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ProgPower III Review (very long)
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General Zod



Joined: 24 Jan 2001
Posts: 2519
Location: Krypton

PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 2002 8:52 pm    Post subject: ProgPower III Review (very long) Reply with quote

Friday Night

Zero Hour – in the week or two leading up to the festival, I had begun to spin “The Towers of Avarice” CD quite a bit. During the final week, I had begun to truly fall in love with this disc. So much so, by the time Zero Hour took the stage on Friday night, I was looking forward to seeing them more than any of the other acts. Needless to say, Zero Hour did not disappoint. For 45 minutes they flaunted their virtuosity, and played a seamless set of brilliant, progressive Metal. This band, quite simply stated, does not have a weakness. Jasun, Troy and Mike are three of the finest musicians in progressive Metal, and Erik Rosvold may be the best kept secret in all of Metal. If you want to hear what just might be the best Prog Metal CD of the last decade, get your hands on “The Towers of Avarice”.

Sound – 10 – they couldn’t have been tighter. Erik is even more powerful live than on CD.

Showmanship – 5 – it’s hard to do a lot when you’re playing material of such an extreme technical nature. Additionally, Erik made almost no eye contact with the crowd.

Crowd Reaction – 7 – it’s hard to bang your head to advanced polyrhythms.

Silent Force – this was the other band that had begun to log many an hour in my CD player in the weeks preceding the show. And similar to Zero Hour, they delivered in a big way. D.C. Cooper is a total throwback to the great Metal frontmen of the 80s; the blonde locks, the poses, the energy level, etc. His voice was perfect. He hit every note he hits on his CDs with relative ease. Silent Force played a mixture of their own material, D.C.’s solo stuff, and then closed with “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” (which rocked the house). Highlights included “Gladiator” and “We Must Use the Power”.

Sound – 9 – they were pretty close to flawless.

Showmanship – 9 – the whole band has great stage presence.

Crowd Reaction – 8 – D.C. and the boys did everything they could to work the crowd into a frenzy.

Edguy – I had said to many people, on many boards, that Edguy was my pick to be this year’s Angel Dust, and just rock the house. Well, chalk one up for Zod. These guys were f**king insane! Tobias has more energy than any frontman I’ve ever seen. He was so excited to be in the states, I literally thought he was going to cry for joy at one point. The whole band was great, and they were very tight. Some of the highlights included “Avantasia”, “Vain Glory Opera”, “Out of Control” and “Mandrake”. They were, without a doubt, the band who stole the show.

Sound – 9 – Tobias was great, but not quite as powerful as I thought he might be.

Showmanship – 10 – Tobias possesses boundless energy.

Crowd Reaction – 10 – the band quickly worked the crowd to a fevered pitch right from the word “Go” and didn’t let up.

Blind Guardian – never have I tried so hard to get into a band as I have with Blind Guardian,. But when all is said and done, I find them good, but not the monsters of Metal that so many others see them to be. Regardless, the crowd couldn’t have been more primed for BG’s first U.S. appearance. However, the best thing I can say about Blind Guardian’s live show is that they’re as tight as a drum. That being said, it sounded to me as if Hansi’s was having voice problems. Every now and again, you could hear his voice give way. I came to learn afterwards, from one of the crew members, that Hansi was in fact having problems. Regardless, the crowd went nuts with every song. Some of the highlights included “Valhalla”, “Imaginations From the Other Side” and “Into the Storm”.

Sound – 9 – I found Hansi’s voice and vocal ability to be even less impressive live than I do on CD. I’ll be curious if I’ll be any more impressed when I see them next week with Symphony X in NYC.

Showmanship – 6 – the whole band is fairly stiff. Hansi doesn’t even headband, he just kind of throws his head to one side, like he has back problems.

Crowd Reaction – 11 – it was clear the audience had waited a long, long, long time for Blind Guardian to make its first state side appearance.

Pain of Salvation – forced to take the closing time slot because Blind Guardian needed to fly out to begin their first North American tour, PoS played to a crowd that was depleted in size by about 40%. Regardless, PoS were excellent. I enjoyed them more live than I do on CD. Daniel’s voice is perfect live, and the band is great. Some of the show’s highlight’s included “! (foreword)”, “People Passing By”, “Used”, and “Ashes”.

Sound – 10 – these guys are phenomenal live.

