THE CENTAUR, CHELTENHAM 31/03/07
Two years ago I would have laughed at the idea of a metal festival being held at Cheltenham racecourse. A far cry from your average…erm…less than desirable metal venue, team Prog-Power UK went and found themselves the newest, shiniest, most elite venue they possibly could to host this (fingers crossed) annual event. Hell, even the toilets are so clean they glimmer as the light catches it. Now in its’ sophomore year, the festival makes a welcome return and once again the crew outdid themselves to ensure that the day was an unforgettable one, and had everything taken care of right down to the finest detail. Unsurprisingly, tickets were considerably up from last years count, and as paying punters clambered through the doors, a goody bag was handed to them filled with CD’s, a DVD and other miscellaneous goodies.
After a brief visit to the metal market and one swift purchase had been made I was informed that opening band Heed had already taken to the stage. Heed did not leave much of a lasting impression on me, although this is partially down to the terrible flat sound quality. Heavily guitar based with clean high pitched vocals provided by ex-Lost Horizon front man Daniel Heiman, these are highly adept musicians and one can’t deny their technical proficiency although some of their songs seemed to lack originality and didn’t really stand out above the rest of the power metal pack. New material previewed from their forthcoming demo sounded to be the strongest, Corona being a track that comes to mind. With only one album to their name, I wouldn’t be too quick to rule this band out. Far from mind blowing, but not a bad start to the day.
Cloudscape followed on in the power metal vein that kick-started the day albeit with a more progressive edge. Hearing such a perceptible keyboard presence I was rather bewildered at the lack of keyboardist on stage, as I’d say were many other crowd dwellers. Putting aside the overuse of samples, Cloudscape played a fairly admirable set. Fronted by Mike Anderson, the crystal clear vocals soared harmoniously above a water tight rhythm section that dynamically pulled together to create a monstrous sound as they ploughed through “Shapeshifter”, “Demon Tears” and “Aqua 275” before introducing an ardent crowd to the members in the band, building up to a good old clap along seeing many a hand ascend to the sky.
Dreamscape slowed things down a little as we saw the first progressive band step up. As they began their set, there seemed to be very little excitement in the room and this didn’t appear to be their crowd, although by the end of their set they had a seemingly indifferent audience won over. Plodding along with slow paced melodies laced with jazz infused keyboards and complex guitar solos Dreamscape had an equal blend of atmosphere and technicality. Frontman Roland Stoll had an enigmatic persona on stage that in all honesty I would be more open to expect treading the boards on Broadway. His tuneful voice and staged mannerisms were completely over the top if not a little corny, although overall I found this band to be a surprisingly enjoyable addition to the day.
And on we come to Communic. This is where the day really began for me at least as along with Kamelot this was one of the main bands I wanted to see. Expecting none other than the 18 piece orchestral outfit known as Haggard, I was a little nonplussed when I wandered into the venue to see a Communic backdrop and three-piece set up, although I was later informed that Haggard had narrowly missed their ferry courtesy of French customs and the Communic lads had kindly agreed to switch their sets around so that Haggard were still able to play.
Beginning their set with “Communication Sublime” from their debut album, Communic proved from the outset that they were every bit as good on stage as they are on CD! Front man Oddleif Stensland bellowed down the mic releasing his inimitable dark, resonant vocals while the bass, drums and guitar coalesced to create a dynamic infusion of metal. The three guys swaggered across the stage emanating an aura of professionalism, storming through “Frozen Asleep in the Park”, “Waves of Visual Decay” and “Under a Luminous Sky” like a well oiled machine without sacrificing that raw energy that gives such fledgling bands that spontaneity factor that makes them exciting to watch. It is no big secret that Communic songs are lengthy, thus those with a short attention span may find theirs begin to wander midway, although with such a diverse mixture of styles embedded in their music I find that there is enough variety in their songs to keep my mind from drifting. Communic were arguably the best band of the day, and what is most impressive is the fact that such a colossal sound can come from only three musicians. To sum them up in a single word: Sublime!
In terms of band members, we went from the smallest band of the day to the biggest band of the day! Yes, for anyone who is not familiar with Haggard, the band is made up of 18 members including a guitarist/vocalist, bassist, drummer, soprano, keyboardist, bassoonist, timpanist, flautists, violinists, cellist…and chances are I’ve missed something out in there. I’m sure many people at this point may be thinking “okay, what the &%$£???” and the answer is yes, it does work and tremendously well too if I might add. As can be imagined, 18 musicians on stage makes for a truly entertaining show with so much happening that at times, you don’t know which direction to look towards! An ageing pianist sits centre stage adorned with a crown, as the timpanist periodically dashes to the front of the stage to crash the cymbals. Soprano, Susanne has a voice that is simply divine as she angelically sings her unspoiled a capella parts on “Eppur Si Muove”, and once the main instruments kick in, she headbangs with the grace of a swan. The growls coming from Asis add a black cloud of darkness into the mix whilst the bombastic orchestral arrangements give that overall feel of grandeur. There is no doubt that Haggard were the most diverse band of the day and however unavoidable; it was a real shame that they couldn’t play for longer. I say “bring them back to the UK!”
