It was like an Olympic medal ceremony at Capitol this Thursday. First one out with a bronze performance was Darker Half, who had a somewhat straight-up-stiff performance with an exception of singer Steven Simpson, who hit the high notes with absolute perfection. The Sydney-band is set to be touring with Queensrÿche all over Australia, and their debut cd Duality can be picked up from their website.

That said, it is really hard not to like symphonic metal. It is melodic, with nice and soft, sometimes high pitched vocals, and compared to other genre hybrids quite radio friendly.

Radio friendly comes to mind when listening to the sterling silver performance of local heroes Voyager. Led by their active and eager singer Daniel Estrin, who actually managed to be 7 places at once on stage, they played an energetic 22 minute set. Their performance was stellar, from the collective well-groomed long hair owned by nearly everyone in the band; to their fantastic synergy. Voyager has a few cds out, a lot of performances behind them and the ability to make you wanna smile and bang your head to the rhythm simultaneously – and not many bands can pull that combination off!

Queensrÿche was breathtaking.

The band that formed in 1981, is making three more pit stops in Australia before heading back to the U.S. on their American Soldier Tour, promoting their new album, which contains real stories from the recent U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan turned into song. This is a winning formula, done before by Metallica (among others) who wrote the song One about a Vietnam veteran.

Their performance was split into three, with a good mix of new and old material. Singer Geoff Tate pulled off an excellent eccentric show, with his hat and coat and sunnies, he looked like regular mobster run away from New Jersey. His voice was amazing, so was the joint effort of the entire band.

When you have spent the last 28 years on stage, you develop a rapport that cannot be faked or simulated, which is, apart from their great music, why Queensrÿch’s performance was amazing. Gold medal.