My ProgPower review:
I went to this show basically knowing nothing about the bands. I do own one Strato CD (Infinite). SwordLord made me a mix CD with 1-2 songs from each of the bands performing (except for Angra and Symphorce) which I had been listening to for a few weeks. I also had downloaded four songs from Circus Maximus' website.
Given my lack of knowledge, it's hard for me say too much about the music, as I normally have to listen to something 5 times before I can even decide if I like it or not.
PreParty:
I only saw OutWorld. Not a big fan of the vocals, but the guitarist was just incredible. I spent the whole time watching him play.
Friday:
- Manticora: way, way fun band to watch. Frontman is a joy to watch perform. 200% energy! Playing God is a good song.
- Circus Maximus: loved 'em! What an incredible vocalist. I went and bought their CD right after their performance. This is exactly how metal vocals should sound, IMHO. They need to work on the showmanship aspect, but I was enthralled by the vocals, so I was fine with the lack of stage presence. Met these guys at the meet and greet and they were just cool.
- Orphaned Land: kind of interesting with the Middle Eastern influence. Like the song Ocean Land. I may have to look into them. Not a fan of death metal vocals, but that seems to be only like 25% of what they do. I will say that they had the most dedicated fanbase. Their fans had really come out for this band. I saw more of their shirts than any others. I talked to someone from Dallas who came only for this band (they also did an acoustic set at the PreParty); she even said that she hates power metal and might not watch any other bands. I was amazed at how many guys I saw with huge Orphaned Land tattoos on their arms.
- Conception and Angra: no particular thoughts. They seemed to be good at what they do, but nothing grabbed me.
Saturday:
- Stride: like 'em. Good show. I bought the CD right after their set. Face The Day is stuck in my head. Met these guys at the meet and greet and they were very, very nice and personable. The lead singer was late, so those of us near the front got to talk to them for like 10 minutes until he showed up.
- Symphorce: I was on the barrier for this. Never having heard a song before, this was still fun. Good tunes, good performance. Very straight ahead metal.
- Pink Cream 69: I like these guys. I thought the lead singer did not do well when talking (he made some comments that should never be made to an audience). I like their tunes and the vocals, but didn't think this was that good of a performance.
- Therion: what an interesting performance. The guys doing the normal metal stage show plus the opera singers being all dressed up and hardly moving is wild. I never thought that metal + opera would be cool, but it is. I will definitely look into these guys some more. Sadly, I had to leave 5 songs into their set, as I had a buddy who lives in Atlanta coming to pick me up to go to his place. Therefore, I missed Strato as well
Hanging out in the vendors' room is also very fun. New music for my collection:
- Freternia: A Nightmare Story (this is a dragons-n-warriors looking CD; it was $1; the vendor said it was actually a good band, but the Mexican distributor is a nightmare and hence them getting rid of them for $1)
- Avian: From The Depths of Time
- Circus Maximus: The 1st Chapter
- Stride: Imagine
- Saviour Machine: Legend: Part II (new for only $6!)
- Rhapsody: The Magic of the Wizard's Dream single (has English, Italian, French, and German versions)
- 2 Pyramaze t-shirts
The coolest thing for me this weekend happened in the vendors' room. I happened to be standing near Lance King's (ex-Balance of Power, Pyramaze, Avian) booth when he announced that he and the Avian guitarist (Yan Leviathan) would be doing a quick acoustic, unplugged set. Now, I've been a huge Lance King fan since BoP. Some years later, I learned that he's from Minneapolis, so now I get to go and see his local cover band as well, which is a blast. There was a group of about 15 of us that made a circle for them to play in. Anyway, Lance and Yan played an Avian song. Then another guy took Yan's place on guitar (I think someone said he had been Helstar's guitarist) and they played Queensryche's "Take Hold of the Flame". It was freaking sweet. The music itself was so quiet that I'm sure that no one outside of 40 feet had any clue that it was even happening. When they had the 15 of us singing the "TAKE HOLD!" part of the chorus, everyone else in the vendor room would look over and wonder what the heck was going on. Someone asked for Lance to do a BoP song (Savage Tears, I think) and he said he would if anyone knew the guitar part. No one did
Talk about being in the right place at the right time! I was quite happy. Sadly, they had to cut it short at two songs, because Pink Cream 69 was about to start in the main room. While this doesn't quite match up to the lucky people who got to hear Midnight of Crimson Glory do an impromptu acoustic one hour set in the hotel last year, at least I got something special!
I definitely plan to be back next year. If Theocracy is in any way involved, that would be the icing on the cake. Plus, Yan said that he'd be surprised if either Pyramaze of Avian isn't on the bill somewhere. More icing.
Next year, I will start learning about these bands months, rather than weeks, in advance! I know I'd have had an even better time had I known more of the music. I also meet so many cool people from all over North American. It was nice to be in place where I can mentioned any power metal band and everyone (mostly) is a fan. So cool.
