PP Scan 2008 - reviews

[Claus / Intromental]

Here are the first official review found online:

http://www.antenna.nu/?p=635

[Claus / Intromental]

And for Day 2:

http://www.antenna.nu/?p=636

[Stormaniac]

Seems somehow this guy has been on a different festival than me, also don't like his arrogant writing style. I don't think Andy Kuntz behaved strange in any way and almost no singer was as likeable and experienced as the guy in Lanfear. O.k., his opinion and not mine, still a very superficial review, though.

[TheFourthHorseman]

Well, I walked off from Vanden Plas after a minute because the people I was with were tired and the vocal sound was the worst all day so I don't know about the performance other than that they seemed typically average, but I did hear that he was a major drama queen backstage.

[Lars/Intromental]

I can immediately tell everybody here that we had absolutely no drama queens in any of the bands. All people behaved very nicely towards our staff, and I had the pleasure of driving Andy to the airport - a VERY nice guy indeed!!!

I'll have a summoning up on the whole festival for you guys one of the following days...right now, I'm lying here at home with fever, feeling sorry for myself

Lars

[TheFourthHorseman]

Fair enough, sorry to have spread untrue rumours.

[Kaessrin]

Originally Posted by TheFourthHorseman

...so I don't know about the performance other than that they seemed typically average, but I did hear that he was a major drama queen backstage.

Don't know where you got this rumors from. Open your eyes and ears before you judge. Anyway, I can't comprehend that "drama queen" thingie as well. I've noticed that the VP singer was one of the few musicians who actually showed up the next evening to intently watch some bands play, kind of a sign of respect and interest towards the other bands. I don't know the guy, just met him for a second that night, but he made a very nice impression on me...

Concerning the gig itself: I still felt awake enough to judge that VP did a good show... and yes, it looked to me like everyone remaining in front of the stage had a good time as well... even the guys on the stage looked to me as if they enjoyed the gig: Especially the drummer grinned like a child the whole time, the bassist was wearing a broad smile throughout, Stephan Lill was lost into his guitar play (the guy expressed every single note with his face and body, haha, great...) and look, even Andy managed a smile:



Anyway, I'll post my whole stuff later on. No rush.
And get well soon, Lars!

[TheFourthHorseman]

Originally Posted by Kaessrin

Open your eyes and ears before you judge. Anyway, I can't comprehend that "drama queen" thingie as well.

As I said, I'm sorry if my claim was unsubstantiated, good to hear he's a nice guy after all.

Originally Posted by Kaessrin

I've noticed that the VP singer was one of the few musicians who actually showed up the next evening to intently watch some bands play, kind of a sign of respect and interest towards the other bands.

That was a nice thing about PPS. I remember seeing members of at least Nostradameus, Wuthering Heights, Deadsoul Tribe and Pain of Salvation around the venue, Devon Graves was watching the bands before his gig at the bar as well.

Hope the fever eases up Lars, I'm sure you've worked very hard the last weeks and months.

[Havermout]

Originally Posted by TheFourthHorseman

Devon Graves was watching the bands before his gig at the bar as well.

Actually he was there most of the time on Friday night already.

H.

[Aran]

All VP guys were really friendly and i think i had a word with them all.

[Claus / Intromental]

Here's an interview with Daniel Gildenlow about the festival and prog-metal in general:

http://www.antenna.nu/?p=644

[J-Man]

Originally Posted by Lars/Intromental

I can immediately tell everybody here that we had absolutely no drama queens in any of the bands. All people behaved very nicely towards our staff, and I had the pleasure of driving Andy to the airport - a VERY nice guy indeed!!!

I'll have a summoning up on the whole festival for you guys one of the following days...right now, I'm lying here at home with fever, feeling sorry for myself

Lars

Get your ass out of bed and write that review, you drama queen hehehehehehehe. Sorry to hear your sick hope you get better soon Lars

[dan_bucharest]

hey everyone!
sorry i've been so silent lately, had my reviews of the festival to write, also to write down the interviews and not to mention that yesterday was my name day and we had a boozing festival, so to speak...

so here goes:
here are the links with the reviews I wrote:

concerts: http://www.eyeonmetal.ro//index.php?...=279&Itemid=51
(you can find pictures inside the article)

interview with Pagan's Mind: http://www.eyeonmetal.ro//index.php?...=278&Itemid=82
interview with Andy Kuntz: http://www.eyeonmetal.ro//index.php?...=275&Itemid=82
interview with Mike from Cloudscape:http://www.eyeonmetal.ro//index.php?...=277&Itemid=82
interview with Mads: http://www.eyeonmetal.ro//index.php?...=276&Itemid=82

you can also find pictures from PPScan on my myspace page: www.myspace.com/wotans

best,

dan

[FarmerDude]

Excellent reviews & interviews

[dan_bucharest]

thanks man. it was an amazing fest. and the line-up really inspired. every band was great, every single one...
can't wait next's year edition. also after seeing the line-up for atlanta next year, i'm really thinking of going to the states...

