The Return Of The Five-Headed Best
“Sons Of Apollo is definitely a five-headed beast,” Mike Portnoy declares dramatically, in reference to the band’s lengthy 2018 tour. “Each and every one of us, each night on stage, regardless of how small the place was or how many people were there, delivered as if we were the heavyweight champions of the world. It was a five-ringed circus of musical muscle, and I think the crowds at each gig reacted to that.”
The musical muscle that Portnoy describes is not merely optimistic hyperbole. As well as Portnoy’s drum credentials with Dream Theater, Transatlantic and a raft of other side-projects, the talents of Derek Sherinian (keyboards, ex-Dream Theater), guitarist Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal (Guns N’ Roses], Mr Big bassist Billy Sheehan and singer Jeff Scott Soto [Yngwie Malmsteen, Journey] are, possessed an enviable swagger, mixing hard rock in the vein of Van Halen with progressive metal to produce something truly innovative. Their tour showcased that talent in a live arena. But with the band name being unfamiliar to many, they also had to hit some smaller venues, which, for veterans who have been touring for more than three decades in various bands, could have been a struggle.
