Festival Rankings

[mtlheart]

Here's the way they lined up for me:
1. Therion- 'nuff said.
2. Orhaned Land- "When We Play Norra El Norra, everybody jumps!"
3. Angra- Great setlist. Would have taken 2nd place except the mix was so bad.
4. Stratovarius- Great execution, but too many soft and new songs at the exclusion of fan favorites. The "encores" saved the setlist.
5. PC69- A fun set.
6. Symphorce- Hey, it's Andy. Had to be a good show.
7. Circus maximus- A real suprise for me. Expected them to rank around #9. Held up well following Manticora.
8. Manticora- A good opener, with lots of energy.
9. Stride- Good show, but they're up against too much competition here.
10. Conception- Watched half the set, then hit the vendors.

 

[Sautherom]

1.- Angra & Therion
2.- Strato, Conception & Orphaned Land
3.- Manticora & Sypmphorce
4.- PC 69, Stride
5.- Circus Maximus

 

[rottingflesh]

1. THERION!!!!!!!!! I already loved em...now i just love em more....
2. Other band I enjoyed alot was Orphaned Land, had never heard them before
3. The singer for Circus Maximus I liked.... they were awesome
4. Manticora
5. Only saw the last 4 songs of Angra so really can't make a good judgement but liked what I saw.
6. Strato
7. PC69
8. Symphorce


(missed Conception and Stride.)

 

[zekeyou]

1. Orphaned Land
2. Therion
3. Circus Maximus
4. Symphorce

 

[guardian26]

1. Orphaned Land
2. Circus Maximus
3. Manticora / Angra
4. Stratovarious

 

[TBJ]

Here's the way they lined up for me:
1. Therion- 'nuff said.
2. Orhaned Land- "When We Play Norra El Norra, everybody jumps!"
3. Angra- Great setlist. Would have taken 2nd place except the mix was so bad.
4. Stratovarius- Great execution, but too many soft and new songs at the exclusion of fan favorites. The "encores" saved the setlist.
5. PC69- A fun set.
6. Symphorce- Hey, it's Andy. Had to be a good show.
7. Circus maximus- A real suprise for me. Expected them to rank around #9. Held up well following Manticora.
8. Manticora- A good opener, with lots of energy.
9. Stride- Good show, but they're up against too much competition here.
10. Conception- Watched half the set, then hit the vendors.

TOTALLY agree with you man, although I would put Manticora a little bit closer to #5/6...

 

[woosta]

1. Therion. This year's "Gamma Ray" for me.
2. Symphorce
3. Stratovarius
4. Orphaned Land
5. Pink Cream 69

and in order to be kind, let's just say the rest of the bands are "tied"

 

[rgbeach]

1. Therion
2. Stride
3. Orphaned Land
4. Conception
5. Circus Maximus
6. Manticora

(For various reasons beyond my control, did not partake of Angra, Symphorce, Pink Cream 69, or Stratovarius)

 

[The.Lost.Hatter]

I'll just put my top 3

1. Therion (been waiting forever to see them live, favorite band all around)
2. Circus Maximus (never heard of them before, they blew me away...)
3. Symphorce (hardly any words to explain the energy released by these guys)

 

[Rider of Theli]

1. Therion - kicked my ASS! and that ladies and gents was the reason I was there.
2. Symphorce - Andy is the ultimate frontman, born for that stage!
3. Orphaned Land - wasn't sure what to expect. They did well.
4. Manticora - An energetic opener, just what I expected.
5. Angra - surprised me also. I never cared for them before. I liked the 'tribal drum' session. That was a neat segment. Too bad the vocal mix kept screwing up.
6. Conception - Watched half the set, then hit the lobby and vendors room. I think I was expecting something a bit heavier from them. Don't ask me why.
7. Stratovarius - I caught about a half a song worth then bailed due to Therion kicking my ass.
I missed everyone else due to one reason or another, although the.lost.hatter tells me he has found a possibly new favorite prog/power band in Circus Maximus.

oh, and did I mention Therion kicked my ass?

~Hoyt.

