The final day of Prog Power began again with a less than desirable awakening, a knock at the door followed by “Are you fuckers up yet?!” at nine forty five. Almost six hours of sleep, I think that’s a record. After the continental breakfast and more shenanigans the traveling metal crew (Jonah, Noah, Ed, Steen, and I) decided to get some real food and headed off to the mall where we ate the day before. Surprisingly, the only restaurant open on a Saturday was a Chili’s esque type establishment, Houlihans or something like that, but it wouldn’t open for another thirty minutes at one. Finally we sat down and had some huge burgers and traded mother jokes and insults back and forth the entire time. Following this scrumptious feast it was time to chill in the hotel for a few scant hours before the final metal jubilation would be upon us.

I missed the first two Adagio songs because the line for the Edguy signing session was a mile long. I normally don’t do signing sessions because I feel like a guppy standing in line but I figured that because of the show the next day in LA that they would all bail as soon as they got offstage so this was the only time to meet them. Tobias and Eggi looked a little tired but still smiled and took pictures and never acted bored or annoyed at everyone telling them their life’s story. When I finally jumped into the arena I was pleasantly surprised by Adagio’s performance. For a band that plays music as intricate and technical as they do, they had the place going crazy in fine arena rock fashion. Gus handled himself well onstage and really kept the crowd going. There were some moments though that technical difficulties prevailed, during one song his mic cut out for a verse but other than that the show went off without a hitch. A definite surprise and in my opinion Gus fits the band better than David Readman did. He gives them an almost Angra type feel, which might have something to do with the fact he’s Brazillian.

The majority of the attendees had proclaimed Into Eternity as the oddball band this year solely because of their death vocals. I say that Wuthering Heights was the oddball band for the reason that there has been no one who has played Prog Power that has sounded like them at all. Their folky Celtic romps were totally unique to the stage and they translated into the live environment without a problem. I did notice however that there weren’t too many people there that were familiar with the albums before Far From The Madding Crowd and when the band would play the few tracks that weren’t off their latest, the crowd seemed a bit lost. My only complaint is that I think if the opening song had been The Road Goes Ever On instead of The Ever Shining Stones the momentum would have been far greater than what it was. Nitpicking aside, the setlist was a good one. Two thirds of the Longing for the Woods trilogy were played, as well as Tree and Highland Winds off Madding Crowd and for these songs the crowd was the most receptive. There were several instances where the substitution of the real instruments with the keyboards was noticeable but what were they supposed to do, cart a flute player, a banjo player and who knows what else over to the show? Patrik reminded me of Mick Jagger from the Stones with the way he handled himself on stage with his prowling and stalking around. He was also able to sound exactly like he does on the cd. There weren’t any cracked notes or singing lower than the original, he was terrific. Erik and Marten took a reserved approach, they more or less stood in their places while politely shredding away on their guitars. For having limited rehearsals and only three members from the official band there, Wuthering Heights did a grand job and I was pleased with their performance.

Brainstorm was one of those bands who I simply liked on cd but didn’t really get into all that much. I own Metus Mortis and Soul Temptation and while I think they’re competent discs, they don’t get played as often as say Pyramaze or Iron Savior. When they came storming out though I was captivated by their performance, Andy Franck in particular. This man has charisma pouring out of him in buckets! He was running back and forth onstage from one side to the next getting right in the front for everyone to see. My respect for him though went through the roof when he jumped off the stage and ran over to where this one guy was in a wheelchair and sang a couple of verses literally inches away from him. He then ran down to the photo pit area and walked his way across the front giving high fives as well as stopping to sing every ten feet or so. Musically, the band was ten times heavier live, at times the music almost seemed to border on thrash even though they most definitely are not thrash metal at all. I cannot say enough good things about Brainstorm’s performance. Every member seemed truly touched when we chanted Brainstorm, Brainstorm, Brainstorm between songs as well as, “You fucking rule! AHHHHHHHH!” from other spots in the crowd. They played with a passion and a fire that I have only seen one other time, and that was Edguy’s legendary performance at Prog Power III, and just like Edguy did two years ago, Brainstorm stole the show.