Showmanship – 7 – I have to give Daniel a pass here, as he had just played a show with the Flower Kings the same night, flew 10 hours to Atlanta, and drove right from the airport to the venue.

Crowd Reaction – 8 – those who stayed were quite into the band.

Saturday Night

Reading Zero – I was not familiar with Reading Zero’s music and their performance did nothing to entice to become familiar with their music. The only part of their show that was at all interesting was when Mike, the bass player form Evergrey, joined them on stage for their final song.

Sound – 6 – the singer, to put it bluntly, isn’t very good.

Showmanship – 4 – they pretty much just stand there.

Crowd Reaction – 4 – most of the crowd didn’t know who these guys were, and didn’t care.

Threshold – I was a bit surprised when I learned that Threshold was going to be at PPIII. Mind you, I think they’re a fairly solid act, I just don’t think they are Power, Prog or Metal. None the less, they got the crowd pretty excited, pretty quickly. Highlights of the show included “Phenomenon”, “Light And Space” and “The Ravages Of Time”.

Sound – 9 – they are quite tight live.

Showmanship – 7 – their energy level is quite average.

Crowd Reaction – 7 – given that a good part of the crowd wasn’t that familiar with Threshold, they got a fairly good reaction when all was said and done.

Devin Townsend – this was the other act whose inclusion in the festival made me scratch my head a bit. Going into this performance, I had no idea what to expect. All in all, I’d say that it was a good, albeit not too memorable performance. The highlight of the show, for me, was “Earth Day”.

Sound – 9 – they were very tight, and the drummer was phenomenal.

Showmanship – 6 – Devin is fairly into what he’s doing, but his band mates are fairly unenergetic..

Crowd Reaction – 6 – the crowd, for the most part, seemed to react with a polite enthusiasm.

Gamma Ray – Gamma Ray, to me, is standard fare Power Metal. However, as far as the PPIII crowd was concerned, I’m in the minority. From the opening notes of “Rebellion in Dreamland” to the closing notes of “I Want Out”, the crowd was absolutely nuts. It could be argued, by the crowd’s reaction, that Gamma Ray should have headlined Saturday night. Highlights included “New World Order” and “Heavy Metal Universe”.

Sound – 10 – they didn’t miss a note.

Showmanship – 7 – I had no complaints with their stage presence, they just weren’t “Edguylike”.

Crowd Reaction – 11 – it’s a good thing Earthlink Live has a strong structure.

Angra – Angra was one of the bands to whose performance I was really excited about seeing. Unfortunately, their performance got cut short (see my Miscellaneous Tidbits below). None the less, they were excellent. Edu Falaschi is as good as they come in the vocal department. His voice is emotive, powerful, and with a lot of range. To top it all of, he’s got great energy and presence. Highlights of the show included “Nova Era”, Heroes of Sand”, “Nothing to Say” and their closing rendition of “Number of the Beast”.

Sound – 9 – Kiko Loureiro wasn’t quite the guitar god I was expecting him to be.

Showmanship – 9 –the rating of 9 is mostly due to Edu’s great energy.

Crowd Reaction – 9 –pulling a crowd reaction of 9 out of this weary crowd says a lot.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

- the guys from Zero Hour came up to our room at about 3:00AM Saturday to B.S. a bit. Cooler guys you will not meet anywhere.

- Jon Schaeffer was all over the place. He’s as fan-friendly as they come. He mentioned that the chances of Iced Earth headlining ProgPower IV were better than 75%.

- Gamma Ray took forever to sound check and then, to top it off, ran long. The curtain was pulled on them as the final notes of “I Want Out” rang out. Luckily, Angra was cool about the whole thing, and cut their set short.

- Tom, Mike and Henrik from Evergrey were all over the place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They are without a doubt the most fan friendly band on the planet. They will definitely play PropPower IV and Tom told me he expects to do a North American tour this year.

- The guys from Edguy are all very cool, and very humble. When I asked Tobias if Blind Guardian was pissed at them for blowing them off the stage, he just blushed.

- Tobias promised the crowd 20 U.S. dates following the release of their next CD.

- I wasn’t the only one who thought that Blind Guardian’s performance was a bit disappointing. A few die-hard BG fans admitted that their performance was less than stellar.

