ProgPower USA XX, Sept 4-7 2019 - Pretty Maids-Evergrey-Seventh Wonder-Dem&Wiz+

[jingle.boy]

At this point, I'm 50/50 at best.  Won't really decide until the summer - depending on who drops out and who replaces the dropouts.  Getting resell is usually pretty easy right up into August - and I believe that Day 1/2 didn't sellout until late August this year - hell, they even put those on sale as individual days.

[Lethean]

Jingle, Threshold will be there. Therefore, so should you.

[The Walrus]

Chad, please come. I wanna hang. 

[cramx3]

Chad, please come. I wanna hang. 

Yea man, only got to say hi 2 years ago

[jingle.boy]

Chad, please come. I wanna hang. 

Yea man, only got to say hi 2 years ago

Yeah, that sucked that we were basically passing each other all the time, cuz of your work schedule.

[cramx3]

That's probably why this PP was so much more fun, no work training during the day, just free to enjoy the full show. 

Although if you are coming to NJ soon for progstock, I am going to try and meet up with you all.

[jingle.boy]

Although if you are coming to NJ soon for progstock, I am going to try and meet up with you all.

You better, PUNK!

[lonestar]

Although if you are coming to NJ soon for progstock, I am going to try and meet up with you all.

You better, PUNK!

This.

[axeman90210]

Although if you are coming to NJ soon for progstock, I am going to try and meet up with you all.

You better, PUNK!

This.

That

[Nick]

Although if you are coming to NJ soon for progstock, I am going to try and meet up with you all.

You better, PUNK!

This.

That

The other thing.

[Zook]

I met Jingle.boy once. What a jerk!

[jingle.boy]

I met Jingle.boy once. What a jerk!

Great pizza though.

[cramx3]

Progpower mini event tonight, my GF surprised me for my bday and got two tickets for the sold out Alestorm and Gloryhammer show tonight in NYC.  Super pumped since Alestorm was probably my favorite set of the festival and Gloryhammer was a pleasant surprise (I always thought they were too cheesy for me, but they came off much better live with the crowd participation).  I'll be sporting my PP tshirt as well tonight proudly.  Can't wait to see Ducky risen again.

[cramx3]

Well Ducky wasn't killed in NYC last night, in fact, Ducky didn't even get thrown into the crowd. 

[SwedishGoose]

Well Ducky wasn't killed in NYC last night, in fact, Ducky didn't even get thrown into the crowd.

Maybe they are running out of places that are willing to sell them duckies 

[cramx3]

After an hour delay to get tickets, finally ticket master is fixed and I got my two day tickets  I feel bad for those who can't take the time to wait, this actually worked for me as I somehow actually slept till 10:30am and freaked out when I woke up thinking I may not be able to get them

[The Walrus]

See ya there cram 

[cramx3]

See ya there cram 

[cramx3]

Got my day 3 and 4 ticket this morning.  Looks like those sold fairly well over the weekend.  I thought I had some more time to figure this shit out, but they said 75% were sold on Saturday so I just scooped mine up. 

Now that I got my Haken/Leprous fix, time to go back to listening to some PP20 bands.  Orden Ogan today, listening to Ravenhead and enjoying it 

[Ben_Jamin]

I wish I could've got tickets to this one. But financial situations said not a chance. I hope ProgPower 21 will be great as well.

[cramx3]

Been a nice slow period of concert attending and new releases (well soon some big ones about to drop, DT and Avantasia) but I've had some time to listen to a handful of ProgPower XX bands that I had not listened to before and I'm really enjoying it.  So here are some thoughts...

Orden Ogan, had Ravenhead and enjoyed it but wasn't totally sold on the band.  They are fairly standard and good power metal, but I am really enjoying Gunmen a bit more.  It has a bit more of a concise solid sound for the band and the songs are a bit catchier.  Still fairly standard power metal, but I can get behind this.  I think they will be a lot of fun right before Seventh Wonder.