Aeons seemed to pass waiting for Leaves Eyes took to the stage. The blue backdrop was an ideal visual setting for the beautiful Liv Kristine and her band of Viking warriors as they marched out to the “Vinland Saga” introduction before bursting into “Farewell Proud Men”. The first thing that strikes me is just how much heavier the band sound next to their CD recordings as the band provide a backbone of mammoth-like metal that really packs a solid blow. Liv Kristine’s fragile voice is every bit as saccharine as she looks in her flowing blue dress. Vocalist (and Liv’s other half) Alexander Krull storms the stage as he provides intermittent bursts of deathy vocals to contradict the air of femininity on display from his lady. With his voice only on call every now and again, Alex is left with plenty of quiescent time which he uses to get the crowd fired up with a bit of chanting and hand clapping. This can get a bit tiresome after a while as in the end, you can only shout “hey, hey, hey” at the top of your lungs so many times before you decide you may want to save some of your breath for later. Still, better to have a bit of crowd interaction than to watch a dormant vocalist stand motionless on stage, and aside from this, Leaves’ Eyes put on a superb show that shan’t be forgotten in a hurry.
A compelling set from Leaves’ Eyes meant that whoever followed would have their work cut out, although I could never envision this being much of a hurdle for Kamelot. Kicking straight into the epic “When the Lights are Down”, Kamelot blistered through an energetically charged set comprising an assortment of fan favourites including “Soul Society”, “Descent of the Archangel” and the Eastern tinged “Nights of Arabia”. As I spotted the female vocalist in the background I was wondering where the hell her vocals were, as she was clearly singing but her voice could not be heard! Miraculously the sound problems were fixed by the time they reached the beautiful “Abandoned”. I’ve come to know what to expect from Kamelot; a combination of vehement guitars, fierce drumming, lightning fast keyboard symphonies that all congregate to make up the dramatic nature of their sound which is marvellous in the live setting. As I was half expecting they previewed some of the tracks from forthcoming album “Ghost Opera”; the title track from the album sounded particularly haunting however after their 2005 grand opus “Black Halo” they have a hell of a tall order to live up to my expectations, and surely many other fans of Kamelot will agree.
After seeing “One Cold Winters Night”, this performance was a bit of an anti-climax and I didn’t feel that Kamelot were on top form this evening. With Kamelot not being the main headliner and having to shorten their set down to an hour, plus the rumours of Khan recovering from an illness, there are a few reasons that could explain this and I am sure that they will be back to form when they return to our shores in October.
Running rather late, Jon Oliva’s Pain, fronted by none other than Savatage main man Jon Oliva, were the final band to take the stage. I shall be entirely honest and admit that bar a handful of Savatage songs, my knowledge of the band is rather pitiful.
As I wandered through the doors, it would have been quite impossible to miss Jon Oliva on stage although you know what they say; big guy equals big voice and I can happily back that statement up after watching their set. The man himself clearly has that panache that can only be displayed by a true rock veteran who has honed in his performance over the decades. The sheer power coming out of his mouth was overwhelming and his booming voice effortlessly reached the farthest corner of the building as he belted out the likes of “Sirens” and “The Evil Beside You”. As he took a seat at his keyboard, he announced that he had a special surprise in store for the Prog-Power UK crowd as he intended to play the entire “Streets” album. It would appear that guitarist Matt LePorte had other places he would rather be than on stage at PPUK and the axe-man was about as interesting to watch as the wall that stood behind him, although even I cannot fault his playing as he trundles through “Jesus Saves” and “Ghost in the Ruins” with natural ease. Bassist Kevin Rothney is a different kettle of fish entirely at least where stage presence is concerned as he leaps about with enough energy to atone for the lack of charisma being radiated from the other side of the stage. Although a number of people began filing out during JOP’s set, they still played to a sizable crowd and they had more than their share of dedicated fans there to see them. In all honesty, I hadn’t been expecting to enjoy the headliners’ set one iota although surprisingly enough, I thoroughly enjoyed the partial-set I managed to catch before having to make tracks.
For the second year in a row, Prog-Power UK was a roaring success and it would be a crime if it didn’t return in 2008.
Luci Herbert