Sorry for being late to the party as far as reviews, comments, etc., but it's been a grueling week, what with travel, etc.
First and foremost, I just want to give a huge thank you to Mike and the rest of the guys for making this tour happen (and for all the rest that you do--we the fans really do appreciate it)!
I know the set was posted above. Here are a few more tidbits:
The Whirlwind is an incredible song live. Just incredible. This being the first show of the tour, there were definitely a few rough spots, but that's all part of the fun. The band left a bit of room for some good jamming. My memory is already beginning to blur things together, but I believe it was during The Whirlwind that Neal threw in a bit of Jeff Beck's Highway Jam (although it could have been later in the set).
The first set, consisting only of The Whirlwind, was nothing short of breathtaking. But the band really loosened up in the second set with the more familiar material and looked like they were having a lot more fun. Some notes:
Roine sang We all Need Some Light--like, actually sang the whole thing. It also included a pretty nice extended guitar duet intro. between Neal and Roine. I almost wish they had more time to extend it even more--it was really fun to watch.
Neal played drums during SiyS like he did in the Europe video, but this time MP relinquished the throne and Neal was actually the drummer for a bit. During this time, Pete played the bassline with his left and and some tasty B3 licks with his right. Great stuff.
Also, I'm not sure and need to check the tour archives later, but I believe this may have been the first time Bridge Across Forever was ever played. Neal and Roine were the only two onstage for that song, and it was incredibly moving. Wonderful performance. But then again, the entire show really was a wonderful performance. The band was having a lot of fun and was totally on fire, notwithstanding obviously being a bit tentative about the 77+ minutes of new material to start of the show. My one and only criticism, if any, is that even for a prog-rock audience, the audience was a bit tame. People were more than willing to rise to their feet whenever Neal or Mike asked us to, but otherwise sat for the vast majority of the show. Yes, it's mellow music, and it was a LONG show. But I still would have liked to be on my feet for the entire thing.
It was also a pleasure meeting the band and having them sign my TransImperial shirt after the show (Mr. Gildenlowe was understandably very puzzled, but still signed it). They were very gracious and fun to talk to, even with security rushing us through the receiving line pretty quickly. Oh, and for those who may not know, Colin (Neal's touring drummer for the last few tours) is serving as TA's tour manager and was there as well. Really cool guy.
Here's my one and only photo for now. I'll try to get some more up later:
