Sons of Apollo: A Legend in the Making
Arcada Theatre, St Charles IL, USA, Friday, Jan 31, 2020, @
by Unrated staff
Tonight at the historic Arcada Theatre in downtown St Charles IL just outside of Chicago IL. SONS OF APOLLO is on tour in support of their sophomore album MMXX, Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian join forces with guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (ex-Guns N’ Roses), bassist Billy Sheehan (The Winery Dogs, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth) and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Journey, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force once again are on the road to spread their love of music to music lovers around the world.
SONS OF APOLLO’s new album “MMXX” was just released by: InSide Out Music on Jan 17th, 2020 “MMXX” Track-listing:1. Goodbye Divinity (7:16)2. Wither To Black (4:48)3. Asphyxiation (5:09)4. Desolate July (6:11)5. King Of Delusion (8:49)6. Fall To Ascend (5:07)7. Resurrection Day (5:51)8. New World Today (16:38. Go buy it! Buy it at the show as well!
. This album is outstanding it definitely doesn’t suck. I’m really hoping that a good portion of this album will be played tonight. I think my favorite song on this album is actually the last one “New World Today” because it speaks to the soul of every band member it’s like a beautiful 16 minute plus piece that expresses and captures each band member’s true identity and who they are.
I did get a chance to enjoy a couple weeks ago out at NAMM 2020 in Anaheim the Ultimate Jam Night when Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan and Richie Kotzen joined together on stage for a surprise appearance and killed it with some Winery Dogs tunes. After the show that night I told Billy Sheehan and Mike Portnoy how the SONS OF APOLLO show at the Arcada Theatre is going to be killer. They both agreed and mentioned how much they love playing the Arcada Theatre and enjoy the food and people out in St Charles IL. I know Billy Sheehan has played the Arcada quite a few times before, as for Mike Portney this will be his 13th appearance at the Arcada Theatre.
The stage is set for this SuperGroup and the crowd is already excited ready and anticipating this powerhouse band loaded full of musical talent to explore their musical talent all over the place. The first song of the night “Goodbye Divinity” the first single released from the new album. Number four song on the night “Wither to Black,” the heavy-hitting second track on ‘MMXX’ just was amazing with the way Mike Portnoy’s drumming introduces the song and how they added a little tribute to Mike Portnoy’s dear friend and rock drumming legend who past away recently Neil Peart of Rush with a snippet of the song “Tom Sawyer”. The crowd loved every minute of it.
The bands appealing melodies, progressive Prog rock sound with a middle eastern sound Ron Thal “Bumblefoot’s double-neck guitar shredding was on fire “, with Jeff Scott Soto’s vocals coming across so perfectly. The night was a mixture of their originals as well as covers like Deep Purple where they had guitar legends Tony Mcalpine come out to join them on stage and jam out on his white Ibanez guitar. to Rush, Pink Panther theme song to top all cover songs. Billy just plays like a little kid having fun on stage all the time, the man is addicted to playing music nonstop. Billy’s love for playing and creating music is amazing at his age it’s a man on a never-ending mission. Derek Sherinian has for so many years kicked ass on keyboards writing and playing with so many great talents in the music biz, tonight was no exception. He has distinguished himself by his aggressive “guitaristic” keyboard style which was phenomenal tonight. Derek’s keyboard playing makes this band better. They all compliment each other musically very well which is why they work and sound so well together.
I was glad to see Mike Portney having fun all night behind the drums, Mike Portney hands down is one of the greatest drummers of all time always makes drumming look so easy. Jeff Scott Soto’s vocals all night were powerful and melodic, the range he has and the command on his voice is still outstanding. I love Ron Thal’s guitar playing he’s so technically skilled with techniques far beyond most players out there today. Ron Thal “Bumblefoot “ I still believe to this day is an extremely underrated guitarist I hate saying that but it’s true. He’s a great songwriter and vocalist also if you haven’t looked into Ron Thal’s other bands or solo projects through his career I would strongly suggest doing so it won’t disappoint.
The band sounded great they killed it and with all that talent you would expect that. I’m always feeling inspired after seeing these gentlemen play. I was glad to see 6 of the new songs on the new album “MMXX” made it to the setlist. Rock on keep kicking ass and go see SONS OF APOLLO if or anytime when they are near your town, city or even go to another state to see one of the best supergroups ever put together on one stage.
Setlist
1)Goodbye Divinity
2)Fall to Ascend
3)Signs of the Time
4)Wither to Black (with ‘Tom Sawyer’ by Rush (snippet)
5)Asphyxiation
6)Labyrinth
7)Bass Solo(Billy Sheehan)
8)Lost in Oblivion
9)Desolate July
10)King of Delusion
12)Alive
13)New World Today
12)Figaro’s Whore
14)God of the Sun
Encore:
15)Burn Deep Purple cover) (with Tony MacAlpine)
16)Coming home
Members: Mike Portnoy – Drums, Vocals Derek Sherinian – Keyboards Billy Sheehan – Bass, Vocals Jeff Scott Soto – Lead Vocals Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal – Guitar, Vocals
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