Artist : Sons of Apollo

Album : Live With The Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony

Release Date : 30-08-2019

Added : 02-11-2019

In my review on the first album of 'Sons of Apollo' in 2017 (see here), I was pleasantly surprised by the feeling of being brought back a few decades back into a the under 20 years ..., with the extraordinary live albums of 'Deep Purple', 'Made In Japan' and 'Made In Europe' which witnessed a hard rock where everything was possible in concert: with 'Live With The Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony ', my whishes have been filled because it is a bit if we met at that time but with a modern sound because it contains all the ingredients of what any amateur of authenticity looks for in a concert, something out of the ordinary set lists calculated to within a millimeter. and often make the concerts a little too aseptics for my taste. Well, on this side, we are served because everything is together to offer us this kind of moment that is forever etched in your memory because it is simply unique. First of all, the set list is a real killer because, on the one hand, concerts of almost 3 hours, it becomes exceptional and then, as of course, it is not with a studio album that our lads have been able to make a set list as long (they play almost the entirety of the opus), we are entitled to a set of covers that make us go from 'Pink-Floyd' to 'Queen' obviously passing by Dream Theater 'with three titles of 'Falling Into Infinity' from 1997, when 'Mike Portnoy' and 'Derek Sherinian' were both part of the band. And we are served throughout the show with live performances without distorting the originals but each time bringing a personal touch and, even if 'Mike Portnoy' does not offer us a drum solo (but we enjoy all the time of the concert with a rhythm section always exceptional), each artist provides us his solo, starting with 'Billy Sheenan' on the bass which makes a masterful demonstration, then 'Jeff Scott Sotto' resumes the following by igniting the public in the manner a 'Freddy Mercury' in the '80s/' 90s (it's no scoop that Jeff is a fervent admirer of English). Not to be outdone, in the second part of the set, it is then the turn of 'Derek Sherinian' that transforms the Roman Theater of Plovdiv into a hard-rock church and obviously refers to the late 'John Lord' a few decades back and finally, even though he does not like this kind of performance, 'Bumblefoot' closes these solos with a 'slightly' extended introduction of 'And The Craddle Will Rock' which this time brings us back to some ' Eddie Van Halen '(their 2013 concert in Tokyo here). And then, beyond the exceptional performance of each member of the group, we have this feeling every moment of a complete osmosis between them and a great pleasure to play together by transmitting without counting throughout the concert a crazy energy to the public thus transforming a very good concert into an unique moment. To this, it should be added that from 'Labyrinth', it is in the company of the orchestra of the city of 'Plovdiv' that the band continues its set with most covers, and listening to well-known titles like 'Dream On' or 'Confortably Numb' (see the extraordinary you tube video où ‘Bumblefoot’ finishs his solo at the bottom of the steps of the theater here), we embark on a small cloud with of course some shivers so the interpretation is masterful. In summary, as you will understand, this live from 'Sons of Apollo' is more than just a concert and shows, if it still had to be done, that these five artists are made for the stage and this 'Live With The Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony' is tailor-made for the over 50's and reminds us of the special atmosphere of rock and hard-rock concerts of the 70's and 80's, but also to make the youngest ones discover what a real concert with artists who do not calculate and give themselves 200% for their audience; I will simply add that if the CD already give a fabulous impression of the atmosphere of this concert, but it is obvious that adding the image with the DVD or Bluray is essential to make the most of these magical moments because the place with these millenarian vestiges further increase this feeling of being out of time...

The covers :
'That Metal Show Theme' : 'The Metal Show' series from the British channel 'VH1 Classic'
'Just Let Me Breathe' : 'Dream Theater' - 'Falling Into Infinity' (1997)
'The Pink Panthere Theme' : Henry Mancini - The Pink Panther Theme
'Kashmir' : Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti (1975)
'Gates of Babylon' : 'Rainbow' - 'Long Live Rock' n 'Roll' (1978)
'Dream On' : 'Aerosmith' - 'Aerosmith' (1973)
'Diary of a Madman' : 'Ozzy Osbourne' - 'Diary of a Madman' (1981)
'Comfortably Numb' : 'Pink Floyd' -'The Wall '(1979)
'The Show Must Go On' : 'Queen' - 'Innuendo' (1991)
'Hell's Kitchen': 'Dream Theater' - 'Falling Into Infinity' (1997)
‘And The Craddle Will Rock’ : ‘Van Halen’ – ‘Women and Children First’ (1980)

Line Up / Musicians

Jeff Scott Sotto (Vocal), Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (Guitar), Billy Sheehan (Bass), Derek Sherinian (Keybords), Mike Portnoy (Drums) + Guests : Plovdiv Symphony Orchestra