thal came back on stage for a short guitar solo that morphed into a rollicking cover of Van Halen's And the Cradle Will Rock..., which Soto sung partly in the crowd. This show was the last night of the tour, and the band were clearly in very high spirits. There was lots of joking between the band and the crowd at this point, which extended into the final number of the night Coming Home. A call-and-response vocal section almost ended in insanity, and this only improved the atmosphere. By the time Coming Home came to an end, two hours had flown by and the band took their bows to huge cheers. The setlist was:

Gods of the Sun
Signs of the Time
Divine Addiction
Just Let Me Breathe [Dream Theater cover]
Labyrinth
Bass solo
Lost in Oblivion
The Prophet's Song/Save Me [Queen covers]
Alive
The Pink Panther Theme [Harry Mancini cover]
Opus Maximus
Figaro's Whore
Keyboard solo
Lines in the Sand [Dream Theater cover]
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Guitar solo
And the Cradle Will Rock... [Van Halen cover]
Coming Home

I always like it when a gig surpasses your expectations. I knew that this would be a good night out, but I was truly blown away by the band and their performance. I hope Sons of Apollo are more than a one album project by all involved, as I would love to see what these five guys can come up with next!