I didn’t go to the LA concert but even the recordings of that version of PotE sounded so much better imo because there was a full choir there. Some of the more classic tracks like Heart of Courage and Protectors of the Earth are dependent on the full orchestra and choir for their sound so the renditions from the concert, while good, sounded a bit hollow or weaker. But the smaller orchestra and choir made some tracks sound “worse” or at least dramatically different from the original. This didn’t really harm my experience, I loved the concert so it’s more like a minor nitpick. Incorporating more soloists let them put more personality on the stage so it wasn’t just an orchestra the whole time - not that that’s a bad thing but entertaining soloists can really elevate a performance (see Tina Guo and Pirates of the Caribbean for Hans Zimmer’s tour). Everyone looked like they were into the music and loved performing it. The overall vibe of the performers was fun and involved. Plus the extension to the track at the end was a cool buildup to involve Thomas and Uyanga. Nick’s tracks usually focus more on percussion which doesn’t always translate the best to live shows, so Greg’s drumming brought a lot of energy to the performance (which also applies to Dragon). Never Give up on your Dreams: The track was executed really well overall, but I was especially surprised by how faithfully the Bulgarian vocals were reproducedįire Nation: This was unexpected for me since it was never my favorite track, but it was a great decision to feature Greg Ellis front and center. For me, the highlights of the concert I went to (6/17 Amsterdam) were: