Cynic

Amazing show and venue. I have seen Cynic 3 times within the last few years and this venue def. had the best sound. Was very intimate - the perfect place to see a show. There was no bad place to stand or sit. Would recommend in a heartbeat!! Opening bands were good and very cool - got to talk with them in between sets. Very laid back setting and croud - just about perfect!

Great performances by all three touring bands, plus EXCELLENT set by local prog metallers Protean Collective. Sound was great throughout, except for slight muddiness during Cynic's set. Only downer was that we didn't get to meet Cynic, but members of the other bands were around to mingle with fans during and after the show.

Cynic put on a stunning performance. I've been a fan of the band for many years, but this was actually my first time seeing them live. I wasn't disappointed. The sound was exceptional, the visual presentation complemented the music perfectly, and the setlist included songs from all of the band's albums (with the exception of "The Portal Tapes"). My only gripe would be the length of the performance. It was only 75 minutes, which is fairly short for a headlining band. It would have been great to hear one or two more songs. But, other than that, it was an amazing show.

Best show I've seen in a long long time, and I go to a lot of shows. Both Cynic and Intronaut tore it up. I really hope Cynic continues touring and making new material. I forgot the opening bands name but I would love to see them again.

This show rocked! We actually went to see Dysrythmia, everyone else was just icing on the cake.

Any fan of Cynic knows how huge them headlining a tour is. Now, many got to see them touring for their latest album Traced in Air, but this show was all about their landmark 1993 album mentioned above. For someone like myself that discovered their music years after their original disbanding, this night was a long time coming. And worth the wait. Dysrhythmia opened the show. I've long been a fan of Colin Marston (their bassist) and was delighted to see him perform. Dysrhythmia were incredibly tight, and easily the flashiest musical display of the night. Intronaut took the stage afterwards. This was my first experience with them. Their performance was good, however, I felt they were a little out of place after Dysrhythmia's performance. Intronaut is more a kin to a Neurosis/Isis vibe. Then Cynic took the stage. Their set consisted of Focus followed by select cuts from Traced in Air and Re-traced. Cynic's music is a beautiful balance of emotion and technical prowess and seeing them live only enhances their allure. Any Cynic fan must make it a point to see them live.

The playing by all the bands were great. i was in the front row so it was great. got to hang out with all the bands afterwards. It was a great show and the sound quality was great. ill would go back to see the band or to the venue in a minute it was really a great show it was the second time ive seen cynic in a year they were even better the second time.

Since it was their first United States headlining tour I hayd high expectations and they were exceeded by far. Their sound guy did a great job. I love how they played all of Focus and most of Traced in Air as well as Cosmos from their Portal side project. I would have loved to hear one song from their really early demos "Pleading for Preservation" but thats me being a little greedy just to hear the evolution of cynic and how they progressively matured and explored different boundaries in music. Overall this set list was a dream come true.

This was easily one of the best shows I've ever been to. Dysrhythmia was great, Intronaut was "meh" and Cynic was absolutely amazing! They played the entire "Focus" album, almost all of "Traced In Air", a "Portal" song, the original song from "Re-Traced" and even some yoga thrown in there!! It was such an intense and lasting experience. They radiate positive energy. They're all really nice guys, too. If you've never seen Cynic or never even heard of them before I would highly recommend seeing them. They will change the way you think about music.

As a college level musician myself and a fan of technical metal, I can say the concert was satisfactory. Dysrythmia and Intronaut both put on incredible performances. Surprisingly the headlining band that I was most looking forward to seeing, Cynic, put on probably the worst performance. They performed almost their entire discography including their two official albums, Focus and Traced in Air. Focus was performed quite horribly; the rhythm guitarist with the main riffs and clean vocals were barely audible, and in general the band was clearly unrehearsed for performing their debut. Once covering their latest album Traced in Air, however, they were suddenly musically in-sync and performed incredibly well. The singer would sometimes fall short of the high notes, which was irritating hearing this as a classical singer. It was great seeing such incredible musicianship at the concert overall though, thus I would recommend this concert to a fan of such music.

All three bands put on an amazing show! However, the P.A. was set up in such a way that the front few rows couldn't hear it at all. Because Cynic played all of their instruments through the P.A. (no amps or anything), I had to move to the middle of the venue (the El Rey) to hear anything but drums. Great performance, great sound when I could hear it, but poor P.A. setup. I've seen other bands at other venues that had the same problem, so I'd be wary about standing too close for Cynic. But once I stepped back the music was more beautiful than I can describe.

Amazing to watch these guys rip thru some of the most complicated yet musical metal material. They opened the show by playing the entire Focus album straight through. For those of us who missed cynic for over a decade, they are a real treat to experience live.