ProgPower VI has come and gone, and it was another great year. I won't give a blow by blow review of the bands. Instead, I'd like to pass along some of my impressions over the course of the 3 days of the show. Here are my ramblings and what I call stream of unconsciousness:
The Surprise of the Year (aka the Edguy award), going to the band that just blew people away: it was going to be Circus Maximus, until Therion came on. I am not a Therion fan. Or, should I say, I wasn't a Therion fan. Before the show, I'd heard two cds and wasn't awed. Well, their sure put me in awe. Heavy, bombastic, complex . . . They were amazing. That's why I always give every band a chance at pp, even if I don't think I'll like them. I've had varying opinions of bands over the years, but out of 4 PPs, the only band I really disliked was Devin Townsend. One dud (for me) out of 38 different band performances is a damn good percentage.
Tightest' band. Runner up for the big surprise, Circus Maximus was by far the tightest band playing. Everything they did sounded album perfect. The vocals and the harmonies were especially impressive. Glenn scores BIG time for putting these then-unknowns on the bill.
Andy B. Franck earns my best Edguy charisma award. Like Tobias of Edguy, Andy was great at working the crowd and getting everyone into the Symphorce performance. Runner up goes to DC cooper for the I'm wearing sunglasses so you can't see me reading the lyrics speech at the preparty. (Sorry for the Edguy comparisons, but their show at PPIII has become a defining moment for stealing the show).
Party band: Definitely PC 69. They actually came across heavier than I thought they would, but overall were just fun to listen to (a la Edguy at . . . No, never mind
.
Cut short: PC69 went on 7 minutes early. Good going. Then, they ended 10 min early. Huh? I *know* they have more songs to play. Trust the Wiseman or Break the Silence would've nicely filled that gap.
Attention to details: Conversely , Therion's end of show comment: We have three minutes left. You want to hear another one?. Very nice, guys. Thanks!
Much better in person: Orphaned Land and Therion. I wasn't a huge fan of either band. Orphaned Land's Mabool just never grabbed me. I thought the album was interesting, but to me it was not the album of the year that others raved. Live, though, they had a heavy vibe that was very good. Well, good when plugged in. Their acoustic set at the preparty just didn't hold my interest. As already noted, Therion also impressed the hell out of me.
Happiest to be there: a tie between Manticora and Stride. As predicted by all, Manticora got the show started with a heavy roaring set. They ended with the singer Lars stage diving into the crowd. I'm betting that's a PP first, and probably a last as well. While keeping their bodies on firm ground, night #2's opener Stride threw just about everything else into the crowd. Albums, keychains, guitar picks, T-shirts, drumsticks, water bottles, and just-taken Polaroid pictures. They showed that they appreciated the hell out of their appearance.
First Impressions are Important: The headliners both nights had an odd sort of duel going. Angra was 20 minutes late, which doesn't sound horrible until you consider that it was almost midnight after more than six hours of music. They then proceeded to use a six minute intro consisting of plain keyboard noises. This really brought the crowd down. Straotovarius must have liked this plan, and had to one up Angra. They were THIRTY minutes late, and showed six minutes of bad tour travel film footage. Boring, tiring, and completely unnecessary. These openers were draining.
Vocals closest to album recording: Manticora's Lars and Circus Maximus' Michael Eriksen both win this one. Eriksen especially was astounding, and for me the best vocals at the show.
Special runner up, or maybe winner, for vocals at the show: Jen at Vinyl singing karaoke after the preparty. This unassuming looking short girl comes up to the stage to sing Queensryche's Eyes of a Stranger. A bunch of us at the bar cringed in unison at the thought of someone butchering this classic song. Well, I saw QR this summer, and I swear that this girl sounded better than Geoff Tate does now. She proceeded to sing 5 more songs (4 QR, including the 'Queen of the Reich' and The Lady Wore Black, plus one Steelhart tune), and she hit EVERY note. I mean every damn note, screech, growl, scream . . . She could have passed for a young Tate. We were all blown away. Jen for PPVII
Can you hear me now: I don't know if it is a regular occurrence, but I saw a bunch of singers asking for their mics to be turned up higher early in the performance. Angra's Edu was almost unable to be heard for the opening song. Edu had vocal issues all night. Kotipelto sounded great on the slower songs, but also got drowned out a little on the fast songs. I call it the Hansi effect.
