Nightwish, as I’ve mentioned previously, is my favorite band. I guess Ayreon might come in second even though it is not a band in the common sense of the word. The guy behind Ayreon is Arjen Lucassen. He has been composing music for over 20 years but had a strong aversion to public appearances. So, instead of a band, he would write his pieces, usually with a science fiction theme, and invite various musicians and vocalists from other bands to participate to make his albums. He tried to choose vocalists, in particular, whose voice lent a certain desired quality to their part. Their part was often that of a persona in his stories, sort of rock opera things. Anyway, after 20 some years, someone persuaded him to do a live theater type production. He was very taken aback, positively, by the reaction to it and finally agreed to put on a live show. He even agreed to make a couple appearances himself. Early in the planning, a 3,000 seat venue was selected by the organizers. He went into panic mode about filling the venue. However, when it was announced and tickets went on sale, the venue sold out in one hour. They added a second show, it sold out before the end of the day. They added a 3rd show and it sold out the next day. He said he went from wondering how they were going to pay for things to wondering how they were going to spend the money. It’s a diverse selection of music in this first in his life concert, “Ayreon Universe Live” and he tried to include the broadest selection of music. It’s rock genre with a very full sound, with a wide mix of instruments and very talented musicians. I think there are 18 different vocalists. The whole concert used to be on line but now there are just pieces of it. This one song has 8 different singers. Each of these singers is a lead singer or member of their own bands (except Irene Jansen). One other interesting tidbit. When watching this performance, bear in mind the vocalists had exactly 1 full live rehearsal of this entire concert before their appearance. Impressive.