That's OK, we've never seen the same Pain of Salvation either.
I can see where Zero Hour can come off that way. Clearly their brand of Metal isn't condusive to running around the stage like maniacs, ala Edguy. And if you're not familair with their music going into a show, it's hard to sink your teeth into them live. At the last ProgPower, I enjoyed watching them do what they do. However, I enjoyed last night's show much more, having had two months to sink my teeth into "Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond" (<---2006 Disc of the Year).
Zod
Couldn't agree more dude! I love ZH and I also love PoS!! Actually, I'm amazed at ZH's presence considering the complexity of the music. They are SO intense!!! And I also second the nomination for Specs being disk of the year! Additionally, I LOVE Circus Maximus and their set was one of my favorites this year, but it isn't like they run around either. I think it is the raw heaviness and complex rhythms that ZH spits out with ease that make it harder for the standard Euro-Power metal fan to sink their teeth into these guys. Funny you should mention Edguy... I found them to be excruciatingly boring! Great stage presence and great backing vox, but I do need more math in my metal.
I'd love to see Freak Kitchen come back as well as ZH (as I never tire of these guys). Based on response and purely as a business decision, I would see Shane clearly putting FK as the headliner. The poll even had FK ahead of VD (who did nothing for me) and everyone else, so business-wise, I'd be ALL OVER FK!!! I know that ZH didn't do so well in that same poll, but I think they suffered from people being unfamiliar with 85% of their set. Being a die-hard fan, I loved their set anyhow, but people not so into them, would've needed more familiar, older material in their set to bridge the gap.
On the way home from band practice Saturday (after 240 miles of driving), I stop by their show in Baltimore. I had missed the first two songs, but came in during Falcon's Cry. It was a very intimate setting and it was an awesome show! Now that I'm familiar with the new album, I enjoyed that set WAY more than PP. Of course the sound wasn't as good there (wasn't bad either), but it is hard to compete with the system at PP! They covered a LOT of ToA material, a song off of AFM, most of the new album, and a few off of the EP! I think fans that come out on this tour are going to extremely happy with their set! Especially at Jaxx where they will get more time.
The bottom line is, based on the response the new album is getting, I think that if we were to repeat the exact PP performance over again, the show would be received that much better!