Expectations vs. Reality

[General Zod]

It's funny how you so often expect one thing, and get something else entirely. Heading to this festival, if I had to order the bands I wanted to see most, it would have looked like this:

Angra
Conception
Orphaned Land
Stride
Manticora
Pink Cream 69
Symphorce
Circus Maximus
Therion
Stratovarius

In the end however, how much I enjoyed each band's respective performance was quite difference (not to mention impacted by my sobriety or lack there of):

Circus Maximus - flawless execution, best vocals of the fest.

Orphaned Land - wasn't sure how every thing they do on CD would translate live. It translates very well.

Symphorce - Andy. The man was born to be a Heavy Metal frontman.

Conception - I enjoyed the set, but found their performance somewhat underwhelming.

Angra - Edu had a bad night, to say the least.

Stride - started with a bang, then faded. Back to back instrumentals + back to back power ballads = not a great idea. Gary sounded awesome.

Manticora - a ball of energy, but their sound was lacking. These guys would be helped immeasurably by some tempo changes and a better use of dynamics.

Pink Cream 69 - their sound was solid, their performance was dull.

Therion - Red Bull & Goose. I was too busy drinking to see a second of their performance.

Stratovarius - if they were performing in my living room, I'd make plans to be out for the evening.

Zod

 

[Changeofamemory]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought Edu had a bad night. They were the number one band for me to see leading up and heading into the festival, and in the end, they were almost my least favorite, due to the vocals. I was thinking maybe he was sick or couldn't hear himself that well, and hope that was it, because imo he sounded terrible. There were a few of the higher notes that he held really well...like in Angels in Demons...but otherwise I wasn't impressed.
The singer of Circus Maximus on the other hand, holy crap was he awesome. Probably the best singer on the whole festival.

 

[Dark One]

My expectations:

Orphaned Land
Angra
Manticora
Conception
Stratovarius
Circus Maximus
Pink Cream 69
Stride
Symphorce
Therion

My reality:

Orphaned Land
Conception
Circus Maximus
Symphorce (surprise of the festival for me, I'm officially sold on Andy's frontman ability)
Therion (what I saw briefly, was very, very good)
Angra (you hit the nail on the head with Edu, he was really, really off)
Stratovarius
Pink Cream 69 (disappointing set with a few really cool exceptions)
Manticora (let down of the festival for me as I'm a big fan, but their setlist was woefully lacking in terms of having any of my favorite songs by them, plus, their sound left a lot to be desired)
Stride (just not my thing)

 

[edgeofthorns]

Going into the fest, I honestly thought that Circus Maximus would be disappointing. After hearing the first two songs performed by them I was like ! They were the biggest surprise for me. Stratovarius surprised me at how good their set was! I came away from the fest having a renewed respect for Kotipelto and the boys! I believe their new bassist gives them some fresh new energy.

 

[Bryan316]

-Ex-girlfriend... LOL!!!

I'd argue about Manticora's song choices. Busting out Cantos and Shadows With Tales To Tell were absolutely awesome. But they coulda used one more older song like The Flood or Nowhere Land or Lost Souls or Pale Faces. But hey... they whailed. What songs were you hoping to hear?

Okay... lessee...

Expectation:

Manticora
Conception
Angra
Stride
Symphorce
Therion
Orphaned Land
Stratovarius
Pink Cream 69
Circus Maximus


Reality:

Manticora - Destroyed us! We were front and center, as we had promised Lars, and my brother FREAKED OUT. Lars shoved that mic in our faces during Shadows, and told us later he's glad we were there to sing along cuz he was running out of oxygen! And then he freakin jumped on top of us! Awesome! I was ready for him, but he completely jumped over me, and I had to turn around and catch up to grab his legs!

OUTWORLD - Haha! And they weren't even on the official nights!

