It didn't start well. Apparently the musicians arrived late and that pushed the start of the show back. Then the opening 'act' was a spoken word performer calling himself Clay N. Ferno. (He also has a MySpace page like seemingly everyone, everywhere). I can say that, ojectively and upon reflection, his bit pretty much sucked. I wasn't even mildly entertained.

Then we got to hear the band do sound checks for 15 minutes. That was exciting.

All was made well when Estradasphere started performing, though. They have a great sound that's difficult to define: their music mixes so many elements ranging from jazz to Greek folk to metal, it's astounding. The players themselves (all 6 of them!) are simply amazingly skilled and talented. These guys are great musicians.

I don't think they'll ever be a big commercial hit, and that's a little sad. Their songs can't be pigeon-holed, are long, and 90 percent of them are instrumentals; in short: not exactly tailored for radio play.

Estradasphere finished a little after 1AM and I didn't get home until about a quarter to 3. It was totally worth it.