I had a good time as well.
I had to leave directly from work so I missed all of Powerglove (not sure if that's good or bad, and I'm still not sure after hearing about the show
). Got inside a couple of songs into Turisas' set, which sucked because they were the band I was looking forward to the most. I was on stage-right not too far back from the handicapped section in front of the barricade.
I thought they were great. Although, as Gamefreac said, their show at Paganfest had a better audience response and it was my first time seeing them, too, so it remains my favorite. "To Holmgard And Beyond" was indeed epic.
After their set I went to the merch table to talk to them and got my ticket signed, so I was probably not too far away from you, Gamefreac. I was wearing a PPUSA IX t-shirt.
For Dragonforce, I was by the back bar just to the right of the soundboard, hangin' with two members of the local Brazilian metal contingent who know me from WREKage. And who bought me a soda, so that's cool.
It was funny watching all the younger kids -- and there were a lot back there, at least a dozen, many with parents -- trying to watch the show over the much-taller crowd. The barricade behind the soundboard ended up being the place they flocked to, since it gave them the best unobstructed view of the stage. (Although there were some people up in the first balcony, it was officially not open...would have been nice for the kiddies if it had been...) Gotta say it was cool to see kids enjoying probably their first metal show. There's hope for the future.
I thought Dragonforce were pretty good. I had low expectations thanks in part to the Forum and while I'm sure they made a lot of mistakes, most of the crowd seemed to enjoy them and they played for 1:45 or so, more than acceptable for a headliner. (The last band I saw perform at the Tabernacle played for a whopping 65 minutes, there was no opening band, tickets cost $26 (though mine was free), and the crowd left happy.
)
Me, I made Pac-man "waka-waka-waka" hand-motions whenever the guitarist and keytarist were chasing eachother around the stage and over the riser, to the amusement of the people there in the back.
I was able to stick around for their entire set plus encore, and then went outside, talking to some people (and freezing) out by the tour-bus, and then headed down to do
WREKage. Played two DF songs and "Cursed Be Iron" by Turisas...I wish they'd had their other album at the merch table, or I'd have bought it and played it, too!
All in all, a fun night. Man, that was a tired drive home!