PATHFINDER METALFEST II (2010)
The Local, Marietta, GA
November 5-6, 2010
Hardworking promoter and super-nice guy Hoyt Parris has hit on a fine formula with his
Pathfinder Metalfest. Combining a couple of well-chosen national headliners with
a strong (or at least interesting) regional and local undercard, with the
occasional surprise thrown in for good measure, Hoyt serves up a fan-friendly
fest at a fan-friendly price. The venue (an intimate 300-person room nestled
inside a much bigger sports bar in the northern suburbs of Atlanta) is more than
satisfactory, and the low-priced-but-comfy Hampton Inn accommodations just a
mile down the road make the logistics a snap for out-of-town visitors. And for
Alabama bumpkins like Jen and me, the prospect of wandering around the nearby
Whole Foods Market to kill time, pick out a gourmet dinner and load up on
gourmet beer (Terrapin Chocolate Milk Stout and Leinenkugel Fireside Nut Brown
Ale, mmmmmmm) is the icing on the cake. And it was great to see friends and
fellow intrepid metal souls Mark, Datis, Lea, Eric, Vickie, Meghan and others
all making the trek in from far and wide, plus an assortment of local and
semi-local folks we know from ProgPower. Nonetheless, for reasons that I cannot
even begin to fathom, the scene support for the Pathfinder Metalfest is
disappointing. With this lineup, the venue should have been packed, but alas
such was not the case. At no time over the weekend was the room even half full,
and during Friday's headliner it was nearly deserted save for a couple dozen
hearty souls. Locals have no excuse for not supporting this excellent fest, and
out-of-towners need to get off their lazy apathetic asses, hit the road, and
support live, quality, traditional heavy metal before it goes away. Popular
opinion to the contrary, ProgPower is neither the only nor the best festival in
the southeastern U.S., but this scene will wither and die if apathy reigns.
Okay, no more soapbox. Let's get to the music.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Technically a pre-party, tonight really felt like the first night of a two-night festival,
so I won't draw any distinctions there. Things got off to a rough start when the
sound guy was apparently delayed by traffic (imagine that, heavy traffic in
metro Atlanta on a Friday afternoon/evening!), so the scheduled 8 p.m. start
time was pushed back much closer to 9 p.m. before the festivities got underway.
The first band was local act The Shield, who were making their live debut
on this night. Not much to say here. The band is clearly not ready for primetime
yet, judging by the all-around shaky performances and skeletal material. No
purpose would be served by cataloguing the band's shortcomings here, so I won't.
Suffice it to say they need a lot of time and hard work in the rehearsal space.
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock'n'roll, boys and girls.
Next up were Neverland, a last-minute addition to the bill hailing all the way
from Switzerland. From what I gather, this intrepid five-piece hopped a plane,
came to the U.S., and rented an RV with the idea of performing a "tour" on the
fly wherever they could find gigs. Bold (and potentially masochistic) move,
especially for a band that I (and I daresay, most American metalheads) had never
heard of before. Hoyt wisely seized the opportunity and added Neverland to
tonight's bill, which represented their U.S. debut. Whaddaya know, they were
actually very professional and very enjoyable. Sporting a chunky, prog/power
hybrid sound with two guitars, piped-in keyboards/symphonic flourishes and an
excellent dramatic vocalist reminiscent of Kamelot's Khan, Neverland did a
really nice job. Memorable, catchy songs. Good playing. Strong vocals.
Honestly, Neverland are superior to half the stuff Glenn Harveston books at
ProgPower every year. I know they impressed many in the sparse crowd. I don't
usually go gaga for this style of music, but count me in as a fan after this
performance. The band really seemed touched by the positive response too, as
they thanked the crowd profusely every time we cheered them or clapped along
with the music. "You make us hot," exclaimed the beaming vocalist at one point,
although I'm sure something was lost in the translation. Didn't catch all the
song titles, but I do know that the last four songs in the band's too-short
6-song set consisted of "Mysteria," "No Time To Lose," "Close Your Eyes," and
"Neverland." I look forward to hearing the band's 3-song sampler they were
handing out after the show. Unfortunately, what should have been a triumphant
evening for Neverland was marred by the fact that scumbag thieves broke into
their RV while they were inside the venue and absconded with cash and other
valuables. Welcome to America, y'all ...
The third and final support act on the bill were local thrash youngsters
Tetrarch. Having seen them back in May in Atlanta opening for Sonata
Arctica, I had some idea what to expect, but Tetrarch were better tonight. The
quartet (with singer doubling on rhythm guitar) offered up a solid dose of
retrothrash with well-done Hetfield styled vocals and the occasional nod to more
modern breeds of metal in the Trivium / Bullet for My Valentine vein (have to
draw the kiddies in somehow, right?). Stage presence was excellent too, with all
three stringed players moving around the stage quite a bit, headbanging up a
storm, and seeming very confident in their craft. No cover tunes this time (they
did a bang-up version of "Master of Puppets" at the Sonata Arctica gig), but the
originals were all plenty thrashy and enjoyable in their own right. Special
props go out to the African-American female lead guitarist, who absolutely tore
up her axe and rocked out most mightily while doing so. Given the white male
dominated culture of heavy metal generally, and the fact that we are in the Deep
South to boot, it was cool as hell to see a chick bust right through those
subdivisions, dividing lines, glass ceilings and stereotypes, and to excel at it
to boot. She wasn't just there, she was really good, with chops aplenty. Mark
this band down on your list, folks. Tetrarch are one to watch. The singer said
they're going to Miami to record an EP for release in the very near future, so
I'll look forward to tracking that disc down soon.
Tonight's headliner were Circle II Circle, the veteran combo who are best known for
boasting former Savatage vocalist Zak Stevens in their ranks. Having just
completed a 22-date run through Europe in support of their newly released
5th album, 'Consequence of Power,' Circle II Circle were using their
Marietta engagement as a springboard to kick off the U.S. leg of their tour.
