The odder bands

Jim LotFP

The Keeper of Metal
Jun 7, 2001
5,674
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Helsinki, Finland
www.lotfp.com
'allo...

Just curious... Most people show up at ProgPower for either straight power metal or straight prog metal or some hybrid of the two.

So what about bands that owe no debts to Dream Theater or Helloween and maybe even little to say a Rush or Iron Maiden?

Such bands (like Devy in 2002) are sure to be controversial with the crowd, but bands like Opeth and Theory in Practice have been booked at PP Europe with no real problems (aside from TiP not showing up, but I mean no outcry at their announcement...). I think such diversification of the fest is not only a good idea, but essential for the health and growth of the fest in years to come.

So what off-kilter (for the usual format) bands do you think would be a good oddball selection...

Throwing a couple names out myself, just for ideas (not saying these would be ideal or even a good idea for one reason or another... and then again, not saying it's NOT a good idea... :))

Agalloch
Amorphis
Arcturus
Borknagar
Children of Bodom
Cruachan
Garden of Shadows
Katatonia
Lord Weird Slough Feg
Madder Mortem
Maudlin of the Well
Novembers Doom
Root
Vintersorg
 
Vintersorg would be great. I wish Glenn would consider Dark Tranquillity even though they are on a U.S. tour but you know what kind of tour that is. Even with that, most people don't know them. I think that the people at prog would absolutely love them. And what about some of the gothic/metal bands? how about a little of everything? It's all metal to me! Tristania or Therion would be really cool.
 
Arcturus and Agalloch would be great, provided they could translate their material live (the latter has never performed live and currently has no intention of doing so). Maudlin Of The Well got a good reception at Progwest, at which they were the lone metal act, so they would not be out of place at PP at all.
 
Originally posted by Demonspell
Arcturus and Agalloch would be great, provided they could translate their material live (the latter has never performed live and currently has no intention of doing so).

Agalloch will start playing shows after the first of the year according to both band and label...
 
I agree with the sentiment... and I'd rather not see cookie cutter power metal bands like Edguy... but I must admit I don't care for much from your list... maudlin would be great...truly progressive... and although I like Katatonia and November's Doom... I don't see how they could possibly fit into Prog or Power.
 
Awesome list JimLOTFP. And I heartily agree with many of the bands listed there, especially bands like Borknagar, Cruachan, CoB, Vintersorg, etc. Don't know how well they'd go over with fans who couldn't stand Edguy & Gamma Ray, but hey...
 
Such bands (like Devy in 2002) are sure to be controversial with the crowd, but bands like Opeth and Theory in Practice have been booked at PP Europe with no real problems (aside from TiP not showing up, but I mean no outcry at their announcement...). I think such diversification of the fest is not only a good idea, but essential for the health and growth of the fest in years to come.

Whatever Jim, I agree that some sort of oddball is needed in the lineup, because it can get a bit boring seeing 5 bands of a similar type one after another - even if all the bands concerned are favourites. However, I think its highly unlikely that one of your choices would be to my liking :D

However I doo second the proposal of Freak Kitchen. A bit of fine guitar playing and strange swedish humour would certainly liven things up. If IA can make the French laugh with his silly jokes, then his humour should work with an american audience too.
 
Cool, good to see the legions of Freak Kitchen fans voicing their opinion. I love this band, and I'm 99.9% sure.....ok, make it 100% sure that IA would LOVE to play this festival. I would walk on broken glass (in bare feet!) from Wisconsin to Atlanta to see this band. While they are a little outside of the Prog Power norm, I think they would be a PERFECT fit for a festival such as Prog Power. Lets just hope the powers that be are listening! :)

J-Dubya


Originally posted by chazzyf
Whatever Jim, I agree that some sort of oddball is needed in the lineup, because it can get a bit boring seeing 5 bands of a similar type one after another - even if all the bands concerned are favourites. However, I think its highly unlikely that one of your choices would be to my liking :D

However I doo second the proposal of Freak Kitchen. A bit of fine guitar playing and strange swedish humour would certainly liven things up. If IA can make the French laugh with his silly jokes, then his humour should work with an american audience too.
 
I gotta say that Freak Kitchen would thrill me too! I love that they can be crushingly heavy and then totally outside the realm of metal on the same cd.
 
I agree that I would like to see Lord Weird Slough Feg. That would be "different" enough for me without it being Devin Townsend. I know there were a lot of Devy fans there, my brother and his friends included, but Damn, He is just not the "different" metal I want to see. Slough Feg is a US band, too, so it would be a lot easier to get them to play. The other bands, I've got to admit I recognize some of them as being names, and some I don't really know anything about.