Who will Headline?

[corvinus]

Dragonland sounds great as a 3rd slot band, but they need to play Neverending Story

 

[J-Man]

superior fridaynight

Excellent choice.

 

[Ascension]

Let me be the first

 

[Braxil]

Let me be the first

I second it, while Therion would make a great headliner, I can't see Orphaned Land working well in that slot even though I really like them.

 

[Braxil]

Dragonforce could headline. Cellador doesn't have enough material to play 90 minutes.

Rhapsody cost too much back in 2002 or so when Glenn was first asked the question in some interview(I think it was metal-rules.com). But now they are touring the states as an opener. I'm sure they demanded less money to do that, so I'd imagine they would be open to headliner Progpower for what Glenn could afford.

Also remember that Glenn's objection in that interview was to the cost of all the backup singers and such that Rhapsody would bring. But by PPVI, Glenn managed to afford Therion. So perhaps things have changed.

Dragonforce headlining, or playing the festival at all for that matter, would be a disaster. It would have worked maybe 3 or 4 years ago, but now that they've played ozzfest, Dragonforce can probably draw crowds larger than Progpower playing a headlining set, and make no mistake about it, 90% of that crowd will be 12 year old boys wearing black nailpolish and women's jeans. Having them at Progpower would introduce a huge amount of new attendes to the fest, which Glenn has stated is not one of his goals. The site says this is an elite show for an elite audience, and that's how it should stay.

Additionally, Rhapsody toured with Manowar because they're labelmates/sort of friends, they probably did it for the exposure and I'm sure the cost of a one-off show with them playing would be tremendous not only because of the scale of their production, but the fact that they're used to the crowds and money they would get in Europe and probably would want to get greedy.

 

[DeathDevil]

Instead of Rhapsody of Fire, how about Luca Turilli w/ Olaf Hayer. I rather enjoyed King of the Nordic Twilight...

 

[Braxil]

Instead of Rhapsody of Fire, how about Luca Turilli w/ Olaf Hayer. I rather enjoyed King of the Nordic Twilight...

He's got a new album coming out he says he's going to tour extensively for, that would indeed be a cool idea.

 

[Greykiller]

Didnt Daniel say POS wont be playing in the US anymore due to the fingerprinting program for work visas?

Oh please god let that be true! I think POS is a POS but hey to each his own.

I would love to see SymphX in one of the spots. The second headliner? hmmm

I have only been to 4 of these concerts so I do not have a large base of live knowledge but I think that Brainstorm/Symphorce deserves much more time on stage.

If this were a pure wishlist for ANY band, regardless of price (or what ZOD thinks), I would choose DT as the other headliner.

 

[Greykiller]

I'd argue, that PP3 showed they can't hold the stage. By the time they were three songs into their set, two thirds of the people were gone. That may give you extra room to worship the Daniel, but I'm guessing it doesn't make the promoter happy.

Zod

Heh Zod and I agree about some things...the last time they were here I was at the bar...not missing a thing.

(going back thru the thread now to see if anybody else wanted to slam POS)

 

[corvinus]

I vote for Therion, with Orphaned Land as a 4th spot before them.

 

[SharkBlack]

Sonata Arctica - Had buzz last year, but were touring. Seems they still have some buzz even though no new material.

Their working hard on it as we speak!
I think Sonata should definitely headline this bitch!!!

 

[adaher]

Dragonforce headlining, or playing the festival at all for that matter, would be a disaster. It would have worked maybe 3 or 4 years ago, but now that they've played ozzfest, Dragonforce can probably draw crowds larger than Progpower playing a headlining set,

How do you figure? They've played their own shows outside of the Ozzfest tour and haven't drawn anymore than Edguy or Sonata Arctica.

As for Rhapsody, you could be right. I don't know a whole lot about the behind-the-scenes stuff.

I think Sonata should definitely headline this bitch!!!


Couldn't agree more, even though I saw them in Fort Lauderdale.

At this point, Glenn's already booked most of the good power bands to be headliners at one time or another. Since no new power bands other than Dragonforce have really risen to headliner status in that time, we might as well just start going through Edguy, Kamelot, Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica, Symphony X, and Angra again. At least in the case of Sonata, they haven't actually played the festival yet.

 

[Harvester]

How do you figure? They've played their own shows outside of the Ozzfest tour and haven't drawn anymore than Edguy or Sonata Arctica..

Just to chime in on this point, you are incorrect. Dragonforce did outdraw both of those bands on their last tour overall by a large margin. Obviously, some cities may have been different.

 

[SyXified]

Dragonforce headlining, or playing the festival at all for that matter, would be a disaster. It would have worked maybe 3 or 4 years ago, but now that they've played ozzfest, Dragonforce can probably draw crowds larger than Progpower playing a headlining set, and make no mistake about it, 90% of that crowd will be 12 year old boys wearing black nailpolish and women's jeans. Having them at Progpower would introduce a huge amount of new attendes to the fest, which Glenn has stated is not one of his goals. The site says this is an elite show for an elite audience, and that's how it should stay.