Hotlanta: I heard a rumor that last year there were complaints of being cold at the show. Well, this year they had the AC much lower. It was damn hot on the floor. Standing for hours, sweating, and having everyone pressed close makes for a tiring, not to mention smelly, experience. We were absolutely sapped at the end of the evening, more so than in earlier years.
Was that you?: Speaking of smells, I'm assuming that the oppressive sulfur reek smell that kept appearing came from the smoke machine. This never happened at other PPs. I know this is an evil metal concert, and we all worship Satan, but do we need to actually smell the sulfur?
Aren't You Special: For the first time in my 4 yrs, there were no special guests . . . and I didn't miss them. Some have been great, like Kotipelto or Rob Rock with Edguy, but others (>cough< Midnight >cough<) have been forgettable. I didn't miss anything by not having guests there.
Permanent special guest?: Maybe there was a guest. That Urban Breed guy was everywhere all weekend, enjoying the show, posing for pictures, signing things. I blame Shaye!
The PreParty was a very cool evening. The Loft was much nicer than having it downstairs in Vinyl. Making it even nicer was the back room for Gold Badge's (even though we didn't get the big screen TV we were promised
Best Guitar: Tore of Conception. Not the fastest player, but there's more to guitars than pure speed.
The what the hell kind of stage move is that: Edu of Angra repeatedly spitting clouds of water all over his band mates. Even scarier was the girl next to me that kept motioning him to spit water on her. Um . . . Okayyyyyy.
The Mommy, I'm scared award goes to: The Mick Mars wannabe Ingar of conception. Ohmigod, was he freaky looking. When he talked, it only got worse. Either his English is very poor, or he was speaking in tongues. Seeing him waggle his tongue and pretend to french kiss Khan may be the down point of the festival for me. Get out of my brain, Ingar!
Gold Badges suck and are a ripoff!!: Okay, I love having one, but I didn't win anything in the raffle
Best 5 Piece backing chorus: Therion
Reiterating from last year: I was again much happier with the vendors in Vinyl. The concourse was walkable, and it was much easier to shop for music in the separate area.
The PP DVD : I haven't even seen my copy yet (since I'm sitting in the airport waiting to fly home), but I know I'll buy one of these every year, if they are offered. Here's hoping Glenn keeps them coming!
Best overheard line: A girl behind me commenting on Conception. Khan said that the next song would be going back in time. She replied: aren't they ALL back in time?
Other comments overheard at PPV:
Two hours sleep? You might as well just stay up at this point!: General Zod
The drumstick never lies: Ali
No drum solos: Yay! We did get one bass solo from Strato. I know musicians may disagree, and I thought he was a great bass player, but I think there should be a law that solos are limited to 90 seconds. Say what you need to say musically in that time, and then go into another song. Luckily, this one was only about 3 minutes.
Ophelia is still a bitch! Philly was sunny. Atlanta was sunny, and I still sat on the tarmac for 3 hours on Thurs, due to Ophelia being in the Carolinas. My 2 hour flight turned out to be 5 hours from Philly to Atlanta. Glenn, please schedule next year to be hurricane free. Thank you.
Fine, fine. I said I wouldn't, but I do need to throw in some quick band comments:
Manticora: Great, heavy set. Good opener.
Circus Maximus: Best in show, night one.
Orphaned Land: I was entertained, and stayed for the whole set.
Conception: I had never heard them until the PP lineups were announced, so I didn't have the nostalgic aspect. However, they were very good.
Angra: Amazingly talented band, and a great set. Not as good as their first appearance, probably due to Edu being a little off, but overall a great headliner.
Stride: Very good, considering I (and most of the audience) knew nothing of their songs.
Symphorce: straight forward metal. Well done.
Pink Cream 69: Fun rock n roll, but a little short.
Therion: Best in show night two. Wow!
Stratovarius: Very good set. Hearing new and old songs together shows how much they used to rock, and how they tailed off. Still, very enjoyable.
The repetitive as always remarks that never get tired, and still hold true: PP is by FAR the best run, most organized, highest quality festival I've seen. It is just well done all around, an amazing experience, and I'm a customer for life. THANKS Glenn!!!