Sadly, the band ran into trouble early when bassist Paul Michael Stewart's amp
blew during the opening cut, the peppy "Consequence of Power." Several minutes
of technical delay ensued while Stewart worked to patch himself into the
monitors directly, all the while bemoaning the death of his amp and the high
financial cost it would entail to replace it for the remainder of the tour. Zak
played it off as best he could by telling jokes, laughing, and encouraging
people to drink more, but this was both a downer for the band and a definite
momentum-killer as the already small crowd dwindled further with the lateness
of the hour (it was after midnight when CIIC took the stage). Finally a
workaround was devised and the show continued. As the band's 80-minute set wore
on, a few observations came to mind. First, Stevens is still a hell of a
singer, and he sounds way better live than he does on the somewhat sterile
studio albums that CIIC puts out. He's got power, control and a great melodic
feeling to his voice. Second, Andy Lee is a monster guitar player. I still
prefer CIIC in their two-guitarist configuration, and Lee is presently flying
solo, but the guy is an extremely accomplished axeman. I do worry about his
health though, as the dude is so pale and so gaunt that I wish Jon Oliva could
loan him a few pounds or something, because that just can't be healthy. Third,
it was great fun to watch Johnny Osbourne behind the drum kit. Decked out in
his "Police" shirt (as in Polizei, not that damned "Roxanne" band), with his
moptop hair tied up and flopping around with every snare hit, Osbourne was
animated, powerful, and just really entertaining to watch. Fourth, if CIIC has
five studio CDs, why did their setlist ignore all of the older ones?
Mysteriously, CIIC played a whopping seven cuts from 'Consequence of Power'
(including the Euro limited edition bonus track, if you can believe that), with
just a pair from 'Delusions of Grandeur,' one from 'Burden of Truth,' and nada
zip zero from the first two discs. I don't think I'm alone in the view that
'Watching in Silence' is the band's best album, yet they play nothing from it???
Bizarre. Nonetheless, I give Circle II Circle credit for not letting the empty
room and bass amp disaster ruin their night. They played like this was a packed
house, and Zak praised the crowd for being "small but mighty." During the
inevitable Savatage portion of the set, Zak stepped off stage and onto the floor
for the entirety of "Edge of Thorns" to sing the song side-by-side with the fans
(including a couple of wildly gyrating teeny bopper girls up front who obviously
didn't know a single word of their hearthrob's signature song) before finishing
the song by lying on stage on his back, both arms thrust in the air, throwing
the horns. As a final encore, after a brief and unnecessary Johnny Osbourne drum
solo, Stevens took a seat at the drum throne and laid down a solid groove as the
band offered up a version of Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" (which unfortunately
had aired on the PA earlier that evening), with Osbourne singing a verse so he
wouldn't be totally left out of the fun. All in all, it wasn't a perfect CIIC
show by any stretch, but it was a solid outing from a professional band that did
themselves and their fans proud in Marietta. I wish for their sake they'd
brought CDs to sell though. If you believe in your new album enough to play
seven friggin' songs from it, you ought to have copies available for your fans
to purchase at the show. I got my regular U.S. edition three weeks earlier (no
limited edition bonus track though), so that rigmarole excuse about it not being
available yet is just wrong.
Setlist: Consequence of Power, Symptoms of Fate, Take Back Yesterday, Out of Nowhere, Revelation,
Soul Breaker, Blood of an Angel, Andy Lee guitar solo, Episodes of Mania,
Anathema, So many Reasons. Encores: Conversation Piece, Taunting Cobras,
Edge of Thorns, Johnny Osbourne drum solo, Stranglehold.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
We returned to the venue at around 5 p.m. on Saturday for Day 2 of the Festival to
be greeted by a couple of pieces of unfortunate news. First, the likelihood of
beginning at the scheduled 6 p.m. start time appeared remote, given that Crimson
Glory were still in the midst of their soundcheck which was supposed to have
concluded at 3 p.m. Indeed, as we approached the club, the building was shaking
to the sounds of the band tearing through "War of the Worlds" at peak volume.
Not sure why Drenning's boys needed a 4+ hour soundcheck, but that's what they
took. Hmmmm, maybe the man's reputation for being difficult to work with isn't
so exaggerated after all. (And all the bands were treated to playing in front of
a giant Crimson Glory 'Transcendence' banner all night long.) Second, Hoyt
informed us as we arrived that Icarus Witch had canceled their appearance
earlier today after experiencing vehicle trouble in West Virginia on their drive
south. Big disappointment for all involved, I know, and the spate of undeserved
bad luck associated with Pathfinder Metal Fest 2010 claimed yet another victim.
It must have been 6:45 or so when South Carolina's Merzah opened the
proceedings in the presence of small but appreciative audience. (Many were still
out in the sports pub area watching the end of the Alabama/LSU college football
fiasco, which sent my Crimson Tide loving wife scrambling for beer afterwards to
drown her sorrows.) Definitely a young band who deserve praise for being bold
and experimental with their music. Lead vocals were of both the clean and
growled variety, all sung by the same guy, and the musical accompaniment varied
from proggy stuff to Gothenburg-style melodic death metal. The combination
didn't quite click with me, but again, I have nothing but respect for a youthful
band trying to push the envelope and develop their own sound. Keep at it, boys ...
Tonight's second act were local act Void of Reason. I dimly recall seeing them at
last year's PMF and not being too impressed by their keyboard-laden light prog.
