Lacuna Coil / DragonForce
Not more than a couple of months ago, I remarked to my brother that power metal was never going to achieve mainstream popularity in the U.S. This comment was spurred by the public's embrace of shit-rock like Hinder.
Last Friday, I gladly ate my words. I can't help but feel that I witnessed what will be one of the opening salvos in the war to bring recognition for musical talent to the mainstream in the hard rock field.
The show was an off-show for three bands on this year's OzzFest tour: Between the Buried and Me, Lacuna Coil, and DragonForce. Three very different bands, but all good at what they do. I figured that because of the OzzFest connection, as well as the three bands having their own fanbases, the show would have a good chance of selling out. And I was right - the show did sell out, but I was wrong in thinking that the crowd would be evenly split between the three bands' fanbases. Turns out that most everyone there was for DragonForce.
DragonForce is power metal through-and-through. They aren't a hardcore band that is ripping off Iron Maiden harmonies, or a piss-take on the genre. They are upfront power metal. And the majority of the sold-out crowd was there to see them.
I didn't catch the opening act's name, and I didn't think they were particularly bad, but the hardcore vocals gotta go. Between the Buried and Me was next, and while they also have the hardcore vocals, there is some serious talent in that band. They had a very short set, but I enjoyed it. One song they played was actually quite lovely, with a strong keyboard melody.
Next up was Lacuna Coil. They got a decent reaction, but the sound quality was off a bit. The bulk of their material was, not surprisingly, from their new album. It's far from my favorite release by them, but I don't think it is as bad as many think. The band left the stage, and there is still some confusion whether the crowd thought that their set was over, or if the audience were just being jerks, but during the expected part of the show where an encore was expected, everyone started shouting "DRAGON-FORCE! DRAGON-FORCE!" So while it was a diss to one of my favorite bands (as well as genuinely nice people), there was this groundswell of support for power metal.
DragonForce came out and kicked ass. I could not get a good view of the stage from the front so I walked around to the side and watched the drummer. I do not know how what he was doing was human, I have never seen anyone play that fast before. From my view I could see part of the audience, and as a longtime fan of European power metal, it was curiously life-affirming to see hundreds of people thrusting their fists in the air, singing along and genuinely enjoying musicians who had talent. For one evening, it was as if the curse of the 1990's had never happened, where heavy metal was allowed to grow in America and people accepted it as fun music instead of turning their noses up at it for the "serious" grunge explosion that fucked up music for a decade.
The crowd was pretty odd, too. Ordinarily at these shows, the crowd is largely made up of people over the age of 30 and the odd "younger folks" who have not been brainwashed by MTV. But this was truly the most diverse crowd I have ever seen. The metal people were out of course, but there were a lot of others, too. And there were a lot of kids, too.
I talked to the band after the show, and they were genuinely shelllshocked at their reception. Lead vocalist ZP had this "What the fuck was that? They were acting like I was Elvis" expression on his face. Like many bands, they were pretty cool guys and were very appreciative of the audience and willing to hang out and talk to the fans.
So if power metal is going to break through to the mainstream, at least one of the genre's best acts is leading the charge. I'd like to see this kind of homegrown support for Blind Guardian, Edguy, and whatever band Urban Breed winds up in next. Maybe power metal will be the next trendy thing - which will suck - but maybe, just maybe, this is actually proof that kids are tired of having &^%$#$ like Hinder or whatever garbage stations like Rock 105 are pouring down their throats, and are wanting to see REAL musicians having fun on stage and putting on a REAL show instead of "earnest" bozos grumbling like a goat that had been kicked in the nuts and complaining about how their life sucks.
Last Friday, I gladly ate my words. I can't help but feel that I witnessed what will be one of the opening salvos in the war to bring recognition for musical talent to the mainstream in the hard rock field.
The show was an off-show for three bands on this year's OzzFest tour: Between the Buried and Me, Lacuna Coil, and DragonForce. Three very different bands, but all good at what they do. I figured that because of the OzzFest connection, as well as the three bands having their own fanbases, the show would have a good chance of selling out. And I was right - the show did sell out, but I was wrong in thinking that the crowd would be evenly split between the three bands' fanbases. Turns out that most everyone there was for DragonForce.
DragonForce is power metal through-and-through. They aren't a hardcore band that is ripping off Iron Maiden harmonies, or a piss-take on the genre. They are upfront power metal. And the majority of the sold-out crowd was there to see them.
I didn't catch the opening act's name, and I didn't think they were particularly bad, but the hardcore vocals gotta go. Between the Buried and Me was next, and while they also have the hardcore vocals, there is some serious talent in that band. They had a very short set, but I enjoyed it. One song they played was actually quite lovely, with a strong keyboard melody.
Next up was Lacuna Coil. They got a decent reaction, but the sound quality was off a bit. The bulk of their material was, not surprisingly, from their new album. It's far from my favorite release by them, but I don't think it is as bad as many think. The band left the stage, and there is still some confusion whether the crowd thought that their set was over, or if the audience were just being jerks, but during the expected part of the show where an encore was expected, everyone started shouting "DRAGON-FORCE! DRAGON-FORCE!" So while it was a diss to one of my favorite bands (as well as genuinely nice people), there was this groundswell of support for power metal.
DragonForce came out and kicked ass. I could not get a good view of the stage from the front so I walked around to the side and watched the drummer. I do not know how what he was doing was human, I have never seen anyone play that fast before. From my view I could see part of the audience, and as a longtime fan of European power metal, it was curiously life-affirming to see hundreds of people thrusting their fists in the air, singing along and genuinely enjoying musicians who had talent. For one evening, it was as if the curse of the 1990's had never happened, where heavy metal was allowed to grow in America and people accepted it as fun music instead of turning their noses up at it for the "serious" grunge explosion that fucked up music for a decade.
The crowd was pretty odd, too. Ordinarily at these shows, the crowd is largely made up of people over the age of 30 and the odd "younger folks" who have not been brainwashed by MTV. But this was truly the most diverse crowd I have ever seen. The metal people were out of course, but there were a lot of others, too. And there were a lot of kids, too.
I talked to the band after the show, and they were genuinely shelllshocked at their reception. Lead vocalist ZP had this "What the fuck was that? They were acting like I was Elvis" expression on his face. Like many bands, they were pretty cool guys and were very appreciative of the audience and willing to hang out and talk to the fans.
So if power metal is going to break through to the mainstream, at least one of the genre's best acts is leading the charge. I'd like to see this kind of homegrown support for Blind Guardian, Edguy, and whatever band Urban Breed winds up in next. Maybe power metal will be the next trendy thing - which will suck - but maybe, just maybe, this is actually proof that kids are tired of having &^%$#$ like Hinder or whatever garbage stations like Rock 105 are pouring down their throats, and are wanting to see REAL musicians having fun on stage and putting on a REAL show instead of "earnest" bozos grumbling like a goat that had been kicked in the nuts and complaining about how their life sucks.