- Funny story… I ran out to grab a gyro before Devin’s set and ran into Edu Falaschi and Aquiles Priester of Angra. I listened as they attempted to pick up the very cute woman working the register. When I overheard her ask, “Have you ever been in Rolling Stone?”, to which the Angra boys had to admit they hadn’t, I butted in with, “The two guys standing before you are ten times more talented than anyone who has graced the cover of Rolling Stone in the last decade.” This got me a huge smile and thanks from Aquiles and Edu. Hey, us guys have got to stick together.

GZ
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iwarrior



Joined: 05 Apr 2002
Posts: 3526
Location: Pittsburgh,PA

PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 2002 9:35 pm    Post subject: ProgPower III Review (very long) Reply with quote

Great rundown there GZ! Glad you had fun.
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JosephC



Joined: 26 Apr 2000
Posts: 1074
Location: Middleton, WI

PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 2002 9:52 pm    Post subject: ProgPower III Review (very long) Reply with quote

Very cool. Thank you very much for the in-depth report.

Not that I have anything against Iced Earth (in fact, they are one of my favorite bands), but it seems odd to me that they might headline this event in the future. I guess I don't see the slightest hint of "progressive" in any of their music. But at the same time, I don't see any "progressive" in Gamma Ray either. The only cool thing about Iced Earth being in this thing would be if Blind Guardian would be too, then you could get the Iced Earth/Blind Guardian/Demons and Wizards tripleheader. That would be awesome.
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General Zod



Joined: 24 Jan 2001
Posts: 2519
Location: Krypton

PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 2002 10:01 pm    Post subject: ProgPower III Review (very long) Reply with quote

JosephC-

ProgPower is a festival for both Power Metal and Progressive Metal bands. Iced Earth defintely fits under the category of Power Metal. Blind Guardian won't be back next year. Glenn, the promoter, has a firm rule about bands not appearing two years in a row.

GZ
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Jake



Joined: 02 Mar 1999
Posts: 4963

PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2002 10:45 am    Post subject: ProgPower III Review (very long) Reply with quote

Thanks for the review.

Sorry to hear Blind Guardian wasn't so great, I was planning to use their concert this week as something to look forward to. But I still plan on going. Hopefully I'll enjoy the show.
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AngelWitch73



Joined: 01 Mar 2002
Posts: 163
Location: Bayern

PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2002 11:31 am    Post subject: ProgPower III Review (very long) Reply with quote

Nice report. I hope to see ZERO HOUR in Germany some time.
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General Zod



Joined: 24 Jan 2001
Posts: 2519
Location: Krypton

PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2002 11:40 am    Post subject: ProgPower III Review (very long) Reply with quote

Jake-

f I was you, I would still look forward to their concert. After all, they did sound great. And if Hansi gets his voice in order, I'm sure they'll be excellent. If nothing else, you should seriously look forward to seeing Symphony X... I know I am.

Angel-

Definitely catch them if you can. They are phenomenal.

GZ
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General Zod



Joined: 24 Jan 2001
Posts: 2519
Location: Krypton

PostPosted: Wed Nov 20, 2002 5:42 pm    Post subject: ProgPower III Review (very long) Reply with quote

I'm not sure how SX could possibly be one of the "worst" bands you've heard in a while. Unless, during this while, the ONLY band you've listened to is Nevermore, SX couldn't possibly be one of the worst. For starters, their singer is superb. Their guitar player, keyboard player, bass player and drummer, are four of the finest musicians in Metal. Their songs are catchy, intricate, and melodic. To top it all off, their lyrics are intelligent. So, if SX is one of the "worst" bands you've heard in a while, you need to turn me onto whatever it is that you're listening to. Because apparently you must know of some amazing acts that I've never heard of.

GZ
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Jake



Joined: 02 Mar 1999
Posts: 4963

PostPosted: Wed Nov 20, 2002 8:00 pm    Post subject: ProgPower III Review (very long) Reply with quote

From what I've heard of Odyssey they may have talent, though it didn't come through for me on V.

I am just not at all hooked in by the songs, and the individual parts of the music weren't spectacular enough for me to like the songs for the musicianship. So the whole package doesn't work for me.

I think this is probably one of those bands like Jag Panzer that everyone else is impressed by the guitar playing and I'm just only kindof interested. Maybe if Michael Romeo is good live it'll change my look on things, but as it is it just isn't reaching me.
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