This time around, however, I was pleasantly surprised to see that VOR have
ditched the keyboard rig, leaving the singer free to roam the stage if he so
desired (although he mostly stayed put), and have also added a second guitar
player, whom I recognized from Eternal Hour's performance last year. With no
keys and twice the guitar firepower, these modifications to the VOR camp could
not help but be good news, right? And they were. Music was still a little
lightweight and, errrr, vaguely non-metallic for my neanderthal tastes, and I
wish the singer would loosen up a little bit, but for a dark, stripped-down
version of latter-day Queensryche or Fates Warning's sound, Void of Reason may
fit the bill nicely. Not bad at all. Oh, and they did a fine job with their
Maiden cover of "Wasted Years" to round out their set.
It was time for PMF 2010 to kick into high gear, and the loony, alcohol-fueled lads
of Widow were just what the doctor ordered. I was thrilled by their
abbreviated performance at the Warriors of Metal Fest in Ohio this past summer,
and definitely considered them my most-anticipated band of the weekend. Widow
did not disappoint, as they came out, kicked ass and took names for 45 minutes.
Boatloads of harmony guitars, crushing NWOBHM-on-steroids riffs, and uptempo
workouts that expertly blended melody and old-school aggression. Outstanding
stage presence with guitarists Chris Bennett and John Wooten working the crowd
and treading the boards like seasoned professionals. Complementary duel lead
vocals, with Wooten supplying the cleans and Bennett kicking in the occasional
blackened shriek for emphasis. In addition to a sense of high-energy urgency,
Widow also brought the fun. The between-song stage raps were hilarious, with
Bennett suggesting at various times that Widow's newly reissued debut CD now
comes with a "free bonus condom because we believe in the practice of safe
metal," and that their forthcoming fourth CD might be released by Google
Records. The funniest moment of all was before they played "Angel Sin," when
Bennett said he needed a drink because this song was really hard to play, and
Wooten chiming in that they would probably screw it up, prompting Bennett to
praise Wooten for lowering the audience's expectations and the drummer to pipe
up that maybe they'd actually get it right tonight. The song kicked ass, of
course. Not only was fun the overriding sentiment in what Widow said from the
stage, but their body language and the smiles on their faces throughout the gig
exuded the sense that they were having the time of their lives. They thanked the
audience repeatedly, said over and over again how glad they were to be at this
festival, and were effusive in their praise of the earlier bands as well as
their giddiness over seeing Crimson Glory. They even thanked individually and by
name a number of folks in the audience with whom they'd been chatting and
drinking beer earlier, including yours truly. It was an awfully nice touch by a
band that hit all the right notes, not only in their songs and presentation but
how they comported themselves all night. Oh, and did I mention that their live
performance kicked all kinds of posterior too? I think it's safe to say that
Widow made lots of new friends and fans in Marietta on this night.
Setlist: American Werewolf in Raleigh, Nightlife, Nightchild, Witch Way, Take Hold of the
Night (killer new song from forthcoming Life's Blood disc), At the End, Beware
the Night, Angel Sin, Reunion, Pleasure of Exorcism.
Theocracy are something of enigma to me. From looking at 'em, you wouldn't think they're a
metal band at all, with 3/5 of the members sporting short regular-guy haircuts,
the bassist decked out in his old-school Georgia Bulldogs Football t-shirt, and
so on. They look exactly like the kind of guys you might see playing a basement
keg party in a college frat house. To add to the mystery, they're from Athens,
Georgia (not exactly a metal town), and their lyrics are heavily Christian a la
Seventh Avenue and so on. But the biggest surprise about Theocracy is that,
despite all these outward indicia, they actually are purveyors of top-notch
European-style power metal with plenty of speed and gigantic happy melodies
(think earlier Edguy, with touches of Gamma Ray and Stratovarius and so on).
Singer/band leader Matt Smith has a good, expressive high-pitched voice for this
kind of music, and has progressed in leaps and bounds as a frontman since the
band's humble beginnings thrust in the spotlight for the ProgPower VII showcase.
Tonight marked my fourth time seeing Theocracy overall (the other occasions
being ProgPower VII, the Nightmare Metal Fest in San Antonio in spring 2009, and
an opening slot at the Sonata Arctica gig in Atlanta in April 2010). Theocracy
were good tonight, but certainly not the best I've seen them over all. The
setlist seemed a bid odd and leaned a bit more on the proggy aspect of the
band's repertoire ("Serpents Kiss" and part 3 of the 22-minute epic "Mirror of
Souls" were aired over heart-pounding stuff like "Tower of Ashes" and "On
Eagle's Wings"). Also, the performance was a bit tentative tonight, with the
guitarists repeatedly exchanging nervous glances when one or the other of them
made mistakes audible to my unsophisticated ears. And they kept bumping into
each other on stage too, suggesting that Theocracy weren't quite in sync with
each other. Plus, let's be honest, nobody could have wanted to follow Widow on
this night, after those crazy North Carolinians stole the show. Still, it was a
good, enjoyable, but flawed performance from Theocracy on this night. All things
being equal, I'll take it gladly.
Setlist: Laying the Demon to Rest, Serpent's Kiss, Martyr (best song of their set),
Absolution Day, Nailed (new song), Ichthus, Mirror of Souls (part 3 only).
Because of the cancellations (both Artizan and Icarus Witch having been removed from the
bill and not replaced), and the efficient set changeovers for the other bands,
it looked like Crimson Glory would be ready to take the stage before 11
p.m. Alas, there was a bit of time-wasting, noodling and general screwing
around by the CG folks, resulting in the curtain not opening until 11:15, which
wasn't so bad all things considered. My take on Crimson Glory is that
'Transcendence' is a masterpiece, the self-titled debut has moments of
brilliance, and 'Astronomica' is an unfortunate experiment gone awry. (Never
heard 'Strange and Beautiful' after it garnered so many crap reviews back in
the day, but I assume I would think it sucked.) Whilst many others gushed about
their ProgPower X performance in September 2009, I was left a bit disappointed
by the whole thing. Kicking off the ProgPower set with five 'Astronomica' tunes
in a row was not my idea of a good time. With all the guest singers who either
didn't know the songs they were singing or had voices not conducive to
Midnight's material, or who hadn't rehearsed their duets so didn't know their
cues, it was kind of a messy fiasco to me. Based on that experience, my
enthusiasm was a bit tempered and my expectations were lowered for Crimson
Glory tonight. Still, this evening's show marked the first full Crimson Glory
gig in the world with new vocalist Todd La Torre at the helm, and a chance for
the band to reboot for what seems like the third or fourth time. Pity the room
was less than half full at the start of their show, with numbers slowly
dwindling throughout the night.