Conception - What a band. These guys NEED to reform and conquer the world. Their stuff is too good for the world to not know about them. Such great songwriters. Not the world's fastest band. Not the world's most technically superior virtuosos. They are simply GREAT, GREAT songwriters and performers. They have a "thing" about how they create music. Their songs are so satisfying to listen to. But they were so energetic on stage! I didn't expect that at all! I figured they'd stand still and play. Wrong! The guitarist is completely drowning in the music on stage. Watch his face. Emotion in bucketloads.

Symphorce - Andy did it again! That muthafucka! Glenn... I hereby declare Andy Franck the Official Gatekeeper of ProgPower USA!

Therion - Wow. Hellacool. And wholly entertaining to watch them crazy fools headbang like there's a competition with money on the line! And amazing that all those people can be on one stage, and sound like a whole. Imagine the work that soundguy must go through to make them blend together so well.

Stride - I waited three years to see these guys again. Absolutely worth the wait. Even my brother dug the Rush cover, and he just doesn't like Rush. He said, "Now that's a helluva cover song for an audience like this! They know what this crowd wants!" This crowd wants an American tour!

Orphaned Land - Now, I knew people would really dig these guys. But a helluva suprise for me. Fantastic feel on stage. Really powerful presence. Kevin and Jeremy are huge fans of them now.

Angra - I skipped their set at PP3, so I made sure to see them this time. They are incredibly fast! But their singer really had a bad night. I still prefer Andre Matos' voice, but everyone said he had a bad night. So I'll give him the benefit of a doubt. They were musically flawless Saturday night.

Circus Maximus - I knew NOTHING of what they were like, cuz I completely forgot to get any of their albums and do my usual research. Totally big mistake. And I came in with only two of their songs left to see. Another totally big mistake.

Stratovarius - Hell of an appearance, but just did not hold my attention. I am glad they finally came to the States. But I just couldn't stay with their show. I'm not really a fan of Kotipelto's voice. Dunno why. But his stage presence is top-notch. Every front man for every band should take notes from his performance.

Pink Cream 69 - Heard them from the concourse through the doors. Never went inside.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

I think things went pretty much the way i expected with a few exceptions.

1) I wasn't as thrilled with Manticora as I thought I would be. They had good energy, but I like the material from 8 Deadly Sins the best, and they only did a few tracks from that one. They did a few tracks from Hyperion (I think) that bored me badly.

2) I like Circus Maximus more that I thought I would. I like their disc, but I wasn't considering this a highlight band. They were excellent.

3) I'm not an Angra fan, but I thought Edu would turn in a quality performance. Nope.

4) PC69 didn't wow me quite as much as I thought they would.

Overall I'd go with:

#1 Conception (I expected to like them best, and they came thru)

#2 Circus Maximus (singer was awesome, and the tunes played well live. I was thinking middle of the pack heading in. Instead it was a big highlight).

#3 Symphorce (I thought they would be good, but I think they outperformed my expectations).

#4 Orphaned Land (I didn't catch all of this, but I really enjoyed what I saw. This is about what I expected).

#5 PC69 (not quite as great as I was expecting. I would have thought #2 for this band going in).

#6 Therion (I'm not a fan of their studio stuff, but they were entertaining live. They had lots of aura, and it seemed like a really professionally done show.

#7 Stratovarius (this is about what I expected. They did a fine job, but I'm not a real huge fan. I bailed a bit early on this one so that hurt the final ranking).

#8 Manticora (good energy, but the songs run together in spots. The non 8 Deadly Sins stuff annoyed me).

#9 Angra (good band, but the singer annoyed me. Edu struggled, and it affected my opinions of the set.).

#10 Stride (not bad or anything, it's just that I didn't known any of their material until they busted out some classic Rush).

Britt

 

[adaher]

Exceeded expectations-Circus Maximus, Orphaned Land, Conception, Stride, Symphorce, Therion. Andy rules, Circus Maximus slayed, Orphaned Land played extremely well, Stride was also outstanding.

