Last Friday night I went to see Liquid Tension Experiment, a prog-rock band consisting of members of Dream Theater and the keyboardist Jordan Rudess, thanks to my friend Bill Smith (who is a prog-rock guru par excellence).  To say they were fantastic would be unworthy; they were out of this world.  I expected it to be great, and it was that much greater.

One of the great things about this concert was the simplicity.  Simple venue (Downey Civic Theater), no opening act, no pyrotechnics, a minimum of light effects.  Just your basic four musicians on stage for two and a half hours, playing their brains out.  Before the show the promoter said he had a theory about the audience, and asked for a show of hands; "how many of you are musicians?"  About 80%.  Excellent musicians playing for other musicians.

Pictures (sorry, cameraphone in the dark):

LTE are: Jordan Rudess, Tony Levin, Mike Portnoy, John Petrucci...

John Petrucci did some amazing guitar soles, whew...

Matched by Jordan Rudess on keyboards (loved that handheld keyboard, BTW)...

A total explosion of sound, how could four guys do that :)...

Thank you, for a wonderful amazing evening!