POWERFEST Night 1 Review

[EyeballKid]

Got there about 45 min before doors opened, waited in a long line, but ended up front and center of the balcony. I met some dudes from Pennsylvania who drove up for the weekend, they talked to a guy behind them who flew in from Seattle, and he said he had met people there from Greece and Spain. Needless to say, the draw for the once again mighty Iced Earth was large.

On to the pre-IE "entertainment"...

ARISE & RUIN
If one note, dropped-C chord chugga chugga breakdowns (that last entire songs) and a lead screamer who pounds the floor like a squatting chimpanzee and trips over the vocal monitors sound enjoyable, than this is the band for you!

ION VEIN
To be fair, I haven't seen Ion Vein in about 5 years. So, the lineup/musical changes were a huge shock for me. I still dug the music (which has become much more streamlined metal and less progressive/power) and Lotesto, you sure can shred a mean guitar. But, I'm sorry, the Billy Idol-Rob Halford lovechild lead singer really freaked me out. He sounded like he may have had a good voice, if he only stopped prancing around, doing the splits, and calling the crowd his "niggas."

EPICUREAN
Wow, some more awesome musicianship. I was really impressed with the level of talent from these guys, especially the lead guitarist and drummer. Then the singer came out. Now, I'm not one for screaming vocals, but in this case the screaming was far more pleasurable than when he tried to sing (which was really flat and off-key). If this band got a better lead singer, they would phenomenal, cause their music was really well crafted and technically proficient.

A LIFE ONCE LOST
Very much like the first band, but tighter. A mix between Pantera and hardcore, minus the Dimebag-talented guitar solos. They may have been good for a tough-guy hardcore band (which is kind of an oxymoron), but by this point the crowd was fed up. Boos and heckles were rampant.

And finally...

ICED EARTH
What I can I say? It was amazing. It was historical. It was so good the P.A. speakers couldn't handle it. No really, that actually kinda sucked. The speakers cut out on 2 separate occasions. This is the second time in a month that I've been to the Pearl Room, and both times had major sound issues. Huh...

Anyway, the band came out with no intro music, they just walked out and started playing. The chants for "Barlow" brought him out as the verse kicked in.

Songs played (not in complete order):

Dark Saga
Vengeance Is Mine
Burning Times
Declaration Day
Violate
Pure Evil
Watching Over Me
The Coming Curse
Ten Thousand Strong
Dracula
I Walk Alone
Setian Massacre
Travel in Stygian
A Question of Heaven
---------------
Melancholy (Holy Martyr)
My Own Savior
Iced Earth

Barlow looked really moved in between songs, the crowd kept chanting his name. Right after the first song, there was a huge "Welcome Back!" chant which was followed by hugs between Barlow and Schaffer.

Matt sounded incredible, seriously like he hasn't taken a day off. Well, except that one day where he went and shaved off all his hair.

Seriously, a fantastic performance. I'm proud to have been part of such a memorable and historical performance.

 

[Jasonic]

Well, I ended up making it!!!!!
Unfortunately, I did not get to see all the people I wanted to see.
I am sure at the end of the weekend, we will have the yearly "Who did you see / meet" thread, so I won't go into that now.

I will keep this about the music.

I got there a couple minutes before ALOL.

I didn't hear one positive thing about Arise and Ruin.
I heard Ion Vein musically still kill, but the new frontman was a bit disturbing to watch.
I do like IV a lot, and hope to see it for myself sometime soon.
Didn't hear many comments on Epicurean.

Saw / heard ALOL for myself.
Sorry guys, I just don't see the appeal.
They did not go over well at all with the crowd.
I wasn't paying much attention, but people said later the singer spoke obscenities towards the crowd, saying something like "The band you want to see is going to be up soon"

Anyhow.......

On to Iced Earth which was the obvious highlight for everyone in the room.

The post above summed up all the details very nicely.

For me, the performance was very solid, but didn't kick me in the ass like all other previous times I have seen Iced Earth.
A couple people I spoke to afterwards felt the same way.
Basically, a solid IE performance as always, but sort of "eh"
Anyone know what I mean? Maybe you can explain why I feel this way, because I am still struggling.
It bothers me such, as IE is definitely in my top 10 to 15 metal bands of all time.