I agree with you that Dragonforce would draw the completely wrong crowd. At the New England Metal Fest an army of really unlikeable people swarmed in for Dragonforce and split immediatly afterwards... AND GAMMA RAY WAS ON NEXT! If you show up for Dragonforce and leave for Gamma Ray there is somthing seriously wrong with you.

Furthermore... Dragonforce sucks! They are more emo than powermetal and attract that goofy demographic of emo kids who wear iron maiden shirts - and with good reason. Their whole appeal is a big gimmick, and emo kids think its funny cause they are singing about dragons and wizards, etc. But c'mon, listen to their songs. They are so trite and obvious, evey solo is a wank fest without a moment of thought or melodic consideration. Not to mention their non-asian guitarist is friggen TERRIBLE. He's argueably the most sloppy guitarist I have ever heard, and puts no emotional dynamic into his playing. Not that that should be too much of a compliment to the asian guitarist - I guess at least his technique is fine but... you can't have every solo be a scale run of notes in precisely the same intervalic spacing, capped off by a big floyd pull. To me those guys represent everything that can suck about the genre of power metal - bland, obvious, rehashed progressions and mindless shred solos. Too many people feel obligated to like a band just because the band exists in a prog/power genre. If you want to like Dragonforce go ahead, but I just can't one finding any more appeal to them than a gimicky one trick show.

 

[Ascension]

Just to chime in on this point, you are incorrect. Dragonforce did outdraw both of those bands on their last tour overall by a large margin. Obviously, some cities may have been different.

Yeah these guys had a heavy ass buzz going on so l'm sure they did pretty good. I have to admit l like what they do...that guitar/keyboard/guitar speed drill they do kicks my ass! l'm fairly selective as far as power metal goes because l'm not into it as heavy as prog, but Dragonforce does it for me.

 

[TychoCelchu]

Dragonforce sold out Harpos on Detroit, which is a big deal around here. Edguy hasn't even played, and Sonata Arctica had a decent crowd but not capacity.

I'm on the Dragonforce sucks wagon, but I don't think having them play Progpower would draw a huge crowd of 14 year old trendy kids. For one thing, they'd all have to get tickets immediately when they go on sale - and they go on sale usually at a time when kids are in school. Also, teenagers can't often afford the huge cost of ProgPower. There might be a few but in no way would they take over the crowd. The same wouldn't happen with Dream Theater fanatics flooding the show if they played either.

 

[Entrerie]

I agree with you that Dragonforce would draw the completely wrong crowd. At the New England Metal Fest an army of really unlikeable people swarmed in for Dragonforce and split immediatly afterwards... AND GAMMA RAY WAS ON NEXT! If you show up for Dragonforce and leave for Gamma Ray there is somthing seriously wrong with you.

Furthermore... Dragonforce sucks! They are more emo than powermetal and attract that goofy demographic of emo kids who wear iron maiden shirts - and with good reason. Their whole appeal is a big gimmick, and emo kids think its funny cause they are singing about dragons and wizards, etc. But c'mon, listen to their songs. They are so trite and obvious, evey solo is a wank fest without a moment of thought or melodic consideration. Not to mention their non-asian guitarist is friggen TERRIBLE. He's argueably the most sloppy guitarist I have ever heard, and puts no emotional dynamic into his playing. Not that that should be too much of a compliment to the asian guitarist - I guess at least his technique is fine but... you can't have every solo be a scale run of notes in precisely the same intervalic spacing, capped off by a big floyd pull. To me those guys represent everything that can suck about the genre of power metal - bland, obvious, rehashed progressions and mindless shred solos. Too many people feel obligated to like a band just because the band exists in a prog/power genre. If you want to like Dragonforce go ahead, but I just can't one finding any more appeal to them than a gimicky one trick show.

I think Dragonforce sounds horrid live. That being said I still would not dismiss them as being totally horrible. I like their first albums and the 3rd was OK but nothing to get crazy over. Their music is somewhat appealing when it is fresh, at least they are not singing about Ninjas anymore heh. I think they really have to do something amazing on their next album and quit singing about mountains and weapons made of steel in every other song to regain some respect among more seasoned fans of the genere. I think they are kinda resented because they get so much attention and become the poster band for power metal to the unintiated and they are not even close to respresnting all that encompasses the genere and metal in general to the masses.

Bottom line is I wouldn't want to see them play PPUSA, they aren't the elusive band with a kvlt following anymore. If they toured on their own I'd probably go to the local show.

 

[KingsGene]

Heaven and Hell - this would be cool if it's the only US date
Vanden Plas - latest album very strong
Symphony X - haven't been around much
Iced Earth - well overdue...

 

[J-Man]

Yeah, but you're not the only person in the world.

If i was, i sure would be lonely.

 

[skeksis]

kamelot, sonata arctica - HEADLINERS
scar symmetry, nocturnal rites - CO-HEADLINERS

and though all the anti-growlers would whine, why not wintersun as a co-headliner? new album "time" is coming soon. never played the states. and watching the bonus dvd off the new tour edition of their s/t debut, an undeniably great live band.