It was time for some food so I decided I could pass on Pain of Salvation and me and Ed went to the hotel and ordered a pizza. After resting our weary feet and munching on some hot food for about an hour and a half it was time for the last band of the evening, Edguy. I walked in when Pain of Salvation was finishing their set and I as I hung out in the back of the floor area, all of a sudden I got hit in the forehead with something and I think to myself “Damn, was that a pick?” So I look down and what do you know, I got smacked in the head with Gildengow's pick. Haha, irony at its finest. When the PoS fans were making their hasty exit I managed to get all the way up to the third row for Edguy. Not bad for being out of the venue for an hour and a half. Opening with Under the Moon and Navigator off their latest opus Hellfire Club Tobias and crew were running around like madmen on stage. Jens, Dirk, and Eggi would get together for the triple guitar posing while Tobias would flail around wildly. The ballad Land of the Miracle was a perfect sing along tune even if only me and one other person had our lighters in the air. During the extended bass and drums intro to Lavatory Love Machine Eggi and Felix both abruptly stopped playing and then just looked at each other confused, ha! It was priceless. Showing that they had a sense of humor, Tobi cracked some jokes before diving into the silly peon to mile high love. During the Mandrake tour everyone commented that Tobias is the second coming of Bruce Dickinson but seeing him here I was reminded of David Lee Roth with all the high kicks and mid air splits that Tobias did. He recreated the single cover of Lavatory Love Machine several times, I wish I had a picture of his jumps. Chalice of Agony was played with much enthusiasm and a special treat was in store with a song off The Savage Poetry, Key to My Fate. It was great hearing this old classic live even if I did sing along to the original recordings lyrics and the band was doing the 2000 version. There was a hotly debated drum solo included in their set that tended to drag, even the inclusion of the Imperial March theme from Star Wars couldn’t get the momentum going again. Fallen Angels naturally followed before the mega epic The Piper Never Dies. There was a brief bass and guitar solo that led into this track but unlike the drum one, this was captivating. Following this beast King of Fools closed the regular set and when the guys went offstage and shouted good night, we pretended to believe them. Coming back out after a scant minute Tobias brought out a fellow with long black hair and what do you know? It was Rob Rock! The two tore into Avantasia and the crowd blew up at this point. “We are the power inside / we bring you fantasy…” echoed throughout the hall every time the chorus came around, it was amazing to hear. The surprises weren’t over however, do you really think that Timo Kotipelto would come all the way from Finland just to hang out? Well yea, that was the initial plan until Tobias talked him into doing Wake Up the King with him. This rarely played song sounded even better with Timo’s clear and powerful pipes adding that Finnish flavor to it. During the interlude “Look at the mountains look at the sea…” Tobias just stopped singing and motioned for Timo to finish the line to which he replied by shrugging his shoulders. In an amusing moment the band once again stopped playing while Tobias cracked another joke or two before going back into the song. After Timo departed the true final song of the set and of Prog Power came next, Out of Control. I couldn’t have ended the show on a higher note myself. During the climatic flourish I caught my second pick of the night when Jens tossed one out to the crowd and it landed perfectly, sweetly into my hand.

Leaving the venue in a haze I was happy to have been a part of this great festival for another year but I was sad at the same time realizing that it was over I had to wait another 52 weeks to do this all over again. Meeting Ed, Jonah, Noah, and Yan outside the venue we headed back to the hotel where my momentary sadness was quickly whisked away with the prospect of the all night patio party. Back in the hotel room Jonah and Yan parted ways, they were actually going to try and get some semblance of sleep, while Ed and Noah stayed for awhile in our room of metalness. Steen showed up and we all headed down to fucking party! Again, my memory of this part is a bit hazy. It was two in the morning, and there was about a hundred people out there on the patio having a blast. I was talking to Andy from Brainstorm and he was telling me and a couple other people about this one gig in Slovania, where it was a hundred degrees out and super humid. All the dudes had their shirts off and so did all the chicks and Andy took notice of that and told everyone to, “Jump! Jump!” During this their guitarist came over and told him to do it again on the next song and so he did for the following seven. During the last time he could see some of the guys just look at him weird, like “Why the hell do you want us to jump? Stop it with that shit already!” but when Andy motioned to them all the chicks jumping around then they, ah, got the picture and were more than happy to start jumping again. Gus and Urban were there, Kevin showed up too and Jens, Dirk, and Felix made an appearance as well. There was one guy running around with a bottle of tequila demanding that people take shots to finish it off and it comes as no surprise that he met his goal. I hung out with everyone and then said the goodbyes at five in the AM to everyone there as me and Noah headed off to the airport.

The end of Prog Power is never really fun because that means the best weekend of the year is over and it’s back to the humdrum of everyday work. This being my third year running I would say that I had the most fun than any other year. The lineup at Prog Power III will be a hard one to top, I wont try to embellish the truth by saying this year’s was close because it wasn’t but as evidenced by this massive show review, seventy percent of the fun is the experience. It’s meeting everyone and hanging out and partying with metalheads from all over the world. I would go to Prog Power even if there was only one band out of ten that I liked just because it’s the only time of the year where I can let go and go crazy like I always seem to do. Besides, meeting Jonah and Noah again was killer as well as metalling up with Steen, Yan, and Ed again. If you are one of those people that have considered making it to Prog Power then I urge you to get off your ass and make it happen. If you do, you’ll be seeing me for sure next year.