The honest, unvarnished truth of the matter is that Crimson Glory were very good
tonight. Wait, no, I mean VERY GOOD. The unbalanced setlist that diminished
ProgPower performance was rectified with a well chosen set that lent appropriate
weight to all phases of the band's oeuvre (save 'Strange & Beautiful' of
course), featuring 7 cuts from Transcendence, 5 from the debut, and 3 from
Astronomica. More importantly, the band looked rejuvenated, fired up and alive.
Rhythm guitarist Ben Jackson and bassist Jeff Lords displayed more pep and vigor
than I've ever seen from them. Drummer Dana Burrell was much more solid behind
the kit than he'd appeared at ProgPower. Drenning was Drenning. And diminutive,
long-maned singer Todd La Torre delivered a scary good Midnight impersonation
throughout the night, capturing the soaring highs and maniacal midrange of his
deceased predecessor. I mean, La Torre knocked "Red Sharks" out of the park,
then delivered a positively eerie rendition of "Lost Reflection" that sent
chills down my spine. How many singers in the world could do justice to one of
those songs, much less both of them back to back? On more than one occasion, I
spied Drenning looking over at La Torre and smiling, as if to say to himself,
"I'll be damned, he really is as good as I thought." One thing that La Torre is
not is a polished frontman in terms of crowd interaction, so Drenning handled
many of the stage raps and used that platform to praise La Torre repeatedly and
also pay proper homage to the departed Midnight (saying things like "I know
Midnight's looking down and smiling at us tonight"). He struck the right balance
in lauding the new guy while remembering the old guy. And there seemed to be a
lot of hugging going on, as Drenning kept hugging La Torre at various times
after particularly strong vocal performances.
The small-but-mighty audience reacted enormously positively to Crimson Glory's set
too. As I stood up front, rocking out and singing along, I looked to my left and
saw a slightly tipsy Chris and John from Widow air-guitaring with reckless
abandon as they howled at the moon. We had a couple of songs where we did a
great triple-air axe attack. (La Torre noticed those guys and called them out
for their dedication and knowledge of the CG catalog, prompting John Wooten to
yell back, "We've been ripping you off for years.") To my right was ProgPower
mainstay Lee, who's wheelchair bound and as dyed-in-the-wool a metalhead as
you'll ever find. Lee and I got into lockstep headbanging for a couple of tunes
as well, and his grin was as broad as can be when La Torre gave him fist bumps.
And during "Painted Skies," Drenning's newly-blonde wife (decked out in cowboy
hat and fiery boots) joined our little metalhead frenzy and sang along with us
in a spontaneous act of metal fellowship. It was just this very cool unified
spiritual sort of heavy metal vibe in the air that seemed to bring all of us in
the room together.
All of that said, there were a few aspects of the show that left me not quite
completely satisfied with Crimson Glory's performance. First, La Torre
definitely needs to get more comfortable talking to and interacting with
audiences, but that should come in time. Second, as good a Midnight clone as La
Torre is, at the end of the day he really just sounds like a clone and nothing
more. Unlike for example Mark Tornillo in Accept, La Torre doesn't add his own
stamp to these songs but instead just tries to sound as much like Midnight as
possible. The problem, of course, is that with Midnight the anguish and torment
that bubbled up through the vocal lines were all real, but with La Torre it
feels like an act. None of this is intended as a slag on Todd La Torre, mind
you. The guy was very very good. But I couldn't help but wish he'd add his own
special something to some of these songs, rather than just sounding like the
dear departed Midnight. Third, Drenning couldn't quite resist crossing the line
to arrogant rockstar-ism by telling us all at the end of the set how lucky we
were to have witnessed this gig because (and I quote) "people will still be
talking about this show in 20 years." Fourth, no new material and no hint of new
material. Is Crimson Glory just gonna be a nostalgia act or are they going to
try to offer anything new to the world in this iteration? They've had plenty of
time to write a new song or two, which they could have offered if they so
inclined. Fifth, they didn't play "Lonely." Really. I don't love the song, but
it was their biggest (only?) hit in America, with heavy MTV rotation and Z-Rock
airplay. The crowd even chanted over and over again for "Lonely," but nope. I'm
sure there's a reason why they didn't play the tune, but I can't for the life of
me imagine what that would be.
Setlist: War of Worlds, Valhalla, Lady of Winter, New Age Machine, Astronomica, Azrael
(absolutely amazing song), Painted Skies, Where Dragons Rule (masterful!), Queen
of the Masquerade, Dragon lady, Mask of the Red Death, In Dark Places, Red
Sharks (stupendous!), Lost Reflection (chilling), Eternal World (spectacular).
With that, Pathfinder Metal Fest 2010 drew to a close. We said our farewells, at
which time Chris from Widow gave Jen some parting advice about the proper
laundering and care of my Widow t-shirt to protect the print. Hilarious. And
then we stepped out in the chill November night air. If this marks the end of
the Pathfinder festivals, then Hoyt has gone out with a bang, and has created a
legacy of which he can justifiably be proud. From a music perspective, this
festival was a massive success, even if far too few were on hand to witness it.
