Powerfest reviews?

[Harvester]

I haven't seen a full review of the Chicago Powerfest this past weekend yet. Anyone have any links? The only think I have seen is a few photo threads on their forum and some veiled references to the "craziness" that went on Friday night.

I'd like to hear how Kiaus and Perzonal War went over?

 

[Diabolik]

I haven't seen a full review of the Chicago Powerfest this past weekend yet. Anyone have any links? The only think I have seen is a few photo threads on their forum and some veiled references to the "craziness" that went on Friday night.

I'd like to hear how Kiaus and Perzonal War went over?

Perzonal War didnt go over that well. People watched but were there mainly for Devildriver. The turnout on Saturday night was about maybe 600. maybe.

I will post a full report later....I was going to do it last night but it seemed that no one was asking about it.

I heard Kiuas went over great and out on an amazing set.

The Novembers Doom forum has my small review. worth checking out.

 

[Cheiron]

600? ouch. That is surprising.

 

[compurocker]

I thought Kiuas was the best set all weekend, but I'm biased because I was looking forward to them the most. I could be wrong but it looked to me like they were winning over some new fans during their set. The crowd seemed to get bigger and more into them as the set went on, which is always a good sign.

I thought Perzonal War put on a great set and my wife actually asked me to buy their CD afterwards, so it wasn't just me!

I was pleasantly surprised by Diamond Plate. Pretty decent thrash. And I was happy to get to see Luna Mortis again. I think they pleasantly surprised some people in the crowd but probably had the same problem Diabolik mentioned about Perzonal War. A shame because they definitely deserve some attention.

Even Soil didn't sound half bad. The new singer sucked at singing their older one-hit-wonder song, but their newer material was heavier and... well, I guess all I can really say is I didn't hate it, and I had thought I probably would.

I am not a Novembers Doom fan but I actually enjoyed some of their newer material because it was faster and not so plodding. We left during DevilDriver. Uninteresting music with a big mosh pit = no thanks.

The acoustic sets were pretty cool. The stand-up comedian was not. He was sorta funny, but he was out of his element and the crowd was not into him at all, which made him suck even harder. I felt bad for the poor sap, but he took the gig so he's partly to blame for the results.

 

[pentagramjohnson]

yeah, and does anybody know why Kiuas played early?

I drove in all the way from philly and as I walk in the venue Kiuas was already on.
And the band playing after them was Cycle of Pain (if I remember correctly), and they were supposed to be the second band on the bill.

I still caught half of the Kiuas set, but i was pretty pissed, especially after seeing how bad cycle of pain was!

 

[Diabolik]

yeah, and does anybody know why Kiuas played early?

I drove in all the way from philly and as I walk in the venue Kiuas was already on.
And the band playing after them was Cycle of Pain (if I remember correctly), and they were supposed to be the second band on the bill.

I still caught half of the Kiuas set, but i was pretty pissed, especially after seeing how bad cycle of pain was!

From what I was told.....Cycle of Pain pulled a rockstar thing and wanted to play later in the evening before Dope. Not sure what else happened but it changed everything up and upset lots of people who missed bands who wanted to play. In all seriousness....I would have not let them switch or just said....see you later. it isnt like anyone was there to see them.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

If that's true it's a crap move that shouldn't have been allowed. People plan their schedules around the set times, and it's a shame some of them missed tunes from the bands they came to see.


Britt

 

[Imagikafan]

If that's true it's a crap move that shouldn't have been allowed. People plan their schedules around the set times, and it's a shame some of them missed tunes from the bands they came to see.


Britt

I completely agree. Cycle Of Who?

 

[Jibrille]

The main guy behind Cycle of Pain is apparently BLS's current bassist.. :Smug: What a bitch move if he pulled weight or got Zakk to.

 

[Diabolik]

The main guy behind Cycle of Pain is apparently BLS's current bassist.. :Smug: What a bitch move if he pulled weight or got Zakk to.

from what I heard.....that is what happened. Again....that is what I heard. I was not there.

 

[Jibrille]

from what I heard.....that is what happened. Again....that is what I heard. I was not there.