Maybe it is the whole "Return of Barlow" thing.
Maybe its the "another round of hired guns"

I think I wouldn't have these feelings if this were my first time seeing IE.
I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea.
The performance was solid.

Just on a personal level, it didn't have the emotional impact that previous IE performances had on me.

Overall though, still a very enjoyable evening.

I am VERY happy for the CRJ gang for putting together this successful evening.
I am sure tomorrow will be as well.

 

[UsefulIdiot127]

Fuck finals and hail and tornadoes, I made it anyways. Was my first time seeing Iced Earth, one of my favorite metal bands ever. I thought it was epic. So fucking sweet. Time to study.

 

[Jasonic]

Fuck finals and hail and tornadoes, I made it anyways. Was my first time seeing Iced Earth, one of my favorite metal bands ever. I thought it was epic. So fucking sweet. Time to study.

Cool you made it out.
What school you go to? HS or college?

Yeah, I can definitely see more excitement over this performace coming from those who have never seen them, as their performance was solid.

 

[UsefulIdiot127]

Cool you made it out.
What school you go to? HS or college?

Yeah, I can definitely see more excitement over this performace coming from those who have never seen them, as their performance was solid.

university of illinois in champaign, had a nice little ride up the 57 to get to mokena. Couldn't find the fucking pearl room for the life of me once I got there.

 

[Jasonic]

university of illinois in champaign, had a nice little ride up the 57 to get to mokena. Couldn't find the fucking pearl room for the life of me once I got there.

Cool, I went there for school too (as did a few others from this forum).

Yeah, I got lost the first couple times I went there.

VERY easy to get there for me, due to the 355 extension.

 

[UsefulIdiot127]

Cool, I went there for school too (as did a few others from this forum).

Yeah, I got lost the first couple times I went there.

VERY easy to get there for me, due to the 355 extension.

Yea who knew it was next to the college of cosmetology. I went about 5 miles too far.

IF anyone reocognizes me I was the unnecesarily tall guy in the opeth shirt that was probably blocking your view, sorry.

 

[Jasonic]

Yea who knew it was next to the college of cosmetology. I went about 5 miles too far.

IF anyone reocognizes me I was the unnecesarily tall guy in the opeth shirt that was probably blocking your view, sorry.

Don't think I saw you.
I was wearing an Iced Earth shirt, "The Prophecy"

I know I got in a couple pictures

 

[The Grayfox]

Good review.

2 Questions:

How did Matt sound on the Ripper era tunes? Declaration Day and Ten Thousand Strong specifically.

and

Did you get any pictures?

 

[UsefulIdiot127]

Good review.

2 Questions:

How did Matt sound on the Ripper era tunes? Declaration Day and Ten Thousand Strong specifically.

and

Did you get any pictures?

Matt made them sound better, im my opinion. He hit the high notes perfectly, and improved upon the general vocals.

 

[Tatsumaru]

Awesome review man! The only band I really care for in that list is Iced Earth, and I'm quite pleased with their setlist. Hopefully they'll play something similiar here : )

 

[EricT]

Kind of a weak setlist, eh?

Still would have loved to have seen it, but for the first show back with Barlow, you'd of expected them to pull out some real classics like Dante's Inferno, Desert Rain, Burnt Offerings, and at the very least the full Something Wicked trilogy?

 

[KupoBarlow]

Please guys post some stuff, pics, anything...i wanna see how was THAT amazing gig. Thanks anyway for the info till this moment

 

[UsefulIdiot127]

Kind of a weak setlist, eh?

Still would have loved to have seen it, but for the first show back with Barlow, you'd of expected them to pull out some real classics like Dante's Inferno, Desert Rain, Burnt Offerings, and at the very least the full Something Wicked trilogy?

I was really happy with the setlist, they pulled in a lot of great material I thought. Opening with Dark Saga was not what I was expecting and was a badass way to start the show.

 

[wildfyr]

The list below is from a foto I took of the set list taped to the stage The shot was taken from upstairs with my new macro lens. I'm still getting used to using the new lens, tonight was the first night. The foto didn't turn out too good. It was almost too blurry to read. I don't remember hearing Melancholy for some reason. I must have gone out for a smoke or something. Anyway, like I said the top part of the list didn't make it into the shot due to being overshadowed by a monitor.