~ Review by Kit Ekman ~
The Local, Marietta, GA
November 5-6, 2010
Hardworking promoter and super-nice guy Hoyt Parris has hit on a fine formula with his
Pathfinder Metalfest. Combining a couple of well-chosen national headliners with
a strong (or at least interesting) regional and local undercard, with the
occasional surprise thrown in for good measure, Hoyt serves up a fan-friendly
fest at a fan-friendly price. The venue (an intimate 300-person room nestled
inside a much bigger sports bar in the northern suburbs of Atlanta) is more than
satisfactory, and the low-priced-but-comfy Hampton Inn accommodations just a
mile down the road make the logistics a snap for out-of-town visitors. And for
Alabama bumpkins like Jen and me, the prospect of wandering around the nearby
Whole Foods Market to kill time, pick out a gourmet dinner and load up on
gourmet beer (Terrapin Chocolate Milk Stout and Leinenkugel Fireside Nut Brown
Ale, mmmmmmm) is the icing on the cake. And it was great to see friends and
fellow intrepid metal souls Mark, Datis, Lea, Eric, Vickie, Meghan and others
all making the trek in from far and wide, plus an assortment of local and
semi-local folks we know from ProgPower. Nonetheless, for reasons that I cannot
even begin to fathom, the scene support for the Pathfinder Metalfest is
disappointing. With this lineup, the venue should have been packed, but alas
such was not the case. At no time over the weekend was the room even half full,
and during Friday's headliner it was nearly deserted save for a couple dozen
hearty souls. Locals have no excuse for not supporting this excellent fest, and
out-of-towners need to get off their lazy apathetic asses, hit the road, and
support live, quality, traditional heavy metal before it goes away. Popular
opinion to the contrary, ProgPower is neither the only nor the best festival in
the southeastern U.S., but this scene will wither and die if apathy reigns.
Okay, no more soapbox. Let's get to the music.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Technically a pre-party, tonight really felt like the first night of a two-night festival,
so I won't draw any distinctions there. Things got off to a rough start when the
sound guy was apparently delayed by traffic (imagine that, heavy traffic in
metro Atlanta on a Friday afternoon/evening!), so the scheduled 8 p.m. start
time was pushed back much closer to 9 p.m. before the festivities got underway.
The first band was local act The Shield, who were making their live debut
on this night. Not much to say here. The band is clearly not ready for primetime
yet, judging by the all-around shaky performances and skeletal material. No
purpose would be served by cataloguing the band's shortcomings here, so I won't.
Suffice it to say they need a lot of time and hard work in the rehearsal space.
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock'n'roll, boys and girls.
Next up were Neverland, a last-minute addition to the bill hailing all the way
from Switzerland. From what I gather, this intrepid five-piece hopped a plane,
came to the U.S., and rented an RV with the idea of performing a "tour" on the
fly wherever they could find gigs. Bold (and potentially masochistic) move,
especially for a band that I (and I daresay, most American metalheads) had never
heard of before. Hoyt wisely seized the opportunity and added Neverland to
tonight's bill, which represented their U.S. debut. Whaddaya know, they were
actually very professional and very enjoyable. Sporting a chunky, prog/power
hybrid sound with two guitars, piped-in keyboards/symphonic flourishes and an
excellent dramatic vocalist reminiscent of Kamelot's Khan, Neverland did a
really nice job. Memorable, catchy songs. Good playing. Strong vocals.
Honestly, Neverland are superior to half the stuff Glenn Harveston books at
ProgPower every year. I know they impressed many in the sparse crowd. I don't
usually go gaga for this style of music, but count me in as a fan after this
performance. The band really seemed touched by the positive response too, as
they thanked the crowd profusely every time we cheered them or clapped along
with the music. "You make us hot," exclaimed the beaming vocalist at one point,
although I'm sure something was lost in the translation. Didn't catch all the
song titles, but I do know that the last four songs in the band's too-short
6-song set consisted of "Mysteria," "No Time To Lose," "Close Your Eyes," and
"Neverland." I look forward to hearing the band's 3-song sampler they were
handing out after the show. Unfortunately, what should have been a triumphant
evening for Neverland was marred by the fact that scumbag thieves broke into
their RV while they were inside the venue and absconded with cash and other
valuables. Welcome to America, y'all ...
The third and final support act on the bill were local thrash youngsters
Tetrarch. Having seen them back in May in Atlanta opening for Sonata
Arctica, I had some idea what to expect, but Tetrarch were better tonight. The
quartet (with singer doubling on rhythm guitar) offered up a solid dose of
retrothrash with well-done Hetfield styled vocals and the occasional nod to more
modern breeds of metal in the Trivium / Bullet for My Valentine vein (have to
draw the kiddies in somehow, right?). Stage presence was excellent too, with all
three stringed players moving around the stage quite a bit, headbanging up a
storm, and seeming very confident in their craft. No cover tunes this time (they
did a bang-up version of "Master of Puppets" at the Sonata Arctica gig), but the
originals were all plenty thrashy and enjoyable in their own right. Special
props go out to the African-American female lead guitarist, who absolutely tore
up her axe and rocked out most mightily while doing so. Given the white male
dominated culture of heavy metal generally, and the fact that we are in the Deep
South to boot, it was cool as hell to see a chick bust right through those
subdivisions, dividing lines, glass ceilings and stereotypes, and to excel at it
to boot. She wasn't just there, she was really good, with chops aplenty. Mark
this band down on your list, folks. Tetrarch are one to watch. The singer said
they're going to Miami to record an EP for release in the very near future, so
I'll look forward to tracking that disc down soon.
Tonight's headliner were Circle II Circle, the veteran combo who are best known for
boasting former Savatage vocalist Zak Stevens in their ranks. Having just
completed a 22-date run through Europe in support of their newly released
5th album, 'Consequence of Power,' Circle II Circle were using their
Marietta engagement as a springboard to kick off the U.S. leg of their tour.