Yeah, when I saw your rockstar comment, I decided to figure out who the hell the band was as they weren't even on the Powerfest poster ads that I'd seen. I thought it was weird that a band no one has heard of managed to pull weight. Ugh.

 

[edgeofthorns]

Sounds like a jacked up mess to me.

~Brian~

 

[General Zod]

600? They probably could have drawn 600 with a traditional Metal crowd and a far less expensive headliner. Bizarre, since it was assumed that they were going with more commercial headliners to draw a bigger/different crowd.

Zod

 

[Diabolik]

Here is the review.............................


Thursday night....Pagan Fest 2

The turnout wasnt as good as last year. Not sure if it was the choice of bands or that lots of people decided not to travel in for this years show. Last year there were lots of out of towners in for the 3 days. there were a few dealer tables set up. The Powerfest table with shirts, the Pagan Fest 2 tabel with lots of CD's and shirts. CdInzane was there. Then a few local dealers and this guy selling ren fair armor and stuff. I never thought about going to a show and leaving with full armor.

Swashbuckle started things off and if anyone read my thread about them...you know where I stand. they were a joke. They did not deserve to be on this tour what so ever. Nor the deal they landed with Nuclear Blast. I look forward to seeing thier disc in the used racks very soon. You cant hide badly written songs with horrible vocals behind goofy costumes.

Blackguard....I was interested in seeing them. After the first song my poser-radar started going off. This band is one of those bands who would change style in the drop of a hat. They already did the name change...then when the singer was asking for a circle pit....just pathetic. Getting the crowd going is something you earn..not ask for. They were not a bad band that seemed to have very little morals or ethics. Musically they were generic but added in folkish keyboards to thier generic blend of music.

People then started coming in. At first it wasnt that filled but by the time Moonsorrow hit it was a decent size crowd. I think it was at 600. I met up with Brit ( Invisible Guest ), Pat, and War Essamble from the Heathen Crusade forum. I like Moonsorrow but tend to get bored after a while since they kinda drag on and on. But live was a whole different beast. They were amazing to watch. The crowd was really into them. Which was surprising since they dont have a lot of thier disc easily available at stores.

Primordial was next....WOW. Zod...I now know why you have ben raving about them so much. Amazing live band. Sheer power and such intensity. Hearing them on disc is one thing...but live...truely haunting in a good way.
The crowd was into them also. This jackalope behind me kept yelling for "Coffin Ships" over and over and over and over and over. You get my drift. I hate when people do that....a band isnt going to change thier set list for 1 moron who knows only thier 1 song.

Korpiklaani closed out the night. A lot of people started leaving. Not lots but there was a big difference in the crowd size. The ones who stayed really got into them. They played almost every song that I wanted to hear. Truely a great live band who enjoyed playing.

It was an odd crowd. Lots of people in face paint. Lots and lots of attractive ladies ( who had zero interest in me ), and lots of younger kids.

I am not sure how much stuff was selling for the vendors. I blew lots at the CdInzane booth. Brit heard that the Primordial stuff was almost sold out for the whole tour.

Friday............Powerfest

skipped it. I really wanted to see Kiuas...I have been listening to them for over 5 years now and always thought I would never see them live. With them being the only band that night I wanted to see...it wasnt worth it to drive out there. Plus it being my cats birthday. I decided to just go to work and save a day off. I heard the next day that the show wasnt as crowded as they thought it was going to be. Not a sell out. I was actually surprised, but Black Label Society just played here a month ago. Plus...this has been a huge debate here in Chicago. lots of people have no clue where the Pearl Room or Mokena is. People are lazy and dont want to have to research it. i think this is a huge turnoff for lots of people.
But back to Kiuas...I heard nothing but amazing things about them live. I heard they put on an amazing show. The powerfest forum has pics up by an amazing photographer....Norm. great guy and his pics are amazing.