Finally, thanks to all the great folks I met. I had a blast hanging out, and can't wait until next year.
Steve in Philly aka The 'Other' Philly Dark One
The Surprise of the Year (aka the Edguy award), going to the band that just blew people away: it was going to be Circus Maximus, until Therion came on. I am not a Therion fan. Or, should I say, I wasn't a Therion fan. Before the show, I'd heard two cds and wasn't awed. Well, their sure put me in awe. Heavy, bombastic, complex . . . They were amazing. That's why I always give every band a chance at pp, even if I don't think I'll like them. I've had varying opinions of bands over the years, but out of 4 PPs, the only band I really disliked was Devin Townsend. One dud (for me) out of 38 different band performances is a damn good percentage.
Tightest' band. Runner up for the big surprise, Circus Maximus was by far the tightest band playing. Everything they did sounded album perfect. The vocals and the harmonies were especially impressive. Glenn scores BIG time for putting these then-unknowns on the bill.
Andy B. Franck earns my best Edguy charisma award. Like Tobias of Edguy, Andy was great at working the crowd and getting everyone into the Symphorce performance. Runner up goes to DC cooper for the I'm wearing sunglasses so you can't see me reading the lyrics speech at the preparty. (Sorry for the Edguy comparisons, but their show at PPIII has become a defining moment for stealing the show).
Party band: Definitely PC 69. They actually came across heavier than I thought they would, but overall were just fun to listen to (a la Edguy at . . . No, never mind
.Cut short: PC69 went on 7 minutes early. Good going. Then, they ended 10 min early. Huh? I *know* they have more songs to play. Trust the Wiseman or Break the Silence would've nicely filled that gap.
Attention to details: Conversely , Therion's end of show comment: We have three minutes left. You want to hear another one?. Very nice, guys. Thanks!
Much better in person: Orphaned Land and Therion. I wasn't a huge fan of either band. Orphaned Land's Mabool just never grabbed me. I thought the album was interesting, but to me it was not the album of the year that others raved. Live, though, they had a heavy vibe that was very good. Well, good when plugged in. Their acoustic set at the preparty just didn't hold my interest. As already noted, Therion also impressed the hell out of me.
Happiest to be there: a tie between Manticora and Stride. As predicted by all, Manticora got the show started with a heavy roaring set. They ended with the singer Lars stage diving into the crowd. I'm betting that's a PP first, and probably a last as well. While keeping their bodies on firm ground, night #2's opener Stride threw just about everything else into the crowd. Albums, keychains, guitar picks, T-shirts, drumsticks, water bottles, and just-taken Polaroid pictures. They showed that they appreciated the hell out of their appearance.
First Impressions are Important: The headliners both nights had an odd sort of duel going. Angra was 20 minutes late, which doesn't sound horrible until you consider that it was almost midnight after more than six hours of music. They then proceeded to use a six minute intro consisting of plain keyboard noises. This really brought the crowd down. Straotovarius must have liked this plan, and had to one up Angra. They were THIRTY minutes late, and showed six minutes of bad tour travel film footage. Boring, tiring, and completely unnecessary. These openers were draining.
Vocals closest to album recording: Manticora's Lars and Circus Maximus' Michael Eriksen both win this one. Eriksen especially was astounding, and for me the best vocals at the show.
Special runner up, or maybe winner, for vocals at the show: Jen at Vinyl singing karaoke after the preparty. This unassuming looking short girl comes up to the stage to sing Queensryche's Eyes of a Stranger. A bunch of us at the bar cringed in unison at the thought of someone butchering this classic song. Well, I saw QR this summer, and I swear that this girl sounded better than Geoff Tate does now. She proceeded to sing 5 more songs (4 QR, including the 'Queen of the Reich' and The Lady Wore Black, plus one Steelhart tune), and she hit EVERY note. I mean every damn note, screech, growl, scream . . . She could have passed for a young Tate. We were all blown away. Jen for PPVII
Can you hear me now: I don't know if it is a regular occurrence, but I saw a bunch of singers asking for their mics to be turned up higher early in the performance. Angra's Edu was almost unable to be heard for the opening song. Edu had vocal issues all night. Kotipelto sounded great on the slower songs, but also got drowned out a little on the fast songs. I call it the Hansi effect.
