I am fortunately to live in Atlanta, so I get the chance to see this awesome festival with relatively minimal travel and costs (comparatively speaking). This also gives me some time to offer up my thoughts on each day as they have come, so let me offer a few for Day 1:
To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect from the Day 1 bands (for various reasons listed below), but I should not have doubted because this was an awesome kick-off to the festival.
I got to the venue around 5:30, and caught the second half of Lord's set. It was a solid show, but nothing truly spectacular. Perhaps it was a lack of knowledge of the band's material that kept me from getting into it. On the other hand, they did a ripping cover of Creeping Death, which was a nice way to end the set.
I was looking forward to Stream of Passion's set, as I liked the live album they put out a while back. Unfortunately, they only did one song that was on that album, and I didn't know much else from their set (aside from their cover of Sonata Arctica's I have a Right). On the other hand, it was a very solid set, and I was very impressed by Marcela's vocals.
I was also looking forward to Spock's Beard as I was blown away by their earlier albums, particularly Snow. On the other hand, I also wasn't sure to expect as I haven't picked up anything from them since Snow. I knew they had several lineup changes since (including the lead singer), and hadn't heard anything from the current lineup. Since they didn't do anything from Snow, I didn't recognize a single song, but they blew me away and made me want to pick up more of their material. For me, Prog Metal is either truly captivating or really boring depending on the band, especially one that does 10-20 minute epics on a regular basics. Spock's Beard was in the former category, as they had me entranced during their entire set--seven songs over the span of 70 minutes.
Dragonforce was another band I wasn't sure what to expect. I picked up their greatest hits double-CD collection and wasn't that impressed as a lot of the material seemed pretty much interchangeable. However, the energy they have on the CDs is multiplied tenfold in their live show, and it really worked. In fact, not since Slayer have I seen a live show that was so relentlessly intense. I'm amazed the drummer's legs don't fall off with all the double-bass pedalwork he uses on a regular basis. Plus, Marc is absolutely amazing on vocals.
One additional comment: the merchandise stand left a lot to be desired, but that was likely due to the individual bands' contributions. Steam of Passion didn't have anything for sale (I would loved to have gotten a T-shirt given their designs). Dragonforce didn't have their merch set up until the intermission before their set. Only Lord and Spock's Beard had anything of consequence, and even SB was pretty limited in their Tshirt selection (they did offer a number of CDs). Thus, I didn't get anything last night--but I'm hoping to get a cool Blind Guardian shirt.
Aside from that minor issue, this was once again a great start to the festival, and I can't wait to head back downtown tonight.
To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect from the Day 1 bands (for various reasons listed below), but I should not have doubted because this was an awesome kick-off to the festival.
I got to the venue around 5:30, and caught the second half of Lord's set. It was a solid show, but nothing truly spectacular. Perhaps it was a lack of knowledge of the band's material that kept me from getting into it. On the other hand, they did a ripping cover of Creeping Death, which was a nice way to end the set.
I was looking forward to Stream of Passion's set, as I liked the live album they put out a while back. Unfortunately, they only did one song that was on that album, and I didn't know much else from their set (aside from their cover of Sonata Arctica's I have a Right). On the other hand, it was a very solid set, and I was very impressed by Marcela's vocals.
I was also looking forward to Spock's Beard as I was blown away by their earlier albums, particularly Snow. On the other hand, I also wasn't sure to expect as I haven't picked up anything from them since Snow. I knew they had several lineup changes since (including the lead singer), and hadn't heard anything from the current lineup. Since they didn't do anything from Snow, I didn't recognize a single song, but they blew me away and made me want to pick up more of their material. For me, Prog Metal is either truly captivating or really boring depending on the band, especially one that does 10-20 minute epics on a regular basics. Spock's Beard was in the former category, as they had me entranced during their entire set--seven songs over the span of 70 minutes.
Dragonforce was another band I wasn't sure what to expect. I picked up their greatest hits double-CD collection and wasn't that impressed as a lot of the material seemed pretty much interchangeable. However, the energy they have on the CDs is multiplied tenfold in their live show, and it really worked. In fact, not since Slayer have I seen a live show that was so relentlessly intense. I'm amazed the drummer's legs don't fall off with all the double-bass pedalwork he uses on a regular basis. Plus, Marc is absolutely amazing on vocals.
One additional comment: the merchandise stand left a lot to be desired, but that was likely due to the individual bands' contributions. Steam of Passion didn't have anything for sale (I would loved to have gotten a T-shirt given their designs). Dragonforce didn't have their merch set up until the intermission before their set. Only Lord and Spock's Beard had anything of consequence, and even SB was pretty limited in their Tshirt selection (they did offer a number of CDs). Thus, I didn't get anything last night--but I'm hoping to get a cool Blind Guardian shirt.
Aside from that minor issue, this was once again a great start to the festival, and I can't wait to head back downtown tonight.
AND GOOD LUCK.