[Cryptor]

Sounds like the festival was a great success! Wish I could have stayed in Europe another couple of months so I could have gone.

By the way, does anyone have the setlists that both Vanden Plas and Pain of Salvation played?

[TheFourthHorseman]

Pain of Salvation:

Beyond the Pale
America
Ashes
Handful of nothing
Undertow
Nightmist
Yellow Raven (Scorpions)
Cribcaged
Used
This heart of mine
Flame to the moth
Diffidentia
--------
Mortar Grind
Disco Queen

And here's a review in Finnish: http://www.korroosio.fi/reports.php?id=28

[Claus / Intromental]

Here's another review:

http://www.metal-revolution.com/plug...p?content.1779

[Kaessrin]

Originally Posted by TheFourthHorseman

And here's a review in Finnish: http://www.korroosio.fi/reports.php?id=28

Thx for using my pics and adding the link, Teijo!

I'm finished with my text, in German this time.
Quite a lenghty one with some personal hubbub, but that's allowed in prog music, aye?

>> http://rockzoom.de/2008/11/19/ii-pro...3110-01112008/

And by the way: Read this magnificent Devon Graves interview at Antenna, good job, Mikael!

[Stormaniac]

Originally Posted by Claus / Intromental

Here's another review:

http://www.metal-revolution.com/plug...p?content.1779

I'd rate the review with 1/6
Somebody who uses the words Lanfear and faceless in one sentence simply isn't able to understand what "progressive" means. Dude, go and listen to all the DT clones and leave me alone with your wish-wash!

[dan_bucharest]

i agree with Stormaniac about Lanfear. to me personally they were an amazing and, I must say, unexpected surprise. they are amazing musicians, a bit underrated. they deserve to be more present in the media and definately prog fans MUST give this band a listen to. the compositions are very well written, they alternate flawlessly the tempo shifts and the drumming is absolutely phenomenal. ever since i got back from the fest, i can't stop listening to their music, they're everyday in my playlist... i'll review their new album "X To The Power Of Ten" very soon in my webzine.

I wish the Lanfear guys the best of luck!

[Claus / Intromental]

Originally Posted by Stormaniac

I'd rate the review with 1/6
Somebody who uses the words Lanfear and faceless in one sentence simply isn't able to understand what "progressive" means. Dude, go and listen to all the DT clones and leave me alone with your wish-wash!

I also noted that the guy who did the review keep on talking about "the power of prog" and that "this and that band aren't really prog metal" ... t.ex he says that Nostradameus has a "straight forward approach to prog music" and Secret Sphere are "classical prog metal" ... ehmhmm ... to my ears those two bands are power metal, not prog at all.

This festival is not just PROG, it's also POWER metal ... in fact, to me and the other guys who run the festival, there aren't any real "boundaries" on it. It seems like the guy who wrote that review wants bands who are only progressive (be it prog-rock or prog-metal) and nothing else. Well, sorry to say, but with a pure prog-lineup we would only have half the attendance . Next year we're planning to go even further "out of the box" and are looking at bands that might appeal more to a prog-rock audience AND bands that will appeal more to a powerful metal audience, yet still keep some "classic" style power metal and prog metal bands on there

c.

[dan_bucharest]

the most important thing about the festival was that it had everything to please absolutely everyone present there. there was power, technical thrash, pure prog, melodic prog, symph, avantgarde. enough for everyone to apreciate. and i must say that all the bands were very good, without exception. i think a festival shouldn't be restrained to a specific type of genre, or subgenre, especially when it comes to a prog-power fest. so Claus, that's why i like the way you foresee the next edition and i'm already looking forward to it.

best,

dan

[TheFourthHorseman]

Diversity is a good thing, however with all the cancellations and the replacements, I think this year ended up being rather more power than prog. I agree with the metal-revolution.com reviewer on most of the bands too, at least in the general quality if not the details. (Lanfear however I more or less missed so no opinion on that.) His writing just has kind of a cynical and sarcastic tone that wasn't that pleasant.

Good festival all in all, hope to able to be there again some year. Hope something can be done to improve the sound if the 3rd edition is held there, it was pretty terrible on the first day. Other than the sound I don't see why not, The Rock is a nice place and perhaps not yet too small for PPS next year.

[Claus / Intromental]

Originally Posted by TheFourthHorseman

Diversity is a good thing, however with all the cancellations and the replacements, I think this year ended up being rather more power than prog.

Really? I think the only power metal bands were Nostradameus and Secret Sphere. Lanfear is a mixture of power and prog, and Wuthering Heights is their own mixture of everything (including folk music). The rest of the bands to me are prog metal bands.

c.