Galneryus, I had Resurrection, but also now have Under the Force of Courage.  I've only listened a few times, but I really enjoy this as well.  These guys seem so familiar yet so different.  They have a lot of music and I don't expect I'll dig through it all, but I do want to eventually get their latest too and hopefully get to know most of their set come September.  I think they are going to be one of the best of the weekend from a performance perspective.

Evergrey, I've talked a bit about exploring them in their thread here but the new album The Atlantic is really solid.  Weightless is just a fantastic song.  I also have Recreation Day.  I plan on checking more out, I see they are playing shows so I may listen to more of what they are playing so I'll be more familiar with their live material.  I think Tom's vocals are outstanding here too.

Caligula's Horse, I haven't gotten any of their albums yet but I keep listening to both In Contact and Bloom on youtube.  This is definitely my new favorite prog metal band. These albums seem to be exactly what I love about prog metal, crushing cool riffs, awesome vocals and technical while still being catchy and interesting and heavy.  Love the spoken word part in In Contact too, this singers really awesome.

still a lot more bands to check out though

[cramx3]

My journey to discover bands at Progpower continue...

Pretty Maids - I have the Kingmaker album now and listened to it only a few times so far.  It's pretty solid, but nothing mind blowing.  I do enjoy it but there's only a few songs that really stood out in those listens.  I think I've come to really enjoy Ronnie's vocals through Avantasia even though I thought he was a weak link when I first started listening to them years ago.  Finally checking out his own band and I do enjoy his vocals much more now, the music is just a bit generic.  I do enjoy it overall though, I should probably get another album, but for now I still need to digest this one as I can't even name the songs that I said did stand out to me.

Poets of the Fall - I have the Ultraviolet album and I'd say this band is an outlier of the festival.  This isn't metal and I don't connect with it.... until I do.  The thing is, I listened/watched a bunch of their youtube videos and really had no interest.  They just didn't seem like they were for me.  I still got the digital download because I figured I'd give it a shot.  I actually really like the singers voice, the guy sounds great and if I am going to see them (well I could do a food break or something, but I would like to check all the bands out for a little at least) maybe it's best I just listen a little more, maybe their singles aren't what interests me type of band.  Anyway, I listened to the album and didn't care for it at first, but then my gf broke up with me and all of the sudden I found myself listening to this and feeling a connection.  Standstill is not my music at all and yet, right now, I feel like it's one of my favorite songs.  It brings a tear to my eye, seriously.  I don't know if they play this one, but if they did, I think I'd be crying at progpower this year    But otherwise, My Dark Disquiet is a really awesome song.  I don't love the album and still kind of feel this music isn't for me, but I find that it hits some of my current emotions and I actually can connect with this.

Threshold - OMG maybe my favorite album of all the discoveries.  Legends of the Shires would have been a top album of the year for me if I had known about it then.  I even shared this with one of my friends who is becoming more obsessed than I am over it  Great prog metal album if you ask me.  I want to explore more but just haven't yet.  It's nice to know they will be playing lots from this album though.  They are up there for me as a top band to see now.

and my latest and maybe just as surprising as enjoying Poets of the Fall... Insomnium.  Now I had heard some good things about this band and actually should have seen them open for Epica and Lacuna Coil a year or two ago, but got there too late.  I remember people in the crowd saying how good Insomnium were at that show.  But I never really looked into it because well, they are death metal and that's never been my cup of tea.  BUt maybe it's hitting another emotion for me with my current state of anger and depression.  Holy shit this one album Winter's Gate that I just got recently is really good.  I don't think I ever really listened to this type of metal and enjoyed it before.  Maybe it's because it's progressive too and the music is really interesting that I can get past the cookie monster vocals.  Whatever it is, I am enjoying this album and I'm still digesting it as well so I don't know which of these tracks I love the most or anything, but this album as a whole is very solid.

So that kind of leaves me with the openers that I haven't really started to dig into yet. 

[The Walrus]

Man, everyone loves Threshold. Not just 'likes' but adores them. It's run of the mill rock riffs and singing. I don't get it. I wish I did, because it's like everyone and their mother loves them. Hopefully they play all the few songs I like at ProgPower. Pilot In The Sky of Dreams is all I need, honestly.