[snip]
Violate
Pure Evil
Watching Over Me
Ten Thousand Strong
Dracula
Coming Curse
I Walk Alone
Setian Massacre
Travel in Stygian
Question of Heaven
-------Melancholy
-------My Own Savior
-------Iced Earth


Arise and Ruin - Wasn't familiar with them and they weren't my cup of tea.

Ion Vein - Holy shit! Nothing like they were before. I'll have to try to catch them if they do any local shows coming up.

Epicurean - Wasn't familiar with them before either but I liked their set very much.

A Life Once Lost - Again, wasn't familiar with them and they didn't grab my attention at all.

Iced Earth - Returns for an awesome Powerfest gig! The place was packed. HUGE success... I'll have pics up after this weekend is over.

 

[The_Q]

Couldn't make it due to treatment schedule. I am so glad that you guys had a great time. Its great to hear that the turnout and energy was so huge. I'm crossing my fingers that I can make it tonight.

 

[KaptainKrude]

Setlist as posted in an article on Blabbermouth...

01. Dark Saga
02. Vengeance is Mine
03. Burning Times
04. Declaration Day
05. Violate
06. Pure Evil
07. Watching Over Me
08. Ten Thousand Strong
09. Dracula
10. Coming Curse
11. I Walk Alone
12. Setian Massacre
13. Travel In Stygian
14. A Question Of Heaven

Encore:
15. Melancholy
16. My Own Savior
17. Iced Earth

 

[EyeballKid]

How did Matt sound on the Ripper era tunes? Declaration Day and Ten Thousand Strong specifically.

Honestly, you could tell he wasn't as confident on them. I think he sang them perfectly, and definitely sounded better than Ripper, but he didn't bring the same energy to them as he did the rest of the set. Except Setian Massacre, but that's to be expected since he recorded it.

I thought Declaration Day absolutely KILLED. It's the only song I like off TGB (besides Gettysburg) and Barlow made it sound phenomenal. Ten Thousand Strong, IMO, was probably the weakest song of the night. I don't know if this was because Matt wasn't as strong on it, or because I don't know the song well.

But, in all, Barlow shreds the songs vocally. His energy will get there after a few more performances, I'm positive.

Kind of a weak setlist, eh?

Still would have loved to have seen it, but for the first show back with Barlow, you'd of expected them to pull out some real classics like Dante's Inferno, Desert Rain, Burnt Offerings, and at the very least the full Something Wicked trilogy?

I was slightly disappointed with the setlist, but it really didn't matter due to the importance of the show. I would have loved an encore of the Something Wicked Trilogy, but, ya know...Shaeffer MUST close with "Iced Earth" all the time.

Plus, he hates Burnt Offerings, so I didn't expect to hear anything off of it. I'm not too keen on that album either, so it worked for me.

If anything, I wish the Framing stuff was dropped in favor of Horror Show material, which I'm sad we only got 1 song from.

 

[Diabolik]

I will post more later....but I had more fun talking to everyone and hanging out that watching Iced Earth. There was definetly something missing in thier set. Maybe it was the line up changes? no heart and soul in the set? or, I am not that huge of a Iced Earth fan.

They were decent and bought a huge crowd in for Powerfest which is great. Just after it was done, I was like...OK, time to hang out some more.

I will post more later....I have to go find my cat, leave to see Iron Man and then get to the show....cant be sitting here online all day, do you think I dont have a life? I dont.

 

[Rycher]

Iced Earth was absolutely fantastic. I thought there was plenty of heart - I guess Diabolik only likes bands that have accordion players, wear face-paint and dance jigs. Jon was really into it and just riffed up a storm like always. Troy seemed pretty animated, as did the new bassist - their hair was flying around all night.

Barlow was awesome, though I think Declaration Day should have been later in the set - he really sounded like he had to work at that high section in the middle of the song. By the time they did Pure Evil and through the rest of the night though, he was just unleashing hell with the higher vocals.

I dug the set and it was cool to hear a handful of my favorite older tracks along with some of the newer songs from Framing Armageddon. Ended up by Vito from Novembers Doom by accident - while waiting for IE to come on. It was cool to meet ya!

I wouldn't have been able to find anyone in that place though, wall-to-wall people. I had to stand on my tip-toes for nearly the entire set so I could see the band on stage. Pretty much stayed on the left side of the crowd, halfway back, and slightly in towards the center as the crowd jostled around.

Can't wait for Testament tonight!