Saturday............Powerfest

Went with Jason ( Jasonic aka...mr. doom ) to the show. Without getting into the backstory of out battles with the fest....we will always support it. We got there early because we were lazy with getting tickets. We heard at first it may have been sold out...then we found out otherwise from other sources so we were happy. We got there about 15 minutes before doors opened up...a mighty line of 10 fat people in Devildriver shirts were in front of us....are all metalcore fans fat? Just curious. If thier was a weight limit to the show...we probably wouldnt have gotten in.

first up....DIAMOND PLATE......I heard about these guys about a month ago while at Metal Haven. I heard great things. For those who havent heard them or know of them....you soon will. Damn...these 3 kids...yes...kids...they were averaging from 16 to 17 and they played pure no holds bard thrash. These kids knew this stuff and had great hooks and stuff in all thier songs. I am very critical to bands and stuff. these guys won me over. The crowd was totally into them. They had everything down path and were total pros on stage. No local band banter with the crowd. Just pure 25 minutes of thrash. If you closed your eyes...you would think they were an old act from the Bay area from the 80's. I highly recommend people check them out. The sad part is maybe 100 people were there.....bummer.

LUNA MORTIS was next. I was excited to see them finally. They have been highly talked about from the past few years when they played the MidWest Metal Anthem. They just got signed to Century Media and have a new CD out....i was thrilled to finally see them. After a song I was done. Maybe like 6 years ago I would have been thrilled. Thier sound is so dated now. They are not a bad band but just too many bands are doing this sound. Maybe on disc they are better. Spent my time buying more CD's. But was still able to listen to thier show.

This year they started a cool thing. They had two rooms. For anyone who has been to the Pearl Room at an under pre sale show knows that Capones next door gets the show. This place worked well for the acoustic stuff and a rest area to just talk and hang out.

GWYNBLEIDD played first. I was excited because I just got into these guys a few weeks before the show. The lounge was nice...there were table and chairs, a bar, and some big nice cozy couches. Met up with Will Borzath from the ultimatemetal forums.....he also played acoustic on Friday which I missed.
The couches were nice to just lay back and watch the show. Some issues.....they never closed the door to the main room so SHEEPHEAD was blarring through and then everyone just started talking. The band never played acoustic before nor have acoustic songs. They played bit and peices of songs and medleys...mostly with no vocals. It was kind of like watching a street performer play. Kind of just all over the place. If I didnt know thier songs before hand I would probably never give them a listen. They are a band worth looking into if you are a fan of Novembers Doom or Opeth.

Went back to the main room to see PERZONAL WAR. People liked them but they were very generic. The room started filling up. It never got over 600 though. I am not a fan of Perzonal War....they do nothing for me. From looking at the dealer tables...no one was buying thier stuff afterwards. I think since they stayed away from booking non-commercial metal acts as headliners....their was a whole different crowd at this fest. This crowd isnt the buying CD crowd or people looking to discover new bands. This was a ...we want to mosh crowd. Only watched like 2 songs for Perzonal War and then went back to the acoustic room to get ready for Novembers Dooms set.

this was NOVEMBERS DOOM first acoustic set in the states. this was highly antisipated. About 40 people stopped in. about 20 were fans while the others just talked through it again. There was some tech problems but it was still cool to see this rare performance. The ones who were fans really enjoyed this rare treat. This is a band worth checking out. They played for like 25 minutes and then they got ready to move to the other room to play a normal set.

We moved way up front to watch thier set. The crowd really had no clue who they were.....you could hear one kid ask his freind...what do they sound like. He responded...total Hardcore. Well...maybe death metal. Their intro started up...he then said...well maybe gothic? Novembers Doom won over the crowd and I think got some new fans. They played 2 news songs which were amazing. Just as they were getting things going...it was over. You can stop by thier forum on Ultimatemetal here and check out a more detailed review there of thier sets.

After that we wandered around and realized that no one from the boards or out of towners came in for this. There was even a lack of the local regualars that we know there. While I had a great time like I do every year...this seemed less like a fest than just a normal show. The people there had no clue about the history or anything of it or that lots of these bands are a one time thing to see here...they were there for Soil and Devildriver. By looking at CDInzanes supply of CD's...I dont think he sold much. The younger kids are just not getting CD's and these people here for the show had little interest in looking for new stuff to get into.

