- Mar 1, 2004
- 1,219
- 24
- 38
Pre-party
Theocracy did absolutely nothing for me...after their set I crossed their cd of the list of must haves...just not my bag
Circus Maximus was as expected...they were tight and the songs sounded good...they are a good band to watch in the future
Leatherwolf...Was it just me??? or is Wade just so totally goofball looking/acting that it turns me off of the band?They are good at what they do,but they stayed right where they were in the late 80's...a second tier metal band that has a few great songs but otherwise just do NOT stand out...their drummer is great.Eric is cool also,but...
CircleIICircle...Once again,as expected.The new material sounds much better than the last disc,and Zak and the boys put on a good show....always do.But where was the setlist? As a headliner I was hoping for 90-100 minutes and received about 70.Dissappointing,but still overall pleased with what I saw
Day 1.
Pyramaze was awesome,Lance was awesome...spot on perfect.Great set for the time they had to play.Hope to see more down the road...they deserved a number 3 slot
Savage Circus bored me to tears...I made it through 3 songs before I left in search of some almighty food at the Madison Grill...the burgers did what Savage Circus did not...Satisfy me
Freak Kitchen...I'm about to be crucified for this...Amazing musicians,totally not what I ever want to see at ProgPower again.Their humor to me does not belong at the Premier metal show in America,and I can't overlook the sameyness of the music.Mattias is an awesome guitarist but I just couldn't find anything appealing about this band.
Mercenary also failed to ignite,as far as I was concerned.Their show 2 years ago turned me into a fan,but this was nowhere near as appealing as 2004.The sound was poor and the band just did not push it into overdrive where I was expecting them to. They still are a great band,but I was less than enthused with the whole set.
Evergrey...need I say anything more? Awesome as always,though we could have done more with the orchestra and maybe less with the marriage proposals on stage...They were a big draw for me and I was pleased with what we got.
Day 2
Zero Hour kicked my ass and kicked it hard! I had about an hour to soak in the new disc before they played,and was very pleased with how Chris has given the band a new look/sound. They are still ZH,but now they have the vocal talents to shade their music with more.More touches of light/dark,more depth of meaning with the lyrical/vocal delivery,more of a future...I did notice that alot of people in the seats did not grasp the whole thing and ZH was probably the least accepted band of the weekend,but this was THE highlight for me....Awesome as fuck!!!
Vision Divine was good enough to keep me at the venue for the set,but to be honest they just didnt do it for me.They compare to most other Italian bands...you've heard one you've heard them all.Michele Luppi has a great voice and they are very talented but I didnt grasp what everybody was enjoying about them.
Thunderstone was good...but I consider them a second rate Sonata Arctica. Not a bad US debut but the material hasnt gelled enough yet.Maybe their next disc will be the ticket to the big leagues...I hope so,because I really would love for them to succeed
Epica was the biggest draw of the weekend for me personally. They played great and you can tell they are more professional in their stage show than some of the smaller bands are.They have that air about them that they know they are on their way to the big time.The piped in orchestra was a distraction to me...at times I wondered if the keyboardist was even playing,and Simone still has some growing to do as a frontperson,but I was pleased overall with the set and the delivery.I'll be seeing them in 2 weeks...we'll see if there might have been jetlag or something holding them back from being great,but they did awesome in their first US appearence.
Jorn was Jorn...the first 5 or 6 songs were great,Jorn sounds awesome live,the band is tight as a nuns...ummm...nevermind...but the second half of that setlist was just awful! Not that they didnt perform it well,but I was there to see Jorn...not David Cover-version.I know Glenn requested some of that and it was good,but it wasn't Jorn and thats what I had hoped for.
The encore was fucking hilarious and I give Glenn major kudos for it...When I heard the opening line I went...WHAT THE FUCK...Its Stars!!! It was a total kick in the ass to end this show with stars,and it was an awesome experience from day one to day 3.
I truly enjoyed every second I was there,probably my best ProgPower of the 3 I've been to.Saw some great bands,some kicked my ass, some did not...but the whole experience will stay with me for a long time.
One thing though...I did not meet anybody while I was there...I recognized many faces but could not remember the names,so I did not introduce myself to anybody except Dolemite.Maybe next year I will branch out and try to get more involved...you guys are all so cool and I'd love to get to know you better so we can talk in the real world,but until then...