[cramx3]

It doesn't sound like any reinvention of the wheel or anything, but it's just good music to my ears.  It's almost like Dream Theater light, like they have the reoccurring themes, heavy music but not too heavy, good vocal melodies, a catchiness to the music that you don't always see in prog, awesome instrumental parts that aren't overly wankery.  Yea it's basic prog metal but it's really well done, at least this album is.

[The Walrus]

Tastes! I can think of like 5 songs with strong vocal melodies to me. But then again the next album on my top 50 might render my opinions meaningless. 

Mac was my favorite singer, Glynn is right behind him, Damian I don't really like so I'm glad Glynn is gonna be there.

[Evermind]

Insomnium is awesome. Along with Agalloch, it was my gateway band into the harsh vocals territory. Their last two albums, Shadows of the Dying Sun and Winter's Gate are both great. Glad you're enjoying Winter's Gate.

DAYS
LONG
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE

[The Walrus]

Yeah that's one I'm in full agreement with cram on. Insomnium isn't the kind of music I usually enjoy at all but I put on Winter's Gate and wooooow that is a good album.

[cramx3]

Yeah that's one I'm in full agreement with cram on. Insomnium isn't the kind of music I usually enjoy at all but I put on Winter's Gate and wooooow that is a good album.

Yea, did not expect this to wow me the way it has (I'm listening to it right now) I kind of thought this band wouldn't be for me but considering all the positives I heard I figured I should at least give it a try.  I'm not sure if this will be a gateway to more music like this or not, but I wouldnt be surprised.  I've gotten more enjoyment from harsh vocals it seems every year that I keep listening to metal music.  Started not listening to any harsh bands then bands like Epica with a a mix and then finding more bands like that.  I saw Avatar a few weeks ago and they do a mix of screams and cleans and I was blown away that I actually liked this guys screams more than his clean vocals.  It was like a turning point for me maybe.  Speaking of, Avatar is fucking awesome 

[Anguyen92]

Poets of the Fall - I have the Ultraviolet album and I'd say this band is an outlier of the festival.  This isn't metal and I don't connect with it.... until I do.  The thing is, I listened/watched a bunch of their youtube videos and really had no interest.  They just didn't seem like they were for me.  I still got the digital download because I figured I'd give it a shot.  I actually really like the singers voice, the guy sounds great and if I am going to see them (well I could do a food break or something, but I would like to check all the bands out for a little at least) maybe it's best I just listen a little more, maybe their singles aren't what interests me type of band.  Anyway, I listened to the album and didn't care for it at first, but then my gf broke up with me and all of the sudden I found myself listening to this and feeling a connection.  Standstill is not my music at all and yet, right now, I feel like it's one of my favorite songs.  It brings a tear to my eye, seriously.  I don't know if they play this one, but if they did, I think I'd be crying at progpower this year    But otherwise, My Dark Disquiet is a really awesome song.  I don't love the album and still kind of feel this music isn't for me, but I find that it hits some of my current emotions and I actually can connect with this.

Poets of the Fall has been one of those bands that I've really enjoyed for the last few years.  I don't think I enjoyed Ultraviolet as much as the album before that, which was Clearview, but I really enjoyed the song, Fool's Paradise from Ultraviolet.  That stated, the go-to albums to listen to as starters from them is definitely Signs of Life and Carnival of Rust.  I think what impresses me the most from them is how I am able to visualize their lyrical content in a vivid image, especially in songs like Illusion & Dream or Can You Hear Me or Roses among others.  I personally do think they honestly earned it to have Poets in their name due to the way they portray their lyrics.  I do wish they were big enough outside of their native country of Finland and other parts of Europe.  I wouldn't mind seeing them if they come to LA, but it looks like ProgPower is going to be their only show in the US.

[cramx3]

Yea Fools Paradise is a good one too

So I got a copyright strike against my youtube video I made from ProgPower last year.  Sucks because down goes my 3.5 hour video, by far the longest on my channel  but it's interesting for why it got pulled down:

Hi cramx3,

Due to a copyright claim, your YouTube video has been blocked. This means that your video can no longer be played on YouTube.

