How would you rank the performances this year?

My take on ProgPower 2015's best sets...

1. Voyager- 1st things 1st, I do not like this band's recorded output. There are moments on each disc that catch my interest, but I felt that they were way over-rated for their billing.
And then they hit the stage...BAM! Like a ton of bricks in the chest. Voyager kicked my ass like no other! They were fun, professional and enjoying the fuck out of being on stage in Atlanta!
I appreciate what they brought...ALOT! I am re-visiting the discs as we speak.

2.Soto- Once again, not a big fan of his last 20 years in the business. Jeff Scott Soto is a rock star, plain and simple.
He manipulates the crowd, he is a master of the stage and his live show makes his recorded output sound so much better! Awesome set! Thanks for bringing him in Glenn! You done good!

3.Helker. Masterful! Diego is the Spanish Ronnie James Dio. The music is strong too, which helps a lot. Very impressive set! I see a return in their future.

4.Royal Hunt- I was a fan of "Paradox" back in the day. I haven't listened to it in 15 years or so?
DC Cooper is another with sporadic output of strong material, but this set was spectacular! He fits that bill of "Rock Star"

5. Evergrey- I don't like "The Loft". You can't see anything if you're not near the stage so that detracts from the show
I wish they would have leaned more heavily on Hymns For The Broken. I've seen the other material 5 or 6 times

6. Dragonland- Not real familiar with their output, I wasn't expecting much. They were damn good on Saturday!
The only band I wanted to see on Thursday, so Glenn saved the day for me since we went to Atlanta baseball instead of the show.

7. Angra- I don't know if it was the music hangover from the fest or what, but Angra didn't bring their A game as far as I'm concerned.
I like the new disc. Fabio does fine with that material. I didn't like what he brought to "Holy Land".
The band was good though. It was enjoyable, just not memorable.

8.Unleash The Archers- Besides the samey-ness of the songs, they brought the energy up!
Brittney can sing. The band can play. They fit in quite well for a substitute band.
Another great replacement by Meistro Glenn

9.Falconer- Not a fan, but they didn't chase me out of the building. Not the most energetic but they represented their career quite nicely!
I'm glad I got to see it. I wasn't expecting to be there at the end. I was.

10. Ashes Of Ares- Matt Barlow. Strong power metal. Not as impressive as their last appearance.
The Loft didn't help either.

11. Native Construct- Oddball prog band. I didn't like the cd much. I stayed through the set. Didn't change my mind though. Forgettable

12. Riverside- I have the material in my collection. It's a hit and miss proposition.
Very professional. The band is talented. They didn't do much for me in a live setting.

13. Anathema- I tried. I tried to dig into the music before the fest...Nope.
I tried to dig into the blue-ray dvd before the fest...Nope.
I gave them every chance to impress me Friday...Nope.
I stayed for the entire set. I slept through half of it...I fucking tried! I really did!

I didn't catch Halycon Way...my alarm never went off until too late.
I didn't review Voyager Wednesday. They fall right into the top 5 with that set. They made me a fan, so...
I wish I would have seen Almah, just for Edu. I expected him to do something with Angra on Saturday...oh well.

2015 was probably the most painless week we've spent in Atlanta since 2003.
The bands were all great, the pace was more relaxed,
I think in part since we took Thursday off and did something different
I hate that its over for 360 more days, but it was another successful year
Thank you Glenn, Jen, Milton and Nathan. You guys are the real rock stars!
 
They had every intention of inviting Edu onstage for a song, but he had other commitments unfortunately (Texas shows) :rolleyes: It would've been nice...
 
I loved everything this year (only attended F/S) but my personal ranking:

Anathema (both sets)
Angra
Riverside
Voyager
Native Construct
Jeff Scott Soto
Falconer
Royal Hunt
Unleash the Archers
Helker
Dragonland
And just to put that in perspective, I really liked Dragonlands set too. Its just so tough to rank 11 amazing performances lol.
 
For me, that acceptable amount is close to zero, with the exception of something that is brief and relevant (along the lines of the opening to Operation: Mindcrime or Churchill's Speech before "Aces High"). Forgot to add prerecorded tracks to my "Jeers" list. If keyboards, backing vocals, etc. are important to your sound, hire some extra musicians for your live performance!

I have to agree with your statement completely....

For the record, I thoroughly enjoyed Native Constructs "musicianship" but the angry vocal parts I felt took away from all of the better vocal parts I heard. I would think that Queen has been an influence on them as it seems like that was the vibe I caught from some of the tunes. I look for them to be a band to watch for bigger things as long as they steer clear of any of the "core" vocals.
 
the "angry" vocal parts... lol. what are you, 70? never heard of extreme metal before?

Hahaaa, not quite there smart ass....the point was it was the only real detractor from their performance & didn't fit the rest of what they did at all.

I'll take that vocal style with Opeth or Scar Symmetry etc, thank you