Sadly, the band ran into trouble early when bassist Paul Michael Stewart's amp
blew during the opening cut, the peppy "Consequence of Power." Several minutes
of technical delay ensued while Stewart worked to patch himself into the
monitors directly, all the while bemoaning the death of his amp and the high
financial cost it would entail to replace it for the remainder of the tour. Zak
played it off as best he could by telling jokes, laughing, and encouraging
people to drink more, but this was both a downer for the band and a definite
momentum-killer as the already small crowd dwindled further with the lateness
of the hour (it was after midnight when CIIC took the stage). Finally a
workaround was devised and the show continued. As the band's 80-minute set wore
on, a few observations came to mind. First, Stevens is still a hell of a
singer, and he sounds way better live than he does on the somewhat sterile
studio albums that CIIC puts out. He's got power, control and a great melodic
feeling to his voice. Second, Andy Lee is a monster guitar player. I still
prefer CIIC in their two-guitarist configuration, and Lee is presently flying
solo, but the guy is an extremely accomplished axeman. I do worry about his
health though, as the dude is so pale and so gaunt that I wish Jon Oliva could
loan him a few pounds or something, because that just can't be healthy. Third,
it was great fun to watch Johnny Osbourne behind the drum kit. Decked out in
his "Police" shirt (as in Polizei, not that damned "Roxanne" band), with his
moptop hair tied up and flopping around with every snare hit, Osbourne was
animated, powerful, and just really entertaining to watch. Fourth, if CIIC has
five studio CDs, why did their setlist ignore all of the older ones?
Mysteriously, CIIC played a whopping seven cuts from 'Consequence of Power'
(including the Euro limited edition bonus track, if you can believe that), with
just a pair from 'Delusions of Grandeur,' one from 'Burden of Truth,' and nada
zip zero from the first two discs. I don't think I'm alone in the view that
'Watching in Silence' is the band's best album, yet they play nothing from it???
Bizarre. Nonetheless, I give Circle II Circle credit for not letting the empty
room and bass amp disaster ruin their night. They played like this was a packed
house, and Zak praised the crowd for being "small but mighty." During the
inevitable Savatage portion of the set, Zak stepped off stage and onto the floor
for the entirety of "Edge of Thorns" to sing the song side-by-side with the fans
(including a couple of wildly gyrating teeny bopper girls up front who obviously
didn't know a single word of their hearthrob's signature song) before finishing
the song by lying on stage on his back, both arms thrust in the air, throwing
the horns. As a final encore, after a brief and unnecessary Johnny Osbourne drum
solo, Stevens took a seat at the drum throne and laid down a solid groove as the
band offered up a version of Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" (which unfortunately
had aired on the PA earlier that evening), with Osbourne singing a verse so he
wouldn't be totally left out of the fun. All in all, it wasn't a perfect CIIC
show by any stretch, but it was a solid outing from a professional band that did
themselves and their fans proud in Marietta. I wish for their sake they'd
brought CDs to sell though. If you believe in your new album enough to play
seven friggin' songs from it, you ought to have copies available for your fans
to purchase at the show. I got my regular U.S. edition three weeks earlier (no
limited edition bonus track though), so that rigmarole excuse about it not being
available yet is just wrong.
Setlist: Consequence of Power, Symptoms of Fate, Take Back Yesterday, Out of Nowhere, Revelation,
Soul Breaker, Blood of an Angel, Andy Lee guitar solo, Episodes of Mania,
Anathema, So many Reasons. Encores: Conversation Piece, Taunting Cobras,
Edge of Thorns, Johnny Osbourne drum solo, Stranglehold.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
We returned to the venue at around 5 p.m. on Saturday for Day 2 of the Festival to
be greeted by a couple of pieces of unfortunate news. First, the likelihood of
beginning at the scheduled 6 p.m. start time appeared remote, given that Crimson
Glory were still in the midst of their soundcheck which was supposed to have
concluded at 3 p.m. Indeed, as we approached the club, the building was shaking
to the sounds of the band tearing through "War of the Worlds" at peak volume.
Not sure why Drenning's boys needed a 4+ hour soundcheck, but that's what they
took. Hmmmm, maybe the man's reputation for being difficult to work with isn't
so exaggerated after all. (And all the bands were treated to playing in front of
a giant Crimson Glory 'Transcendence' banner all night long.) Second, Hoyt
informed us as we arrived that Icarus Witch had canceled their appearance
earlier today after experiencing vehicle trouble in West Virginia on their drive
south. Big disappointment for all involved, I know, and the spate of undeserved
bad luck associated with Pathfinder Metal Fest 2010 claimed yet another victim.
It must have been 6:45 or so when South Carolina's Merzah opened the
proceedings in the presence of small but appreciative audience. (Many were still
out in the sports pub area watching the end of the Alabama/LSU college football
fiasco, which sent my Crimson Tide loving wife scrambling for beer afterwards to
drown her sorrows.) Definitely a young band who deserve praise for being bold
and experimental with their music. Lead vocals were of both the clean and
growled variety, all sung by the same guy, and the musical accompaniment varied
from proggy stuff to Gothenburg-style melodic death metal. The combination
didn't quite click with me, but again, I have nothing but respect for a youthful
band trying to push the envelope and develop their own sound. Keep at it, boys ...
Tonight's second act were local act Void of Reason. I dimly recall seeing them at
last year's PMF and not being too impressed by their keyboard-laden light prog.
