Ah, what the hell. here's my review for those still checking this thread.
Preparty: wasn't in the room enough during any of the bands after Halcyon Way to fully review them, but every moment i heard of any of the bands sounded awesome. Awesome preparty, shane. 4 amazing bands. and great set again, Jon! Great to see the local scene have an entrant this year, and the set did not disappoint. The new stuff is a big step forward, too. I love the "Deliver the Suffering" EP.
And then the main show. I was SO looking forward to this lineup; i didn't know many of the bands before the announcement but what i heard on CDs indicated i was pretty interested in at least 8 of the 10, once i had the opportunity. I was up front all night, both nights. my legs died.
Into Eternity: One of the main bands i was here to see (though i buy my badge blind every year, so i'm going to be here regardless) and they did not disappoint. They weren't dead on perfect, but they were damn close; they really brought the intensity and were a fantastic start to the festival. MASSIVE props for coming out with that kind of a set after replacing over half the band 3 weeks earlier!!! and hey, if you guys are reading this, work on that Canadian death metal US tour we were talking about!!! wanna see you back in atlanta!
Dreamscape: Sounded fine and i could tell they were playing their stuff fine but they weren't as exciting to watch and I really got bored with their music. They struck me as a textbook example of how the term "progressive" in metal has devolved from meaning "different or boundary-pushing" to meaning "sounds like a combination of some elements from Dream Theater, Fates Warning, and/or Queensryche." It felt like Dreamscape was playing the same heavy riff over and over, interspersed with watered down Queensryche music to me. sorry.
Tad Morose: Holy shit was this ever awesome. I always thought they were pretty good on CD (they weren't necessarily even one of the bands I was most looking forward to at this overstacked PP, though) but goddamn did they nail it live. Their set overall, and "Matters of the Dark" in particular (not even a song i'm very familiar with) slammed into me out of nowhere and became my surprise moment of the festival. Urban Breed brought tremendous enegy to the performance, as well. Top notch all the way. The immediate thought that popped into my head during "MotD" was "headliner: PPVII." I don't know if they're well known enough to headline, but at least a 90 minute slot. I'm hoping. At least to me, and to several others from the look of it, they have proven themselves.
Kamelot: I had really bad sound for them where i was standing (up front at the railing on the right hand side) and this set reinforced from ProgPower II that I really don't like Khan as a frontman (he seems SO postury and artificial up there, much more so than the similar complaints I had about DC Cooper with Silent Force at PPIII). Also, either his mike was cutting in and out all set or he was dropping a lot of words. A shame, since 4th Legacy is one of my favorite power metal albums and I really do like Kamelot's music a lot. overall pretty disappointing in my opinion. They sound much better on CD and the live show didn't really add anything. Though Midnight's voice was cool when he was singing.
Savathing: This was perhaps my most anticipated set of the fest and, not to say that i'm glad Zak lawnmowered his hand almost off, because i'm not, but i actually think that his absence made this set all the more special. I am only 24, didn't get into Savatage until Handful of Rain, and have always LOVED the old stuff. This felt like what getting to watch them on tour for Streets must have been somewhat like (albeit with Chris on guitar instead of Criss, and Kevin on bass instead of Johnny, and Jon a lot bigger, and the song "Edge of Thorns" thrown in). I heard songs I never thought i would get to see Savatage play, and they sounded incredible. This set was one of the most amazing things i've ever seen, one of the few that's managed to rival seeing the full current 'Tage on the Poets and Madmen tour. They were obviously having so much fun up there, it really drew me in. And obviously Chris Caffery's vocals were a pleasant surprise. I will say that the "Pain" material was a little weaker than i was hoping, but once they kicked into the old school set, i was totally hooked until it was all over. Thank you SOOO much, Glenn, for making that happen.
Adagio: I have yet to settle on a full opinion of this band. I'm still hovering around "they sound kind of like Symphony X but I like Symphony X better", at the moment. Their set was good, but it didn't really blow me away.
Wuthering Heights: I love their recent CD and I had a lot of fun wathcing them. One of the few bands of the weekend (Savatage, them, and Brainstorm) that had the vocals high enough for me in the mix from where i was standing. I understand that it's damn near impossible for a sound tech to insure quality sound right up at the stage, especially for the vocals, but some sets show that it can be done, and I applaud the sound guys for the three i named. These guys were really fun to watch in their slightly goofy way, and perhaps their sound was actually better up front because i thought it was awesome and a lot of other people seem to think it wasn't. Longing for the Woods I & II ruled.
Brainstorm: The feel good band of the festival. It's always nice to watch a band that's totally astounded by the support they have. The total shock on these guys' faces when they first came out and were greeted with "BRAIN-STORM!!! BRAIN-STORM!!!...(etc.)" from hundreds of people was classic, and that attitude lasted all hour long. I tend to prefer Tad Morose's music to Brainstorm, so i think TM edged them out as a total show-stealer, but Brainstorm came damn close. There is little they could have done better and i thoroughly enjoyed them.
Pain of Salvation: I really don't like this band. I nearly fell asleep through their set at PPIII, and have given their music a chance on several occasions with no success, but i was upfront anyway for all 4 of the other bands on Saturday, and couldn't leave between Brainstorm and Edguy or i would lose my spot, so i figured i would give them one more chance to really win me over by watching them live from up close. They got out to a really good start with the first kind of Pink Floyd-y song that i got into, then the two songs after it really got me going, very interesting technical breaks and pretty entertaining overall; I was dreading coming back to this board and having to admit that i was wrong about the band... Then they proceeded for the remaing 70 minutes to remind me of why i don't like them by playign the same kind of quiet, lull-inducing art rock with the occasional metal break that i was used to from them. Don't know where those 2 pretty cool songs came from, but i liked them. The rest made me again wonder what the hell the big deal is. I'm beginning to wonder if the people that fall in love with them are mostly people who aren't as familiar with stuff like Mr. Bungle, King Crimson, Cynic, and a bunch of other bands that seem to do the progressive, "play it weird" thing in much more interesting ways, at least in my opinion, than Pain of Salvation.
Edguy: Sound problems seemed to return for this set, though for once the band was so energetic that it was forgivable. They are such performers it hardly mattered. Not as mind-blowing a set as PPIII because we expect it from them now, but still cool to watch nonetheless. Would have preferred a few more songs off of Mandrake, and maybe "Fairytale" but still a good set.
and that's that.
Ryan