Video title: ProgPower USA XIX *cramx3 concert experience* Center Stage Atlanta 2018
Copyrighted content: JSS Solo Spot: The Prophet's Song/Save Me (Live at the Roman Amphitheatre in Plovdiv 2018)
Claimed by: SME

Interesting how I got a copyright off something that was released and even recorded after my recording from progpower.  I'm pretty sure this is automated though and more likely has to do with it being a Queen cover song that maybe SOA needed to get rights to release their version or something.  Oh well.  I've never experienced this before so I now see they give me an option to mute the sound or replace the sound for that spot, but their software for doing it doesn't seem to work so I guess my video is down for now.  I think what I will do is, since that video was likely too long for anyone to really watch, I will go back and remake it as four videos for each day and obviously cut out that one clip from JSS's Queen performance.  I was already planning on doing it that way for this coming year (as well as for Warped Tour in a couple weeks) just to make it easier.  Plus I think something with the length created a slight timing delay with the audio for this video, I think doing short ones will prevent that.  Anyway, I have no priority for it, but just totally shocked to get that copy right claim

[Lethean]

For those familiar with Poets of the Fall - what album or albums do you think will make up the majority of their set?  Maybe their newest?  I have yet to listen to them, but I know there are people who are really excited for them so I'm curious.

Cramx - really glad that you're enjoying Legends of the Shires so much.

[The Walrus]

For those familiar with Poets of the Fall - what album or albums do you think will make up the majority of their set?  Maybe their newest?  I have yet to listen to them, but I know there are people who are really excited for them so I'm curious.

Cramx - really glad that you're enjoying Legends of the Shires so much.

Without spoiling the songs being played, according to the last set, Ultraviolet had the most plays, followed by Jealous Gods.

[cramx3]

Cramx - really glad that you're enjoying Legends of the Shires so much.

Yea, this album has been maybe my favorite album as a whole that I discovered through this journey to PP20. 

Actually need to get those Demon and Wizard remastered albums that were just released, I was waiting on that and then forgot.

As for Poets, I couldn't tell you but yea I looked at the set and then figured Id get the newest album to check them out, Ultraviolet.  I left my comments about that already so I won't go further since I haven't listened to it too much since then.

[jingle.boy]

Likelihood of me being there is increasing.  Got the  with Mrs.jingle; got 1 of my ITEC Live tickets sold.  Now I just need to get a hold of a Day 3/4 ticket, and figure out rooming scenario.  Any of you buggers want/need to split a hotel room?  Air BnB?  What's everyone's accommodation plan?

[cramx3]

Likelihood of me being there is increasing.  Got the  with Mrs.jingle; got 1 of my ITEC Live tickets sold.  Now I just need to get a hold of a Day 3/4 ticket, and figure out rooming scenario.  Any of you buggers want/need to split a hotel room?  Air BnB?  What's everyone's accommodation plan?

OOO excitement level is increasing.

I have my flight booked but not my room.  As a loyal IHG member I am likely to stay at one of their hotels again.  Last time I stayed at a Holiday Inn express that was a few stops away on the Marta train.  I recently looked and there's another hotel that had better prices one stop closer on the train.  I'm not sure how that compares to AirBnB pricing and location.  The only thing that I didn't like about my last stay was the large amount of homeless people near that train station, PeachTree, who would come at me asking for money in dark allys at 1am going back and get very aggressive which was kind of scary.  But the positive was lots of food options for lunch or after the show. 

After typing the above, I looked again, the Staybridge Suites or Hotel Indigo (IHG brands) are cheaper than that hotel I stayed last time and at the North Ave Marta station which is two stops from ProgPower.  Typically I have no interest in sharing rooms with people as I kind of like my personal space, but I don't consider you a stranger so if you wanted to work something out, let me know.  You'll just need to deal with me youtubing each night after the show and snoring shortly after I'm done