This time around, however, I was pleasantly surprised to see that VOR have
ditched the keyboard rig, leaving the singer free to roam the stage if he so
desired (although he mostly stayed put), and have also added a second guitar
player, whom I recognized from Eternal Hour's performance last year. With no
keys and twice the guitar firepower, these modifications to the VOR camp could
not help but be good news, right? And they were. Music was still a little
lightweight and, errrr, vaguely non-metallic for my neanderthal tastes, and I
wish the singer would loosen up a little bit, but for a dark, stripped-down
version of latter-day Queensryche or Fates Warning's sound, Void of Reason may
fit the bill nicely. Not bad at all. Oh, and they did a fine job with their
Maiden cover of "Wasted Years" to round out their set.
It was time for PMF 2010 to kick into high gear, and the loony, alcohol-fueled lads
of Widow were just what the doctor ordered. I was thrilled by their
abbreviated performance at the Warriors of Metal Fest in Ohio this past summer,
and definitely considered them my most-anticipated band of the weekend. Widow
did not disappoint, as they came out, kicked ass and took names for 45 minutes.
Boatloads of harmony guitars, crushing NWOBHM-on-steroids riffs, and uptempo
workouts that expertly blended melody and old-school aggression. Outstanding
stage presence with guitarists Chris Bennett and John Wooten working the crowd
and treading the boards like seasoned professionals. Complementary duel lead
vocals, with Wooten supplying the cleans and Bennett kicking in the occasional
blackened shriek for emphasis. In addition to a sense of high-energy urgency,
Widow also brought the fun. The between-song stage raps were hilarious, with
Bennett suggesting at various times that Widow's newly reissued debut CD now
comes with a "free bonus condom because we believe in the practice of safe
metal," and that their forthcoming fourth CD might be released by Google
Records. The funniest moment of all was before they played "Angel Sin," when
Bennett said he needed a drink because this song was really hard to play, and
Wooten chiming in that they would probably screw it up, prompting Bennett to
praise Wooten for lowering the audience's expectations and the drummer to pipe
up that maybe they'd actually get it right tonight. The song kicked ass, of
course. Not only was fun the overriding sentiment in what Widow said from the
stage, but their body language and the smiles on their faces throughout the gig
exuded the sense that they were having the time of their lives. They thanked the
audience repeatedly, said over and over again how glad they were to be at this
festival, and were effusive in their praise of the earlier bands as well as
their giddiness over seeing Crimson Glory. They even thanked individually and by
name a number of folks in the audience with whom they'd been chatting and
drinking beer earlier, including yours truly. It was an awfully nice touch by a
band that hit all the right notes, not only in their songs and presentation but
how they comported themselves all night. Oh, and did I mention that their live
performance kicked all kinds of posterior too? I think it's safe to say that
Widow made lots of new friends and fans in Marietta on this night.
Setlist: American Werewolf in Raleigh, Nightlife, Nightchild, Witch Way, Take Hold of the
Night (killer new song from forthcoming Life's Blood disc), At the End, Beware
the Night, Angel Sin, Reunion, Pleasure of Exorcism.
Theocracy are something of enigma to me. From looking at 'em, you wouldn't think they're a
metal band at all, with 3/5 of the members sporting short regular-guy haircuts,
the bassist decked out in his old-school Georgia Bulldogs Football t-shirt, and
so on. They look exactly like the kind of guys you might see playing a basement
keg party in a college frat house. To add to the mystery, they're from Athens,
Georgia (not exactly a metal town), and their lyrics are heavily Christian a la
Seventh Avenue and so on. But the biggest surprise about Theocracy is that,
despite all these outward indicia, they actually are purveyors of top-notch
European-style power metal with plenty of speed and gigantic happy melodies
(think earlier Edguy, with touches of Gamma Ray and Stratovarius and so on).
Singer/band leader Matt Smith has a good, expressive high-pitched voice for this
kind of music, and has progressed in leaps and bounds as a frontman since the
band's humble beginnings thrust in the spotlight for the ProgPower VII showcase.
Tonight marked my fourth time seeing Theocracy overall (the other occasions
being ProgPower VII, the Nightmare Metal Fest in San Antonio in spring 2009, and
an opening slot at the Sonata Arctica gig in Atlanta in April 2010). Theocracy
were good tonight, but certainly not the best I've seen them over all. The
setlist seemed a bid odd and leaned a bit more on the proggy aspect of the
band's repertoire ("Serpents Kiss" and part 3 of the 22-minute epic "Mirror of
Souls" were aired over heart-pounding stuff like "Tower of Ashes" and "On
Eagle's Wings"). Also, the performance was a bit tentative tonight, with the
guitarists repeatedly exchanging nervous glances when one or the other of them
made mistakes audible to my unsophisticated ears. And they kept bumping into
each other on stage too, suggesting that Theocracy weren't quite in sync with
each other. Plus, let's be honest, nobody could have wanted to follow Widow on
this night, after those crazy North Carolinians stole the show. Still, it was a
good, enjoyable, but flawed performance from Theocracy on this night. All things
being equal, I'll take it gladly.
Setlist: Laying the Demon to Rest, Serpent's Kiss, Martyr (best song of their set),
Absolution Day, Nailed (new song), Ichthus, Mirror of Souls (part 3 only).
Because of the cancellations (both Artizan and Icarus Witch having been removed from the
bill and not replaced), and the efficient set changeovers for the other bands,
it looked like Crimson Glory would be ready to take the stage before 11
p.m. Alas, there was a bit of time-wasting, noodling and general screwing
around by the CG folks, resulting in the curtain not opening until 11:15, which
wasn't so bad all things considered. My take on Crimson Glory is that
'Transcendence' is a masterpiece, the self-titled debut has moments of
brilliance, and 'Astronomica' is an unfortunate experiment gone awry. (Never
heard 'Strange and Beautiful' after it garnered so many crap reviews back in
the day, but I assume I would think it sucked.) Whilst many others gushed about
their ProgPower X performance in September 2009, I was left a bit disappointed
by the whole thing. Kicking off the ProgPower set with five 'Astronomica' tunes
in a row was not my idea of a good time. With all the guest singers who either
didn't know the songs they were singing or had voices not conducive to
Midnight's material, or who hadn't rehearsed their duets so didn't know their
cues, it was kind of a messy fiasco to me. Based on that experience, my
enthusiasm was a bit tempered and my expectations were lowered for Crimson
Glory tonight. Still, this evening's show marked the first full Crimson Glory
gig in the world with new vocalist Todd La Torre at the helm, and a chance for
the band to reboot for what seems like the third or fourth time. Pity the room
was less than half full at the start of their show, with numbers slowly
dwindling throughout the night.