SOIL came on....dear god. They represent everything that is wrong with music. Complete garbage. I wanted to leave but Jason wanted to stick around a little. We finally said out goodbye to everyone and headed out.

Overall...I dont think they did the numbers they wanted or expected. I thought for sure they would sell out each night for the final two days. Not sure if it was a lack of interest or a distance thing or just people didnt care. it is hard to tell. You could debate it all day long. I still had a great time. Best part about these types of things is being able to hang out with people you havent seen in a while. I applaud Rob and Chris for doing this every year. Even though I complain every year about the line up and give them crap....I do look forward to it every year. Hopefully next year they will move things back to more underground stuff and get the out of towners back.

I loved having 2 rooms. This is something they should keep doing. Maybe even have regualr sets in the smaller room by bands too. It doesnt have to be all acoustic.

Hopefully this was an enjoyable read.

 

[Jasonic]

Well done Diabolik! You summed up Saturday nicely.

Well, most here know that Novembers Doom are one of my favorite bands.
I would go into details on their sets though I know few here, aside from Zod and Britt, aren't too familiar with them.

Diamond Plate = Killer thrash, reminds one of Nuclear Assault or Overkill. Picked up their new EP. I predict they get signed soon.

Luna Mortis = As Diabolik said, 7 years ago when the Gothenburg sound was fresh, I would have been all over it. Solid band, but just not for me anymore.

Perzonal War = Seemed like a solid live band, but not really my thing. The crowd liked em, so that's good.

Sheephead = Only saw like half a song, as my focus was on the acoustic sets.

Novembers Doom = Great set. Fan favs from the last 2 albums, and then 2 killer new tracks from the upcoming CD.

SoiL = I will never get bands like that. bands like this will always be too heavy for rock radio, but too non-metal for the metal crowd. Left after 1 song.

I am TERRIBLE with guessing crowd size. I would say the Pearl Room was maybe half full at best. From what I heard, there may have been a smidgen more the night before for BLS.

 

[Diabolik]

600? They probably could have drawn 600 with a traditional Metal crowd and a far less expensive headliner. Bizarre, since it was assumed that they were going with more commercial headliners to draw a bigger/different crowd.

Zod

I totally agree. I thought for sure it would have drawn better since it had more widely known headliners.

 

[Jasonic]

I totally agree. I thought for sure it would have drawn better since it had more widely known headliners.

Yes, and no.
BLS and DD both tour a ton, and play better known places like House of Blues, etc. There still is a LARGE population of metal fans who haven't trekked out to Mokena. Also, BLS and DD draw a younger crowd, who may have been faced with the, "You are not going to Mokena, etc"

Also, as we have all seen on various forums, the lineup pretty much eliminated out of towners as well as underground metal fans who would have come to just check it out.

Look, we can talk about the lineup, etc, till we are blue in the face.
BLS and DD obviously were not their #1 choice in headliners for this year. They did what they felt they needed to do to keep it going.

I still had a good time, though of course it helped a lot being a Novembers Doom fanboy and having them play two sets.

What I found disappointing was that all the Powerfest regulars were not present, even the local ones. Aside from the bands, there were maybe 10 Powerfest regulars in attendance.

I am curious to see if CRJ posts a wrap up with final numbers and their thoughts. I certainly hope they continue with the fest. My only recommendation would be to either stay with underground acts, or just simply go all out and go after the more mainstream acts. I don't see the appeal, as those bands tour so regularly. I am not sure how well it works when you mix the two. It was certainly a unique idea to attempt.

 

[eppst1]

Great write up Diabolik! I really wanted to come up this year and hang out with everyone, but with the line-up and work - I just couldn't swing it. Maybe next year...

 

[Diabolik]

Great write up Diabolik! I really wanted to come up this year and hang out with everyone, but with the line-up and work - I just couldn't swing it. Maybe next year...

I think my new calling in life is a professional reviewer / critic. Anyone willing to hire me?

 

[War Ensemble]

I think my new calling in life is a professional reviewer / critic. Anyone willing to hire me?

No.