Sons Of Apollo Welcomes “MMXX” In Denver [Review + Photos]

January 31, 2025 Jason Bullinger

 

Hot after the band just landed #1 on Billboard’s “Current Hard Music Album” chart for their recently released sophomore album ‘MMXX’, Sons Of Apollo featuring Mike Portnoy, Derek Sherinian, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, Billy Sheehan and Jeff Scott Soto returned dazzling fans into complete ecstasy Wednesday night in Denver, Colorado at the Oriental Theatre.

SOA hit the stage and surged into a staggering one-two-three punch of new songs including opener “Goodbye Divinity”, “Fall To Ascend”, and “Wither To Black”. As an added flare “Tom Sawyer” by Rush was inserted in the middle of “Wither To Black”. It was a perfect gratitude to the professor Neil Peart of Rush who died a couple weeks ago from brain cancer. Vocalist Jeff Scott Soto paused as he was gasping for air and spoke to the crowd about the impact of “altitude” and that Colorado is somewhat of a homecoming as he lived in Fort Collins, Colorado (north of Denver) in the mid eighties in a local band before becoming a professional frontman for Yngwie Malmsteen.

The technical musicianship was easily a mile high as each member stepped up their performance game. Bassist Billy Sheehan rendered an impressive tap happy bass solo that mesmerized the crowd. Derek Sherinian took the stage under his own spotlight and beautifully delivered the into for “King Of Delusion”. Mike Portnoy always plays the drums with little effort and carries an infectious smile. Jeff Scott Soto is simply one of the greatest rock vocalists today flexing his powerful chops throughout the set. Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal demonstrated that he is a ridiculously talented guitar player and supplied many graceful harmonic backing vocals.

One of most emotional moments happened mid set as vocalist Jeff Scott Soto dedicated the song “Desolate July” to his former bandmate David Z who died in 2017 in a RV accident and Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant who died just this past week in a helicopter crash. SOA closed out the encore with guitar virtuoso Tony MacAlpine joining the band to perform a incredible version of Deep Purple’s “Burn” often trading guitar spots with Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal.

Sons Of Apollo are really gaining momentum as the turnout and the overwhelming reaction of the crowd was fantastic. This doesn’t feel like a side project but a band that is really dedicated to the long haul. “MMXX” is off to a great start and I hope they climb high.

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