UNIVERSAL CITY, California - When one visualizes a metal show, the image that generally comes to mind is one of big, hairy dudes pushing each other around wild moshpits as equally big, hairy dudes play overly heavy music cranked to 11. But metal is an enigma. The other side of the genre was on display at the Gibson Amphitheatre on Friday when the Progressive Nation tour rolled into town. Dream Theater, Opeth, Between the Buried and Me and 3 showed off metal's softer, more mature side.

3 opened with their unusual brand of progressive metal, complete with an extra percussionist. Don't call these guys Slipknot, though - their music is much deeper and more layered. Personally, I'm not a big fan - I'm really more into the brutal, cranked-to-11 stuff - and couldn't tell you what songs they played, but they got a nice response from the large crowd who had mostly all trickled in by that point.

Between the Buried and Me were up next and, as usual, played a tight albeit experimental set. Unfortunately, the singer's microphone was not working for the first portion of the set, which really hurt the quality of the first few songs. Despite the sound trouble, BTBAM recovered and had the crowd on their feet by the end of their performance.
 
Opeth took the stage in direct support and, strongly resembling late-'80s Metallica in their all-black attire, kicked off the set with newer material from the upcoming Watershed album (it's due June 3) and 2005's masterful Ghost Reveries. The band's performance ebbed and flowed, travelling from the balladry of 2003's Damnation to the brutality of that album's counterpart, 2003's Deliverance. Frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt weaved his poetic musings in between the songs, reminding fans that despite their progressive explorations, the prolific Swedes are still a death-metal band at heart. Opeth closed their set far too abruptly with "The Drapery Falls" from 2001's unforgettable Blackwater Park album, leaving fans wanting more, which Åkerfeldt fortunately promised would be soon.

Dream Theater finally arrived onstage to the roars of the near-capacity crowd. They opened their set with an absolutely electric rendition of "In the Presence of Enemies" from 2007's Systematic Chaos, which allowed guitarist John Petrucci to really show off his chops. Mike Portnoy's flawless vocals provided the perfect complement througout the 25-minute tune. The somewhat older crowd really got pumped when the progressive metallers pulled out some tracks from their extensive back catalog, before settling into their most recent hit single, "Forsaken."

Sitting there in those comfortable Gibson Amphitheatre seats (that's right, seats at a metal show) and listening to the therapeutic riffing of Petrucci, I felt like I'd entered an alternate metal universe. A universe that I wouldn't want to spend all my time in, but that I might like to explore some more.