SEE YA NEXT YEAR!!!
Theocracy did absolutely nothing for me...after their set I crossed their cd of the list of must haves...just not my bag
Circus Maximus was as expected...they were tight and the songs sounded good...they are a good band to watch in the future
Leatherwolf...Was it just me??? or is Wade just so totally goofball looking/acting that it turns me off of the band?They are good at what they do,but they stayed right where they were in the late 80's...a second tier metal band that has a few great songs but otherwise just do NOT stand out...their drummer is great.Eric is cool also,but...
CircleIICircle...Once again,as expected.The new material sounds much better than the last disc,and Zak and the boys put on a good show....always do.But where was the setlist? As a headliner I was hoping for 90-100 minutes and received about 70.Dissappointing,but still overall pleased with what I saw
Day 1.
Pyramaze was awesome,Lance was awesome...spot on perfect.Great set for the time they had to play.Hope to see more down the road...they deserved a number 3 slot
Savage Circus bored me to tears...I made it through 3 songs before I left in search of some almighty food at the Madison Grill...the burgers did what Savage Circus did not...Satisfy me
Freak Kitchen...I'm about to be crucified for this...Amazing musicians,totally not what I ever want to see at ProgPower again.Their humor to me does not belong at the Premier metal show in America,and I can't overlook the sameyness of the music.Mattias is an awesome guitarist but I just couldn't find anything appealing about this band.
Mercenary also failed to ignite,as far as I was concerned.Their show 2 years ago turned me into a fan,but this was nowhere near as appealing as 2004.The sound was poor and the band just did not push it into overdrive where I was expecting them to. They still are a great band,but I was less than enthused with the whole set.
Evergrey...need I say anything more? Awesome as always,though we could have done more with the orchestra and maybe less with the marriage proposals on stage...They were a big draw for me and I was pleased with what we got.
Day 2
Zero Hour kicked my ass and kicked it hard! I had about an hour to soak in the new disc before they played,and was very pleased with how Chris has given the band a new look/sound. They are still ZH,but now they have the vocal talents to shade their music with more.More touches of light/dark,more depth of meaning with the lyrical/vocal delivery,more of a future...I did notice that alot of people in the seats did not grasp the whole thing and ZH was probably the least accepted band of the weekend,but this was THE highlight for me....Awesome as fuck!!!
Vision Divine was good enough to keep me at the venue for the set,but to be honest they just didnt do it for me.They compare to most other Italian bands...you've heard one you've heard them all.Michele Luppi has a great voice and they are very talented but I didnt grasp what everybody was enjoying about them.
Thunderstone was good...but I consider them a second rate Sonata Arctica. Not a bad US debut but the material hasnt gelled enough yet.Maybe their next disc will be the ticket to the big leagues...I hope so,because I really would love for them to succeed
Epica was the biggest draw of the weekend for me personally. They played great and you can tell they are more professional in their stage show than some of the smaller bands are.They have that air about them that they know they are on their way to the big time.The piped in orchestra was a distraction to me...at times I wondered if the keyboardist was even playing,and Simone still has some growing to do as a frontperson,but I was pleased overall with the set and the delivery.I'll be seeing them in 2 weeks...we'll see if there might have been jetlag or something holding them back from being great,but they did awesome in their first US appearence.
Jorn was Jorn...the first 5 or 6 songs were great,Jorn sounds awesome live,the band is tight as a nuns...ummm...nevermind...but the second half of that setlist was just awful! Not that they didnt perform it well,but I was there to see Jorn...not David Cover-version.I know Glenn requested some of that and it was good,but it wasn't Jorn and thats what I had hoped for.
The encore was fucking hilarious and I give Glenn major kudos for it...When I heard the opening line I went...WHAT THE FUCK...Its Stars!!! It was a total kick in the ass to end this show with stars,and it was an awesome experience from day one to day 3.
I truly enjoyed every second I was there,probably my best ProgPower of the 3 I've been to.Saw some great bands,some kicked my ass, some did not...but the whole experience will stay with me for a long time.
One thing though...I did not meet anybody while I was there...I recognized many faces but could not remember the names,so I did not introduce myself to anybody except Dolemite.Maybe next year I will branch out and try to get more involved...you guys are all so cool and I'd love to get to know you better so we can talk in the real world,but until then...
SEE YA NEXT YEAR!!!