 

[The_Kinslayer]

1. Orphaned Land - This was pretty much a religious experience for me.
2. Therion - The two male singers holding up the horns made my night.
3. Manticora - Lots of energy. They kicked my ass.
4. Conception - Definately an awesome show.
5. Angra - They were great but the mix didn't sound very good to me.
6. Stride - I didn't know people still had Keytars. Awesome.
7. Symphorce - Great energy, but it sounded garbled to me.
8. Pink Cream 69 - They played well, I'm just not a fan of that type of music.
9. Circus Maximus - They seemed too polished and the music didnt have any life to it. Plus something about their mix gave me a headache.

I didn't see Stratovarius, I'm not much of a fan of theirs.

 

[Heavenly Call]

1. Circus Maximus! Damn.
2. Pink Cream 69
3. Stratovarius

 

[INFINITE-DREAMS]

1- Circus Maximus & Symphorce
2-Orphaned Land
3- Manticora

 

[janisonata666]

My tops!

1. Therion- Killed
2. Orhaned Land- So unique!
3. Angra- Agree, mix sucked but they are pros!
4. Circus maximus-Best singer on the night
5. Stratovarius- Cool!
6. Symphorce- The singer thinks alot of himself. But the band is tight!
7. PC69- Good show, fun!
8. Manticora- Good opener
9. Conception- I didnt dig them, I dont see the big thing here.
10. Stride- ehhh...didnt see em

Jan

 

[James]

1) Conception

2) Therion

3) Symphorce

4) Everyone else

 

[dslartoo]

1. Conception. Been waiting twelve years or more to see them in concert and this was a dream come true.
2. Therion. See above re: twelve years. They played the most intense set of the weekend in my opinion; the only reason Conception gets the slight nod is because Khan is my favorite vocalist and Tore's one of my favorite guitarists.
3. Angra and Stratovarius. Angra's set was top-notch musically but Edu Falaschi seemed off his voice somehow. Stratovarius played well but I don't think ANYbody could have topped Therion's mega-intensity set.
4. Orphaned Land. The surprise band of the year for me. Very good stuff, high-energy and impeccable musicality.
5. Circus Maximus/PC 69/Symphorce. I liked each of these for different reasons -- CM for their great musicality and the vocalist's power and range, PC 69 for their "fun" feel and powerful lead vocals, Symphorce for Andy B.'s textbook example of how to get a crowd pumped up -- but each of them had some downsides, too, which kept them from being closer to the top.
6. Stride. Good stuff, a pleasant surprise, but the problem with them was the same as with when they played the pre-show party years ago -- I enjoyed it when I listened to it, but promptly forgot it as soon as they got offstage. Just doesn't stick with me.
7. Manticora. Not my cup of tea at all. Sorry!

cheers,
Phil

 

[Sautherom]

Some people was skeptic about Therion, before to see them.. but i told you.. this band it's amazing alive... ! this was my 3rd time.. and i'll see them again october 9th

 

[Angrafan]

1. CONCEPTION!

2. Orphaned Land
3. Stratovarius
4. Therion (Surprise of the fest.. I have a few of their albums, I like them OK.. but the show KICKED ASS!)
5. Angra (too bad the sound sucked, for some reason... Awesome set list! Carolina IV and Never Understand!!)
6. Circus
7. Symphorce
8. Pink Cream
9. Manticora
10. Stride

 

[booB]

I couldn't possibly make a definitive ranking list... but I will say that Orphaned Land was my favorite, followed by Symphorce and then Stratovarius. Conception was good, but I wasn't prepared for the lack of energy they seemed to have on stage; I think I might have been over-demanding of them.

 

[Angrafan]

I couldn't possibly make a definitive ranking list... but I will say that Orphaned Land was my favorite, followed by Symphorce and then Stratovarius. Conception was good, but I wasn't prepared for the lack of energy they seemed to have on stage; I think I might have been over-demanding of them.

Lack of energy? I thought they were very energetic considering their set list... Tore was really into the music.. I loved his expressions during solos/heavy riffs.... Ingar was a madmen! And Khan was Khan! That's the way he is on stage.. Just like on Kamelot shows.. =P