My ProgPower Haul and preliminary thoughts

[Jim LotFP]

Can you say, "Oops, where the fuck did all my money go???"

Aghora- Aghora
Amaran- A World Depraved
Arabesque- Union, The
Arcturus- Aspera Hiems Symfonia/Constellation/My Angel
Armageddon -Three
Atrox- Contentum
Cathedral- VIIth Coming, The
Charon- Downhearted
Dark Moor- Gates of Oblivion
Darkane- Expanding Senses
Death Machine- Death Machine
Death Organ- 9 to 5
Death Organ- Universal Stripsearch
Decoryah Fall- Dark Waters
Devil Doll- Sacriligium
Devil Doll- Dies Irae
Disharmonic Orchestra- Ahead
Dysrhythmia- No Interference
Eucharist- Velvet Creation, A
Freak Kitchen- Move
HammerFall- Crimson Thunder
Holy Terror- Mind Wars/Terror and Submission
King Crimson- Discipline
Lord Weird Slough Feg, The- Twilight of the Idols
Luca Turilli- Prophet of the Last Eclipse
Lunaris- …the infinite
Macbeth- Vanitas
Macbeth- Romantic Tragedy's Cresendo
Manilla Road- Deluge, The
Mekong Delta- Principle of Doubt, The
Mekong Delta- Vision Fugitives
Moonsorrow- Voimasta ja Kunniasta
Mostly Autumn- For All We Shared
Naglfar- Vittra
Nile- In Their Darkened Shrines
Opeth- Deliverance
Porcupine Tree- In Absentia
Rage- Perfect Man
Ram-Zet- Pure Therapy
Shadow's Fall- Art of Balance, The
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum- Grand Opening and Closing
Taetre- Divine Misanthropic Madness
Theory in Practice- Colonizing the Sun
Virgin Steele- Guardians of the Flame
Virgin Steele- Virgin Steele
White Willow- Ex Tenebris
White Willow- Ignis Fatuus
Zero Hour - Zero Hour

Metal Mental Meltdown trivia boardgame

Plus promos from:
Stride
Cea Serin
Prymary
Strange Land (2 new songs)
Nightmare Records sampler
ProgPower III official 2CD sampler...
Twelfth Gate
Dionysus
Nightingale (full version)
Masterplan

... the event was a spectacular success. The crowd went apeshit for (most of) the bands. Personally disappointed to see the more 'regular' bands (Edguy and DC Cooper come to mind) get the most crowd response as opposed to the more creative bands but they play to it more than the others so maybe that's it...

Vendors made out like madmen, and not just from me, either. I was so committed on spending money on CDs that I just went up to vendors and asked, "What's fucked up that you have?"

Meeting a lot of people was great. Jeff Wagner, Chris Maycock, Matt Johnsen, and Mark Gromen was cool because, well, fellow writers and all, and ones I'd read before becoming a writer myself. I bought so much stuff just on Wagner's recommendation this weekend, and standing right near Maycock watching Blind Guardian, when he's the reason I found them, or like power metal at all (check out his features and reviews in Metal Maniacs during 1997-8 for Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray, Helloween, and Iron Savior... that did me in)...

Thanks to...:

All the people who came by to say hi (I'll never remember you all, so I won't even name anyone in particular because if I leave anyone out, I'd want it to be intentional and not accidental...)... plenty of people who knew me, that I had no idea who they were, and some I never did find out... damn... it is good to know someone is paying attention to what I'm doing though...

Devin Townsend for being very cool, and for just absolutely DESTROYING at ProgPower... "This next one's from the Terria record... stick it in your ass!" Oh yeah... and for BAD DEVIL~!

Pain of Salvation for having a great go at it (awesome set) under not-the-best conditions (Daniel was on tour with the Flower Kings and flew in the day of his performance, was on 6am England time when he took the stage exhausted, and then flew back that night)

Blind Guardian just for being... Zero Hour for being great... and Cea Serin for shocking the living hell out of me with the material live...

HUGE thanks to Andreas, Tomer, and Efrat of The End for the trust and companionship over the weekend and putting up with my "I DON'T WANT TO FUCKING HEAR THE OPETH IN THE CAR!!" whining Thursday night before I'd gotten it...

And thanks to Glenn Harveston who has to be an absolute maniac in setting up and organizing a show that from in front of the stage, looks like it went off like clockwork... I have no idea how much stress backstage it took to make that happen, but goddamn, anyone reading this who went needs to email him and just say thanks.

My 'official' report will appear in the next LotFP... probably won't be THAT much to it, I didn't actually watch all the bands so won't be able to give in-depth comments, but should be both entertaining and enraging to different people nonetheless...

 

[Deviation]

Geez, my wallet got off easy then. I only bought 15 CDs. Of course, I had to buy airfare first for the opportunity to bleed my bank account.

 

[jageorge72]

I think the most CD's I've ever bought at one time is like 7 or 8!!

You guys are SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[numbskull]

Amaran- A World Depraved

I'd like to hear this.

Armageddon -Three

I like this one. Amott's vox fit nicely and I can never get enough of his playing.

Cathedral- VIIth Coming, The

I've only got "Forest" by them... dunno much about 'em, as "Forest" didn't knock my socks off the way it did most critics back in the day. Production was just horrid... mebbe this one would suit my unTrue devotion to good production.

Dark Moor- Gates of Oblivion

Surprised ya got this as they're pretty generic from the clips I've heard.

Darkane- Expanding Senses

Kinda liked "Rusted Angel" (mostly because of Eric Hawk), so I haven't checked out their later stuff.

Devil Doll- Sacriligium
Devil Doll- Dies Irae

Only have "The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms" and don't like it much (since it's a soundtrack, it has very long parts that are very sparse and long... and did I mention long?). I'd actually ordered "The Girl Who was Death" and got sent this instead... prolly shoulda returned it, but didn't wanna deal with the postage. Anyway, ilya or someone told me that "Sacrilege" is prolly the weakest one, and even so there are some very cool bits on there, so someday I"ll try something else by 'em.

Lord Weird Slough Feg, The- Twilight of the Idols

Love the Weird. Feg yeah!

Luca Turilli- Prophet of the Last Eclipse

Numerous positive reviews have gotten me interested in this. Please say it blows so I can take it off my list.

Nile- In Their Darkened Shrines

Most cool.

Opeth- Deliverance

I've been waffling on ordering this. Will await your review... or mebbe wait 'til March when I can get both discs together.

Shadow's Fall- Art of Balance, The

I really like these guys, but then, I know 'em, so I'm biased. Totally baffled by the people who dig Killswitch Engage but hate SF... they're both doing somewhat similar stuff and they're both really good at it. I guess CM has hyped SF way too much and they've become the poster boys of overratedosity.

Zero Hour- Zero Hour

Really dig this one.

Metal Mental Meltdown trivia boardgame

No comment.

Dionysus
Masterplan

Debating ordering the "special deal" on these at The End right now.

As for the rest, I dunno, but there's alot of 'em I wanna hear.

... the event was a spectacular success.

Very sorry I missed it, but as it turns out, I couldn't afford the trip anyway.

Yeah, that's just sour grapes.

Mebbe next year.

 

[llorenth]

I saw the STACK of CDs Jim had bought, and my eyes bugged out. I myself bought NINE CDs after promising I would buy none...I just didn't have the strength. I guess actually hanging out with Tomer and Andreas weakened your will even more, eh Jim?
Now and Forever,
lmjh, who was wondering if he should review Opeth's latest instead of a normal column this time around...oh well, it's a PP3 related column with a retro review of Toxik's _Think This_ instead.