The honest, unvarnished truth of the matter is that Crimson Glory were very good
tonight. Wait, no, I mean VERY GOOD. The unbalanced setlist that diminished
ProgPower performance was rectified with a well chosen set that lent appropriate
weight to all phases of the band's oeuvre (save 'Strange & Beautiful' of
course), featuring 7 cuts from Transcendence, 5 from the debut, and 3 from
Astronomica. More importantly, the band looked rejuvenated, fired up and alive.
Rhythm guitarist Ben Jackson and bassist Jeff Lords displayed more pep and vigor
than I've ever seen from them. Drummer Dana Burrell was much more solid behind
the kit than he'd appeared at ProgPower. Drenning was Drenning. And diminutive,
long-maned singer Todd La Torre delivered a scary good Midnight impersonation
throughout the night, capturing the soaring highs and maniacal midrange of his
deceased predecessor. I mean, La Torre knocked "Red Sharks" out of the park,
then delivered a positively eerie rendition of "Lost Reflection" that sent
chills down my spine. How many singers in the world could do justice to one of
those songs, much less both of them back to back? On more than one occasion, I
spied Drenning looking over at La Torre and smiling, as if to say to himself,
"I'll be damned, he really is as good as I thought." One thing that La Torre is
not is a polished frontman in terms of crowd interaction, so Drenning handled
many of the stage raps and used that platform to praise La Torre repeatedly and
also pay proper homage to the departed Midnight (saying things like "I know
Midnight's looking down and smiling at us tonight"). He struck the right balance
in lauding the new guy while remembering the old guy. And there seemed to be a
lot of hugging going on, as Drenning kept hugging La Torre at various times
after particularly strong vocal performances.
The small-but-mighty audience reacted enormously positively to Crimson Glory's set
too. As I stood up front, rocking out and singing along, I looked to my left and
saw a slightly tipsy Chris and John from Widow air-guitaring with reckless
abandon as they howled at the moon. We had a couple of songs where we did a
great triple-air axe attack. (La Torre noticed those guys and called them out
for their dedication and knowledge of the CG catalog, prompting John Wooten to
yell back, "We've been ripping you off for years.") To my right was ProgPower
mainstay Lee, who's wheelchair bound and as dyed-in-the-wool a metalhead as
you'll ever find. Lee and I got into lockstep headbanging for a couple of tunes
as well, and his grin was as broad as can be when La Torre gave him fist bumps.
And during "Painted Skies," Drenning's newly-blonde wife (decked out in cowboy
hat and fiery boots) joined our little metalhead frenzy and sang along with us
in a spontaneous act of metal fellowship. It was just this very cool unified
spiritual sort of heavy metal vibe in the air that seemed to bring all of us in
the room together.
All of that said, there were a few aspects of the show that left me not quite
completely satisfied with Crimson Glory's performance. First, La Torre
definitely needs to get more comfortable talking to and interacting with
audiences, but that should come in time. Second, as good a Midnight clone as La
Torre is, at the end of the day he really just sounds like a clone and nothing
more. Unlike for example Mark Tornillo in Accept, La Torre doesn't add his own
stamp to these songs but instead just tries to sound as much like Midnight as
possible. The problem, of course, is that with Midnight the anguish and torment
that bubbled up through the vocal lines were all real, but with La Torre it
feels like an act. None of this is intended as a slag on Todd La Torre, mind
you. The guy was very very good. But I couldn't help but wish he'd add his own
special something to some of these songs, rather than just sounding like the
dear departed Midnight. Third, Drenning couldn't quite resist crossing the line
to arrogant rockstar-ism by telling us all at the end of the set how lucky we
were to have witnessed this gig because (and I quote) "people will still be
talking about this show in 20 years." Fourth, no new material and no hint of new
material. Is Crimson Glory just gonna be a nostalgia act or are they going to
try to offer anything new to the world in this iteration? They've had plenty of
time to write a new song or two, which they could have offered if they so
inclined. Fifth, they didn't play "Lonely." Really. I don't love the song, but
it was their biggest (only?) hit in America, with heavy MTV rotation and Z-Rock
airplay. The crowd even chanted over and over again for "Lonely," but nope. I'm
sure there's a reason why they didn't play the tune, but I can't for the life of
me imagine what that would be.
Setlist: War of Worlds, Valhalla, Lady of Winter, New Age Machine, Astronomica, Azrael
(absolutely amazing song), Painted Skies, Where Dragons Rule (masterful!), Queen
of the Masquerade, Dragon lady, Mask of the Red Death, In Dark Places, Red
Sharks (stupendous!), Lost Reflection (chilling), Eternal World (spectacular).
With that, Pathfinder Metal Fest 2010 drew to a close. We said our farewells, at
which time Chris from Widow gave Jen some parting advice about the proper
laundering and care of my Widow t-shirt to protect the print. Hilarious. And
then we stepped out in the chill November night air. If this marks the end of
the Pathfinder festivals, then Hoyt has gone out with a bang, and has created a
legacy of which he can justifiably be proud. From a music perspective, this
festival was a massive success, even if far too few were on hand to witness it.
~ Review by Kit Ekman ~