Prog Power USA VII - September 15, 2006 Main Event Day 1
HOS Productions

Release year: 2006
Reviewed by Ben

The first official day of Prog Power VII was here and waking up that morning I was stoked. I had some errands to do in the morning so Jonah and I went to his apartment to help Lance get all of the Nightmare Records merchandise so he could be set up in time for the hungry crowd that would invade the vendor’s room that afternoon. When all of that was finished Pyramaze headed out to do their sound checks and get themselves ready for the gig. I tried in vain to catch up even more on some sleep but since that wasn’t coming to me I did my light cd shopping. This year I didn’t go off on the merchandise like I usually do because I am a broke ass college student and having my truck get recently stolen my funds weren’t as high as I would have liked. I picked up the first two Within Temptation albums, the new Persuader and the new Zero Hour, Specs Of Pictures Burnt Beyond. I came back to the hotel where I instantly put the haul of cds I bought (I use the term haul loosely here) onto my Ipod and at four forty five Ed and I headed off to see the show. I met up with Corey (ex Lilitu and tour mate) at the doors and we made it inside moments before the lights went down. I have to admit, I was thoroughly impressed with Pyramaze’s set. They had an even balance of tracks from both of their albums and they sounded tight live. The keyboard / guitar harmony solos were pulled off in sync and got great reactions from the crowd who were really into these guys. I looked around and saw the people on the floor singing along to every song and near the mid section of the set the crowd hollered boisterously, “PYRA-MAZE, PYRA-MAZE!. Other than Brainstorm at PP V I hadn’t witnessed a non headlining act get that type of chant from the audience. Lance is a seasoned front man, his stage demeanor reminded me of David Coverdale and Joe Lynn Turner with his calm collected swagger and flawless vocal performance. Only him and Morten had graced this stage before (Lance with Balance Of Power at PP II and Morten with Wuthering Heights at PP V) so his familiarity with the stage and audience probably helped him get into the groove. Michael was in deep concentration with the moment and his playing while Niels was all smiles as he thumped away on his six string bass. Toke was the most energetic, he was really getting into the show and had mad cases of “guitar face” as he played all of his solos. I could tell that they were a little bit nervous when the curtain opened but by the time Melancholy Beast was played and the crowd erupted into a huge cheer at the end of Jonah’s keyboard solo they loosened up and the cogs of comfort fell into place. Highlights for me were the blistering What Lies Beyond, the epic Legend and the rousing closer of Power Of Imagination. After waiting three years to see Pyramaze live I can tell you that my deliriously high expectations were met and I was clapping along with everybody else in that arena.

Pyramaze setlist: Era Of Chaos, The Birth, What Lies Beyond, Sleepy Hollow, Melancholy Beast, Souls In Pain, Legend, The Bone Carver, Ancient Words Within, Power Of Imagination

Savage Circus were up next and when they started playing I quickly made my way to a seat. I liked Dreamland Manor and even though I am more fond of Jens and Emil’s main band Persuader, with Piet and Yenz on hand from Iron Savior I figured that this would be a pretty entertaining show. I noticed that Jens can replicate his studio performance exactly but he seemed a little unsure of how to act on stage. A couple of times he would just look around and for a few songs he had to use a lyric sheet to sing off of. Having another front man in the band like Piet helped out as Piet cracked jokes and was in motion for most of the show. Song wise I would have cut the ballad Beyond Reality and replaced it with the thunderous Born Again By The Night. A fairly decent show that entertained the fans but nothing too remarkable that will be remembered in the Prog Power roster. Their setlist? The entire Dreamland Manor release minus Born Again By The Night.

It’s here where my day one review ends for Prog Power. Blood Promise was playing a show that night across town and I went with Jonah and Laura to see them play thus missing Freak Kitchen, Mercenary, and headliner Evergrey. From what I heard from friends that stayed was that Freak Kitchen were the definite surprise of the night. Mattias is a guitar virtuoso and a jokester, he played his guitar that night with a cell phone, stick, his teeth, and a vibrator. Mercenary busted out with a cover of Pantera’s Cowboys From Hell which included festival promoter Glenn Harveston stage diving into the crowd. Evergrey basically recreated the A Night To Remember DVD for Atlanta with a string quartet for a section of their two hour plus show. Also Henrik Danhage proposed to his girlfriend onstage (she said yes) so that was a special moment for sure. Some might call me crazy for skipping out on these great bands (and this is someone who owns every Mercenary and Evergrey release mind you) especially since I saw Lilitu / Blood Promise live about twenty seven times last year but something happened three days prior that made my decision to miss sixty percent of the first day without hesitation. At the Blood Promise rehearsal I heard the guys play five new songs that for lack of a more illustrious descriptive term, the new material rocked my world. Dense, intricate, rich with melody and technicality, I was blown away. Unfortunately for the band their first airing of the new songs was at a place called Swayze’s where all of about twenty people were in attendance. I enjoyed myself and hey it basically felt like another stop on the tour. A pit stop back at the apartment for dinner turned into an overnight stay. Later in the early morning Grant and Matt (two friends from Virginia and North Carolina. Both of them came to the Jester’s Pub show on the tour last year) came by to crash and filled me in on the bands I missed that night.

Freak Kitchen setlist: Silence!, Rights To You, Porno Daddy, Speak When Spoken To, Snap, Taste My Fist / Chopstick Boogie, Dildo Sing Along, My New Haircut, Hateful Little People, Vaseline Business/Samba, Razor Flowers, Propaganda Pie

Mercenary setlist: Redefine Me, Year Of The Plague, Firesoul, World Hate Center, Lost Reality, Loneliness, Soul Decision, Simplicity Demand, Seize the Night, Cowboys From Hell, 11 Dreams

Evergrey setlist: The Great Deceiver, As I Lie Here Bleeding, Obedience, More Than Ever, Watching The Skies, Mark Of The Triangle, Blinded, In Remembrance, Till Dagmar, Still In The Water, Monday Morning Apocalypse, I'm Sorry, When the Walls Go Down, Recreation Day, Solitude Within, Nosferatu, The Shocking Truth, She Speaks To The Dead, When The River Calls, For Every Tear That Falls, A Touch Of Blessing, The Masterplan

Killing Songs :
Ben quoted
Other albums by Prog Power USA VII that we have reviewed:
Prog Power USA VII - September 16, 2006 Main Event Day 2 reviewed by Ben and quoted
Prog Power USA VII - September 14, 2006 The Pre - Party reviewed by Ben and quoted
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