Hotlanta: I heard a rumor that last year there were complaints of being cold at the show. Well, this year they had the AC much lower. It was damn hot on the floor. Standing for hours, sweating, and having everyone pressed close makes for a tiring, not to mention smelly, experience. We were absolutely sapped at the end of the evening, more so than in earlier years.
Was that you?: Speaking of smells, I'm assuming that the oppressive sulfur reek smell that kept appearing came from the smoke machine. This never happened at other PPs. I know this is an evil metal concert, and we all worship Satan, but do we need to actually smell the sulfur?
Aren't You Special: For the first time in my 4 yrs, there were no special guests . . . and I didn't miss them. Some have been great, like Kotipelto or Rob Rock with Edguy, but others (>cough< Midnight >cough<) have been forgettable. I didn't miss anything by not having guests there.
Permanent special guest?: Maybe there was a guest. That Urban Breed guy was everywhere all weekend, enjoying the show, posing for pictures, signing things. I blame Shaye!
The PreParty was a very cool evening. The Loft was much nicer than having it downstairs in Vinyl. Making it even nicer was the back room for Gold Badge's (even though we didn't get the big screen TV we were promised
Best Guitar: Tore of Conception. Not the fastest player, but there's more to guitars than pure speed.
The what the hell kind of stage move is that: Edu of Angra repeatedly spitting clouds of water all over his band mates. Even scarier was the girl next to me that kept motioning him to spit water on her. Um . . . Okayyyyyy.
The Mommy, I'm scared award goes to: The Mick Mars wannabe Ingar of conception. Ohmigod, was he freaky looking. When he talked, it only got worse. Either his English is very poor, or he was speaking in tongues. Seeing him waggle his tongue and pretend to french kiss Khan may be the down point of the festival for me. Get out of my brain, Ingar!
Gold Badges suck and are a ripoff!!: Okay, I love having one, but I didn't win anything in the raffle
Best 5 Piece backing chorus: Therion
Reiterating from last year: I was again much happier with the vendors in Vinyl. The concourse was walkable, and it was much easier to shop for music in the separate area.
The PP DVD : I haven't even seen my copy yet (since I'm sitting in the airport waiting to fly home), but I know I'll buy one of these every year, if they are offered. Here's hoping Glenn keeps them coming!
Best overheard line: A girl behind me commenting on Conception. Khan said that the next song would be going back in time. She replied: aren't they ALL back in time?
Other comments overheard at PPV:
Two hours sleep? You might as well just stay up at this point!: General Zod
The drumstick never lies: Ali
No drum solos: Yay! We did get one bass solo from Strato. I know musicians may disagree, and I thought he was a great bass player, but I think there should be a law that solos are limited to 90 seconds. Say what you need to say musically in that time, and then go into another song. Luckily, this one was only about 3 minutes.
Ophelia is still a bitch! Philly was sunny. Atlanta was sunny, and I still sat on the tarmac for 3 hours on Thurs, due to Ophelia being in the Carolinas. My 2 hour flight turned out to be 5 hours from Philly to Atlanta. Glenn, please schedule next year to be hurricane free. Thank you.
Fine, fine. I said I wouldn't, but I do need to throw in some quick band comments:
Manticora: Great, heavy set. Good opener.
Circus Maximus: Best in show, night one.
Orphaned Land: I was entertained, and stayed for the whole set.
Conception: I had never heard them until the PP lineups were announced, so I didn't have the nostalgic aspect. However, they were very good.
Angra: Amazingly talented band, and a great set. Not as good as their first appearance, probably due to Edu being a little off, but overall a great headliner.
Stride: Very good, considering I (and most of the audience) knew nothing of their songs.
Symphorce: straight forward metal. Well done.
Pink Cream 69: Fun rock n roll, but a little short.
Therion: Best in show night two. Wow!
Stratovarius: Very good set. Hearing new and old songs together shows how much they used to rock, and how they tailed off. Still, very enjoyable.
The repetitive as always remarks that never get tired, and still hold true: PP is by FAR the best run, most organized, highest quality festival I've seen. It is just well done all around, an amazing experience, and I'm a customer for life. THANKS Glenn!!!
Finally, thanks to all the great folks I met. I had a blast hanging out, and can't wait until next year.
Steve in Philly aka The 'Other' Philly Dark One