Met Expectations-Manticora, Angra

Below Expectations-Stratovarius. Not for the performance itself, but for the setlist. It was 80% the Live Visions album, and the Live Visions album was better. They asked the fans what they wanted to hear, and then proceeded to throw them only one bone: Destiny. Plus three new songs(the weakest off the new album), and Hunting High and Low.

The requested fans' set list was pretty evenly spread over all of their albums, and I was looking forward to hearing newer stuff life and even some older pre-Kotipelto era stuff, plus of course the essentials from the 95-97 period. We didn't get it. Never understand why bands ask their fans' opinions and then just do whatever. At least Tobias Sammet is honest on Edguy's live album: "You tell us what you want to hear and we'll play what's next on our setlist!"

Once again, I still enjoyed Stratovarius immensely, it's just that I was hyped for certain songs that I'd been led to believe they'd play and instead I got 99% safe selections plus some pretty weak stuff from the new album.

 

[woosta]

Expected:

Manticora to impress
Circus Maximus to be annoying
Orphaned Land to be uniquely cool
Conception to leave me lukewarm
Angra to slightly impress me
Stride to annoy the shit out of me
Symphorce to be very solid
PC69 to be the top of the evening
Therion to be cool, but unmemorable
Stratovarius to be exceptional


My reality:

Manticora bored me
Circus Maximus had snippets of good stuff but were VERY light. Not as bad as I had expected, though.
Orphaned Land took night one by a LONG shot. Very good.
Conception: Bored the ever loving shit right out of me. Tore Osteby is a god. Khan always amazes me how disinterested he looks in being onstage. I dont' get the hype. I see why it was "3 and out" as far as cds (maybe 4 and out).
Angra: I left early annoyed with the smothering "Progginess" of night one. I just couldn't take anymore and neither could my girlfriend who at one point stated "this music sounds like Christian revival music". She's new to the scene, but I couldn't agree more.

Stride: See Zod's comments. Too fucking clean for me.
Symphorce: I should have known Andy F would kill live and he did. Not as good as Brainstorm songwise, but impressed me more than I thought they would.

PC69: Had a REALLY tough time following Symphorce. Good stuff, just lackluster. Hey Dave Readman, fucking LET LOOSE with the vocals, guy. You've got the pipes and that was the stage to showcase them!!!

Therion: What can I fucking say? Gods. I was only somewhat interested initially but it was up there with the PP3 Gamma Ray show for me. Visually amazing. Sound-wise beyond incredible. Song selection? Almost perfect. One of my new favorites.

Stratovarius: We can't have a 1 hour break from 11-12 after 2 days of music. They should have built off the momentum of Therion but instead let the buzz die to a snore before starting. Sound was good, song selection was just ok for me. Didn't "wow" me quite as much as I had hoped but who would have been able to after Therion?

 

[Hal9000]

I had high expetations from Circus Maximus, and they still blew me away.

Therion left me in awe. Once again, high expectations that were exceeded.

Conception was exactly how I expected them to be, which was great.

Orphaned Land just wasn't for me, but I knew they wouldn't be.

I had low expectations from Angra and I got it. Boring

Symphorce was great, which was what I expected them to be.

I loved PC69, but I was let down. I thought they would've been much better.

Stratovarius was a big disappointment, although I still liked them.

Manticora and Stride gave me nothing except a little classic Rush, which couldn't make up for their lackluster performance.

 

[TheWhisper]

I was pleasently surprised by C-Max. They came off much better live than on album, and I really enjoyed the set. Oh yeah, has the singer got a set of pipes or what?

Didn't really know much of Orphaned Land's stuff, but they kicked much ass! The acoustic set was damn fine too.

D.C. Cooper and friends damn near stole the weekend for me!

Stride, I thought, was very good.

PC 69 played a very good set, very enjoyable.

Angra, Manticora, Strato, Symphorce...just not my thing.

CONCEPTION RULED ME! Worth every penny spent for these guys alone. Thank you Glenn for making that bit of magic happen.

ROLL THE FIRE...